The Thanksgiving countdown is on! 17 days and counting….
It’s the Super Bowl of food and the only holiday that literally resolves around one single meal.
It’s also the only holiday that can put you in a food coma in 5 minutes flat. Bring on the naps!
Pie is the star of the show and it needs a solid foundation. I am sharing all of the tips and tricks to make a perfectly flaky, foolproof, all butter pie crust.
I have had epic fails in the pie department so you can learn from my mistakes! I am going to break down this Butter Flaky Pie Crust step by step.
TIPS + TRICKS TO MAKE PERFECT ALL BUTTER PIE CRUST EVERY SINGLE TIME:
- Use Cold Butter. I store my butter in the freezer and take out sticks of butter, as needed. Place them on a cutting board and with a knife, slice them into tiny shreds. The shreds of butter are going to make the crust flaky and you want it to be evenly dispersed in the pie dough. If your butter gets warm, put it back into the freezer or refrigerator to solidify.
2. Use a Pastry Cutter, a Fork, a Food Processor, or even your hands to cut in butter and flour together. If you want the quickest route, the most time effective method is to use a food processor. A pastry cutter or fork is old school and works well too. I also found using your hands and squishing the butter with your thumbs into the flour works brillianty as well. It takes more time, but sure makes a flaky crust. If you use a food processor, add flour and salt and then pulse the butter bits until the mixture resembles coarse meal. You don’t want to overmix it so use the pulse button on the food processor.
3. Add Ice Cold Water or Buttermilk. Fill a bowl or cup with ice cubes and add water. Remove ice cold water from it and add it a few tablespoons at a time to the bowl or food processor. My Grandma Faye used milk with a tablespoon of vinegar. You can use that mixture or just cold buttermilk.
4. Use Vinegar to create a more tender pie crust. Use plain white vinegar or apple cider vinegar in your recipe. Both help to minimize the gluten forming in the crust and creates a more tender texture.
5. Chill the Pie Dough. This is one of the most important steps. After the pie dough is made, wrap it tightly in Saran Wrap and put it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. I prefer to chill mine for at least 2 hours.
6. Don’t Overwork the Dough. The key is to work the dough quickly and keep it as cold as possible. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it out, using a rolling pin. Keep the pie tin nearby so you can check the size of the circle. You usually want to roll it to at least a 13 inch diameter circle. I love my marble rolling pin — you can find it HERE.
7. Fold the Dough in Half. It’s one of the tips I remember most from my Mom. It can be difficult to transfer such a large circle of dough onto a pie plate, so fold the dough in half. This makes it so much easier. Unfold the dough once it is in the pie plate.
8. Make beautiful designs on the edges. Press the dough against the sides and bottom of pan. Flute the edges by pressing the dough between the index finger and thumb of one hand and using the index finger of the other hand to make the scallop. You can also roll out strips of dough and make a braid to place on top of pie crust.
9. Poke holes using fork along sides and bottom of crust. This will help keep the crust from puffing up while it bakes.
10. Use Pie Weights, Rice, or Beans to keep crust in place. If you are blind baking your crust to be filled later with a cream filling, it is important to keep it in place. Line the crust with foil or parchment paper. Fill it with pie weights, rice, or beans and press against the sides of the crust. I will sometimes double line the crust with parchment paper to ensure that the rice doesn’t somehow get stuck into the dough (learned the hard way on this one). Buy pie weights HERE.
11. Let Dough Chill. Once it is a rolled out into the pan, chill again for 20 minutes. This is going to to give it time to firm up and get cold so that it stays put against the heat of the oven.
12. Bake at a High Temperature. After the dough has chilled, place it in hot oven. The hot oven helps the crust keep it’s shape. The edges will be the first to brown. Avoid this by covering the edges with foil or pie shields, after about 20-25 minutes of baking. The pie shields are essential for making pie! Click HERE for a pie crust shield I recommend.
13. Watch it closely while baking. Butter flaky pie crust can turn golden brown quickly so watch it like a hawk. Let the crust cool completely before adding filling.
- 1 cup Cold Butter (2 sticks, sliced into small pieces)
- 2 1/2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup Ice Cold Water (or Buttermilk or Milk/Vinegar Mixture)
- 1 teaspoon Vinegar
- 1/2 cup Cold Butter (1 stick, sliced into small pieces)
- 1 1/4 cups Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons - 1/4 cup Ice Cold Water (or Buttermilk or Milk/Vinegar Mixture)
- 1/2 teaspoon Vinegar
- Stir together flour and salt. Slice cold butter into tiny shreds (I store my butter in the freezer) and add to bowl or food processor. Pulse until coarse meal or small peas form.
