My Favorite Pie Crust Recipe

With this simple recipe, making a tender and flaky homemade pie crust is totally doable, even for beginners!

This is my go-to pie crust recipe. It has a buttery flavor and a tender, flaky texture. The dough is relatively easy to work with and roll out, and it holds its shape in the oven. The recipe only requires a few ingredients and if you follow the steps, making a delicious homemade pie crust is totally doable, even for beginners.

What You’ll Need To Make Pie Crust

Some pie crust recipes call for all butter; some call for all shortening, lard or oil; and some call for a combination of fats. I like to use a blend of butter and shortening. The butter lends delicious flavor and flakiness, while the shortening makes the dough easy to work with and also helps it hold its shape. It’s important that the butter and shortening are both very cold. (I keep them in the fridge until I’m ready to add them.)

As for the dry ingredients, in addition to all-purpose flour and salt, I like to add a bit of baking powder to my homemade pie crust. It helps the crust expand into the pan, rather than shrink and slip down the sides as it bakes (a genius tip from pastry chef Nick Malgieri).

How to make pie crust

To begin, combine the flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade.

Add the cold butter and shortening in pieces.

Pulse until you have coarse crumbs with lots of pea and chickpea-sized clumps of butter and shortening within. Don’t overprocess the dough: all of those clumps of fat steam in the oven, creating layers in the pastry that make a flaky crust.

Add ice cold water and pulse a few times until the mixture is just evenly moistened and very crumbly. It will not come together into a mass — that’s good!

Dump the crumbly dough out onto a work surface. (I know this looks all wrong, but have faith!)

Gather it into a ball.

Then pat the dough into a 5-inch disc. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes or up to 3 days to rest.  Allowing the dough to rest helps the gluten relax and also ensures that dough stays chilled — both important in making a tender, flaky crust.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and dust your work surface lightly with flour. Place the dough on top and sprinkle a little flour over the dough.

Use your hands to quickly knead the dough into a soft and malleable disc (don’t overwork it; you want it just supple enough to roll).

Roll the dough, turning it frequently and adding more flour as necessary so it doesn’t stick, into a 13-inch circle.

Fold the dough into quarters without creasing it and transfer it to a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan (the pan should be at least 1-1/2 inches deep).

Gently fit the dough into the pan, easing it inwards rather than stretching it outwards. Don’t worry if it tears, just patch it right back up.

Trim the edges to 1/2-inch beyond the lip of the pie pan, if necessary. Turn the edges under to create a rim on the crust (you can use the scraps to patch in any thin areas); then press the rim against the lip of the pan, forming it into an even edge as you go. Using your fingers, crimp the rim.

Place the crust in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before proceeding with your recipe.

If your crust requires blind baking: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Remove the crust from the freezer and cover with a piece of parchment paper. Fill the crust at least halfway full with dried beans or pie weights.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is pale and partially cooked. Remove the parchment and dried beans/pie weights and then proceed with your pie recipe.

That’s all there is to it. Happy pie baking!

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