Butter Pie Crust

Easy all-butter pie crust recipe makes two pie crusts, use both or freeze one for later. Step-by-step photos show you how to make this delicious pie crust recipe.

There are many things you can buy premade at the grocery store but making something from home can bring so much joy, so when I can I make homemade. Homemade pie crust is an easy thing to make homemade because it only requires a few ingredients and a few minutes to assemble.

The only tricky part is letting the pie crust rest in the fridge before rolling it out. But if you're like me you just freeze pie dough in the freezer so you are ready to go whenever you want, well, after the pie dough has thawed.

Let's get to the recipe.

Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour/ Plain Flour. Just regular all-purpose flour is needed. But the key is measuring your flour properly, this is why I always recommend a scale to measure by weight. American style measuring cups measure by volume and this can create drastically inaccurate results, which will tremendously effect your pie crust. If you must measure by cups then use a spoon to scoop flour into the cup then use a knife to scrape the top to try and get an equal cup.
• Salt. Just a little bit is needed, ½ teaspoon! I like to use sea salt.
• Cold Butter. Your butter needs to be cold! I like to take my butter cube it then place it in the freezer for 5 minutes before using it. The cold smears/ chunks of butter in the crust helps create the flakey pie crust we all love. You can use salted butter or unsalted butter, if you use salted you can omit the salt called for in the recipe.
• Ice Cold Water. Water helps with the gluten formation, it needs to be ice cold so it doesn't warm up the butter and melt it.
• Ice Cold Vodka. Since water helps with the gluten formation, but if too much gluten forms you risk a tougher crust. Using vodka is the perfect fix, it moistens the crust to bring it together but alcohol burns off in the oven quickly, so it doesn't assist with the gluten formation. The vodka is a good liquid to use when forming the pie dough so it's pliable.

Instructions

Pie crusts are easy to make and can be made months ahead of time. Whenever I prepare pie dough I make sure to double the recipe so I have 4 crusts ready to go whenever I want.

Use a large bowl because you are going to rub the flour together, so it can get messy if you are in a medium bowl. Combine the all-purpose flour and salt.

Next, add your cold cubed butter, I like to use a pastry cutter/ dough blender to incorporate the butter into the flour. You could use your fingertips but I find fingers get warm fast and melt the butter, which we do not want.

You want to mix the butter in until you get pea-sized amounts of butter left.

Add 4 teaspoons of ice-cold vodka and 6 teaspoons of ice-cold water but you may need up to 4 more teaspoons of water. I use a butter knife to cut the liquid in, you want the dough to be moist and just come together. Not wet.

Use your hands to press the dough all together. Over working the dough will create a tough pie dough so make sure to just mix it until it just comes together.

Shape into a ball and cut in half, then shape into a disc shape, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 48 hours.

If you chill the dough for more than 30 minutes you will need to let it sit out for a bit, before you roll the dough out.

For a 9-inch pie plate roll your disc into a 12-inch-ish circle.

The dough will be approximately ⅛ inch thick.

Roll the pie dough on the rolling pin so it's wrapped around it. Then transfer to a pie plate and unroll.

I like to use the back of my finger to gently press the pie dough into the plate

Fold the edges over to create a thick crust then use your two fingers to crimp the pie dough. By pressing two knuckles into the dough then use your other hand and use one knuckle to press it in between your two other knuckles pressing in.

Or use a fork to crimp the crust, the easy way I often do!

Now use your pie crust as the recipe calls for.

For an even flakier crust

My friend Michele at Studio Baked Blog told me about laminating my pie crust for an even flaker pie dough. It was amazing, the pie crust almost looks like puff pastry!

Once you have rolled your pie dough out fold it into thirds by taking one side and folding it a third in then grab the other side and fold it in on top of the side you just folded in.

Then fold the rectangle piece of dough in half to create a square.

Then roll out the dough again to a 12-inch circle.

For a pre-baked pie crust

If you are making a pie like a strawberry pie or banana/chocolate cream pie you want to pre-bake the crust a few hours or a day ahead.

I prick the dough all over with a fork. Then let the pie dough sit in the freezer for 20 minutes before baking. This helps ensure that your crust does not shrink and ensures the flaky crust.

After the pie crust has chilled gently place a piece of aluminum foil lightly sprayed with non-stick spray or use a crumpled up piece of parchment paper inside and to cover the pie and fill the dish with pie weights, dried beans, or rice.

Bake at 400F/204C for 20 minutes then carefully remove the weights and parchment paper, brush the dough with an egg wash (egg and water mixed together) I use a silicone pastry brush to brush the egg wash all over. This sort of seals off the pie and creates a sort of barrier for the filling later.

Then bake the butter pie crust for an additional 8-10 minutes or until the pie has a gorgeous shiny golden brown crust! Let the pie crust cool completely. You can bake this the day before filling your pie.

For a baked fruit pie or quiche follow recipe instructions

Freezing

Make sure to wrap your pie crusts in plastic wrap tightly, and do this twice to ensure there is no way to get freezer burn! Place the pie crusts on a flat surface to freeze then after frozen feel free to store on their sides.

To thaw let the pie crust rest in the fridge overnight or let it sit at room temperature for an hour or two.

Be careful if your pie crust is too soft the butter chunks will melt away, and you want the butter chunks to create the flakey crust.

Recipes to use the pie crust

One of my all-time favorite desserts is this fruits of the forest pie, you cannot beat the rich berries and apples baked inside a buttery pie crust!

Dutch apple pie is a delicious take on apple pie, the topping is irresistible. If you make this pie then you'll have one crust leftover which would be perfect for this vegetarian quiche recipe.

And if you want something chocolatey (because I always do) then this chocolate chess pie recipe would go down a treat!

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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