- Slowly add ice cold water, 1-2 tablespoons at a time to butter-flour mixture. Add vinegar and pulse until it starts to form together.
- Press dough into a ball. Pat each ball into a disk, tightly wrap in Saran Wrap and let it chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 2 hours is preferred.
- Unwrap the dough, turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it out, using a rolling pin. Don't overwork the dough. The key is to work quickly to keep the dough as cold as possible. Keep the pie tin nearby so you can check the size of the circle. Roll it to at least a 13-inch diameter circle.
- Fold the dough in half and gently lift and position it over the pie pan. Unfold.
- Press the dough against the sides and bottom of a pan. Flute the edges by pressing the dough between the index finger and thumb of one hand and using the index finger of the other hand to make the scallop. You can also roll out strips of dough and make a braid to place on top of pie crust.
- If you are blind baking the crust and not filling the crust with a baked filling, poke holes using fork along sides and bottom of crust. This will help keep the crust from puffing up while it bakes.
- Use Pie Weights, Rice, or Beans to keep crust in place. If you are blind baking your crust to be filled later with a cream filling, it is important to keep it in place. Line the crust with foil or parchment paper. Fill it with pie weights, rice, or beans and press against the sides of the crust.
- You can double line the crust with parchment paper to ensure that the rice doesn't get stuck into the dough.
- After the dough has chilled, place it in a hot oven. The hot oven helps the crust keep its shape. The edges will be the first to brown. Avoid this by covering the edges with foil or pie shields, about halfway through baking. The pie shields or foil sheets are essential for making pie!
- If making a double crust, bake according to pie directions.
- If baking pie crust only, bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove parchment paper and pie weights and return to oven and cook for an additional 6-8 minutes (for a total of 16-20 minutes cooking time).
- If baking a filled pie such as pumpkin, cherry, or apple, cook according to pie directions.
I can’t wait to hear all about your amazing pies with this Butter Flaky Pie Crust on Thanksgiving! Share your photos with me and tag me by using #modernhoney.
Happy Baking, my friends! xo
Hi there I’ve never made a crust from scratch and I’m really excited to try this today, but I’m a little nervous about burning it. I’ve made a pumpkin pie filling and it will take around an hour to cook through will being in the oven so long burn the crust at all? Also how do you recommend storing the extra dough?
Hey Hunter! I am excited for you to try it out for the first time! The good news is that you are doing a pumpkin pie which I believe is the easiest one to do when making homemade pie crust (since you don’t have to worry about blind baking it).
Here’s what I would suggest. There are two options — use pie shields or make your own using foil. After about 25 minutes of baking time, cover the edges of the pie with a pie shield or if you don’t have one then cover it with strips of tin foil. You can cut the tin foil into strips wide enough to cover the edges. You want the filling to be exposed as much as possible and just focus on covering the crust. This will ensure that the crust doesn’t get too brown before the filling gets nice and done.
I hope that helps! Let me know how it turns out!
can u use margarine instead of butter
According to my Grandmother which was a excellent baker of pies cakes and pasty, never ever replace Unsalted Butter with margarine you will never get the same results.
Hi! Quick question, I am using this to make the best pumpkin pie recipe this weekend, where on these directions do I stop and put the pumpkin filling in and then follow those directions?
I think I am mainly tripped up at this point – On your tips #11 says to chill the dough, so after I poke the holes do I chill the dough for 20, then put in the pie filling and follow the pie recipe directions for cooking? Thanks!
Such a great question! I am glad you asked and will add more specifics to the pumpkin pie recipe. You are right! You want to chill the dough and then put the pumpkin filling into the pie crust. It is important to chill the dough so it keeps its shape while baking. Then you are all set to bake it! Hope that helps. 🙂
Hi! I accidentally made the double crust pie crust recipe but I really only have time to deal with one crust today. Does this just make more dough? It is in the fridge chilling for the respective two hours right now, can I just eliminate some of it as an easy fix? Thanks!
Can you freeze this dough?
