Perfect All Butter Pie Crust

A perfectly flaky, easy all butter pie crust!

Homemade pie crust.  Do those three words make you nervous?  For some reason, making perfect pie crust is a daunting task for many home bakers.  Today I aim to give you the confidence to make your own perfect all butter pie crust!  I know you can do this!!

The things I have learned about making pie crust from scratch are two fold.  Number one, keep your ingredients cold and number two, do not overwork your dough.  I remember reading somewhere to keep in mind that you are not mad at your dough, so treat it gently. ❤️

Perfect all butter pie crust has just a few simple ingredients ~ butter, flour, granulated sugar, salt and ice-cold water.  Pretty sure you have all those ingredients in your kitchen right now. 😉  I always start by cubing my butter.  I like to cut the butter into tablespoons and then quarter each tablespoon.  Then return the butter to the refrigerator to keep it cold.  Next, mix your flour, sugar and salt in a medium to large bowl.  I just give it a mix together with my pastry cutter.  Then add your cold butter and cut it into the flour mixture with your pastry cutter.  If you do not have a pastry cutter, you can use two forks.  I also know that you can use a food processor, but I find my crust turns out more flaky if cutting in the butter by hand (I'm guessing a food processor isn't as loving and gentle with the dough).

Once your dough resembles small peas and all the butter is well coated with flour, you are ready to add your water.  I fill a cup with ice water and then measure my tablespoons of water from this icy cold mixture.  Drizzle the water, 1-2 tablespoons at a time, over your butter/flour mixture and gently incorporate with a rubber spatula.  I find I typically use 5 - 6 tablespoons of water, but this can vary.  When your mixture is forming larger clumps and will stick together, you have enough water.  The dough will be slightly sticky and moist, but not wet.

Then dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and use floured hands to fold the dough into itself until the flour and butter are fully incorporated.  Remember you are NOT kneading the dough; you just want the dough to come together enough to shape it into a ball.  Then flatten your ball into a disk about 1-inch thick.  You will want your ball to be more round than the one I show here👇 (so it rolls into a more perfect circle).

Then wrap your dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour (and up to several days) before rolling out.

Roll out your chilled pie dough on a well-floured work surface. Roll from the center of the disk to the edge, turning the dough a quarter turn after each roll, making sure it doesn’t stick to the surface. Once you have achieved the desired size, brush off any excess flour and proceed with your recipe's instructions.

I have the best results folding the rolled dough into quarters before transferring it to the pie dish.  I also like to return the prepared pie crust to the refrigerator to keep it cold while preparing the filling and preheating the oven.

See?  Easy as pie. 😉 You've got this!!

CRAVING MORE PIE RECIPES?

• White Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Cinnamon Apple Crostata

Recipe shared with Meal Plan Monday

Print

Perfect All Butter Pie Crust

Servings 1 9-10" pie crust

Author Tasia ~ twosugarbugs

Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed and well chilled
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour plus more as needed for rolling
• 1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4-6 tablespoons ice cold water

Instructions

• Cut your butter into small cubes and return it to the refrigerator.
• In a medium-large size bowl, mix your flour, sugar and salt.
• Add your cold butter to the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter (or two forks) cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of small peas. A few larger bits of butter remaining are okay too.
• Fill a cup or small bowl with ice water and use this to add to your butter and flour mixture. Drizzle the water in 1-2 tablespoons at a time and stir with a rubber spatula. Continue to add water until the mixture forms larger clumps. I usually use 5-6 tablespoons. The dough will be a slightly sticky and moist, but not wet.
• Dump dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Use floured hands to fold the dough into itself until the flour and butter are fully incorporated. Remember you are not kneading the dough; you just want the dough to come together enough to shape it into a ball. Then flatten the ball into a disk about 1-inch thick.
• Tightly wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using (and up to several days).
• Roll out your chilled pie dough on a well-floured work surface. Roll from the center of the disk to the edge, turning the dough a quarter turn after each roll, making sure it doesn’t stick to the surface. Once you have achieved the desired size, brush off any excess flour and proceed with your recipe's instructions.

Notes

I have the best success transferring the dough to the pie dish by folding it into quarters before moving it.

Once the pie crust is fitted in the pie dish, I like to return it to the refrigerator while I prepare the pie filling and preheat the oven.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

Be sure to tag @twosugarbugs on Instagram and hashtag it #twosugarbugs