All Butter Pie Crust
The secret to a really good pie is its crust! Ditch the store bought crust and learn how to make my family’s favorite all butter pie crust recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup cold butter 2 sticks cut in small cubes
- 6-10 tablespoons ice water it usually takes me approximately 7-8
Instructions
Make the Pie Crust
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the 2 ½ cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Then use your fingers or a fork to cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal with a few pea-sized bits and flakes. In this step, you’re only breaking up the cold fat into tiny little flour-coated pieces; you’re not completely incorporating it. Do not overwork the ingredients.
- At this point, turn the crust mixture out onto a clean surface, making a well in the center. Slowly add 6-7 tablespoons of ice cold water and then, using floured hands, start to knead the dough together until it comes together in a ball. Avoid overworking the dough. If it feels too dry or crumbly, add another tablespoon of the water and then continue bringing the dough together with your hands. If it feels too sticky, sprinkle on more flour and then continue bringing the dough together with your hands. Cut the dough in half. Then form into two separate balls flatten slightly before wrapping in plastic wrap.
- Chill in the fridge for 2 hours or up to 3 days. Double wrap and freeze for up to two months.
Roll Out the Pie Crust
- Lightly flour a smooth work surface with flour. Place the dough on the floured surface and lightly flour the top of the dough and a rolling pin.
- Working quickly and efficiently with firm even pressure, roll out the dough starting from the center and rolling out, then starting from the center and rolling toward you. Add more flour as needed under or over the dough or on your rolling pin, rotate it a quarter turn and repeat. Gently working the dough to ⅛th inch thick or slightly thinner.
- Place the dough on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- You can also refrigerate first and then wrap and freeze between sheets of parchment paper for longer storage at this stage!
- You are now ready to line a pie tin, tart mold, or make hand pies!
Notes
Tips & Tricks
- Speed! Work quickly, keep the dough and ingredients cold and refrigerate the dough between each step. I often freeze my butter for 15 minutes prior to making this dough.
- A little robo-help. You can use a food processor to help make this dough come together fast. I’ve found, however, that there is a texture difference in the final crust and that I prefer to mix this dough by hand. I think this is because when you cut the butter into the flour, you have more control over what those pieces look like and they’ll be all different sizes, which you do want.
- Tough stuff. Overworking the dough can lead to a tough crust. The goal is to mix the ingredients just enough to combine them, which helps maintain the dough's tenderness.
- Let the good times roll! You’ll need to take your pie dough out of the fridge 10-15 minutes before you want to roll it out so that it isn’t rock hard. If you try rolling out really cold dough, I find it cracks easily at the edges. However, warm pie dough is unworkable. If you worry your dough has become too soft, transfer to a sheet of parchment paper and slide onto a baking sheet and chill for 10-15 minutes in the freezer.
- Zzzzz… Resting pie dough in the fridge for a couple of hours or even overnight can help the crust be more tender, flaky, and less likely to shrink while baking.
- Crunch! Use a coarse sanding sugar on top of hand pies or closed pies. It gives the crust an irresistible crunch that is still there on Day 2.
Looking for more dessert inspiration?
- Mini Biscoff Cheesecakes are no-bake treats that everyone will DEVOUR!
- Dirty Chai Tiramisu is the perfect make-ahead no-bake dessert you can make all summer and fall!
- Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream is a great excuse to take your ice cream maker off its shelf. Simply irresistible!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!