I have been making pie crusts for years, and this is the first time I tried vinegar – it is a super easy recipe and tastes great !!! Thank you
My 12 year old son and I are using your recipe for the first time. The last few years have not turned out like we wanted. The dough was too crumbly. I think chilling and unsalted butter Wil make a difference.
This is now my go-to pie crust recipe! I’ve made it twice now and it has been perfect! Thank you for sharing!
Best pie crust ever! So flaky and great buttery flavor. I tried others but this one beats them all! I made it for the “Best pumpkin pie “. Win win. It was the best pumpkin pie. I didn’t chill my dough as long as the recipe stated but it came out great!
Awww thank you, Renee! I am so happy to hear that you loved both of them! I worked hard on both recipes tweaking until I got them just right. Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it!
Made this crust for the 1st time. Honestly, the 1st Pie crust I’ve ever made. It intimidates me beyond belief. The crackers I made from leftover scraps seem to be somewhere between pie crust and biscuit. We’ll see how the pie comes out. May have just overworked the dough. Try until you succeed, right?
I just made the single crust. I have a top chop and it was the perfect size for one crust. I also used the large side of a cheese grater to “slice” that stick of butter. I wanted to try this so I rolled out the crust and used a pizza cutter to make strips. Then I sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar and baked for 12 mintues. It was like eating a fine pastry from a bakery!! We always did this with leftover dough after my mom had made her pies. It was my favorite part of pie making! So, I will be using this crust for my pies! I am also going to try your pumpkin pie recipe. I cannot find my mom’s so I will try something totally new! Thanks for the recipes!!
What type of flour is use?
Hi there! I use all-purpose flour but you can also use pastry flour. Thanks!
Should the butter be unsalted or salted? It does not specify in the recipe.
Always use unsalted butter.
can i make the dough the day before? thanks!
Hi Kristina! Absolutely! Just make it the day before and tightly wrap it in plastic wrap. I will usually double wrap it, just in case. When you are ready to roll it out, remove it from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how warm your kitchen is at the time. I hope that helps!
I have my dough in fridge chilling. Getting ready to make a pumpkin pie filling.I used a food processor for mixing my dough .I used the water and vinegar as you have instructed.I liked how beautifully the dough formed. After Thanksgiving I will followup to letvyou know how my oie turned out…fingers crossed. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL AND THANKYOU!!!!
Thank you so much, Lauren! I appreciate you trying my recipe. I hope you love it and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I would like to use this recipe to make 8 mini pies, would one recipe be enough? Or should I double it? Thanks!
Hi Rebecca! The double crust dough recipe may be enough. It just depends on how wide and deep your mini tins are. I always like a little extra crust to make the edges extra pretty. You could always 1 1/2 times the recipe. I hope that helps!
Iʻm excited to try this recipe for my pies this year. How far in advance can I prepare the dough?
Hi Lahela! You can make it up to a week ahead of time. I would just tightly wrap it and let it sit in the refrigerator until you are ready to roll it out. I hope that helps! 🙂
Will this be enough crust for a 10 inch cast iron skillet?
Thank you 🙂
Dear Melissa,
Thank you so much for this pie crust recipe! I bake pies for my family every Thanksgiving and since I only do it once a year, I’m still working on finding the perfect recipes! This is the first crust recipe I’ve ever come across w/ vinegar! What a difference a lil tsp makes! The dough is so much more pliable, i.e. rolls out nicely w/out mess, dryness or sticky frustration. I was so happy working w/ this, but then the true test was the final product – I am sold. This is now going to be my go-to recipe for all pastry crusts – flaky buttery perfection. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
After making and eating this crust I don’t want to eat pie from a different crust again! We ended up making a turkey pot pie with our Thanksgiving leftovers. Even Bettie my husband who previously thought pie crust was the grossest thing to eat loved it too and wanted more. My 8 year old daughter did the majority of the mixing here and my husband rolled out the dough. A few questions: how do we keep the dough from falling apart while it’s so “chilled”? We had to wait until it thawed out a bit to be pliable. Also, how do you make your ends so nice? Mine looked like a 2 year-old just got done with the edges. Thanks again and we look forward to this recipe at Christmas!
Awesome. Made this and heard my husband remark that the pie was fantastic. Everyone at the dinner raved about this pie crust. Thank you.
I use your two pie crust for a peach cobbler and it turned out great the crust was easy to make with a cutter. Will use the again to make all my pies.
Thanks Ron