Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email below & we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus get great new recipes from us every week!
Here is your new favorite butter pie crust recipe! With pie, the crust is just as crucial as the filling, if not more. This post will focus on the all-butter pie crust, which is renowned for its flakiness and rich, buttery flavor. This crust is the perfect foundation for any pie, whether sweet or savory. It’s sure to elevate your pie to new heights of deliciousness.
A butter pie crust isn’t a base for your filling; it’s a crucial component that can make or break your pie. The key to a perfect crust lies in the quality of the butter and the technique of combining it with flour. This crust promises to bring a delightful, flakey texture and depth of flavor to your pie creations.
If you are looking for a pie recipe to accompany this perfect pie crust, check out my Pumpkin Pie or Peach Pie.
What is in an all-butter pie crust?
All-purpose Flour
Builds structure as it absorbs liquids and expands. All-purpose flour falls in the middle of bread flour (high in gluten) and cake flour (low in gluten). It’s exactly what it is named, all-purpose, the most universal flour that can be used in most baked goods.
Unsalted Butter
It is always important to use unsalted butter when baking. If you use salted butter, you have no way of knowing how much salt you are adding to your dough or batter and it will result in an overly salted treat.
Butter adds fats to your dough or batter which helps with moistness, flavor and texture. Butter melts at body temperature, which creates a ‘melt in your mouth’ sensation.
When baking with butter, the temperature is important. If the butter is too warm, your treat will melt too fast and overspread in the oven, leaving you with a greasy, flat mess. If your butter is too cold, it will have the opposite problem and not melt down enough, leaving your treat too thick.
Granulated Sugar
Adds sweetness, provides a caramelized flavor and crisp texture. Sugar assists with rising when creamed with butter. It helps add moisture to your treat and helps it evenly spread as it melts into a liquid in the heat of the oven. Sugar also helps with naturally preserving your baked treat.
Fine Sea Salt
Enhances flavor, adds balance, masks any bitter flavors. Salt is the most powerful and oldest preservative. Always make sure to use fine sea salt so it melts down at the right speed in the heat of the oven. If you use larger granule salt, it will not melt down fully when baked and will leave salt crystals throughout your treat, making it crunch like you dropped it into sand.
Ice Water
As in water with ice cubes. Chilly, ice cold. Using cold ingredients makes a difference when baking pie dough. The water binds the dough together while keeping it cool.
Milk & Egg White
For the egg wash, give the crust a golden finish.
What makes an all-butter crust different from other pie crusts?
An all-butter crust is known for its superior flavor and flakiness. Who doesn’t love a flaky crust? Unlike shortening or lard-based crusts, butter imparts a rich taste and creates distinct, tender layers in the crust. Yes, you can get a flaky pie crust with shortening, but using real ingredients like butter will make those flakey pockets burst with delicious butter flavor.
This is the best pie crust recipe. Really, it is so versatile. This buttery pie crust can be the casing for your homemade chicken pot pie or a Turkey Pot Pie. It is also amazing with all sweet pies and fruit pies. It is a good thing you clicked on this recipe, because after you try it, you will never be going to grocery stores again to buy a premade pie crust. You will forever opt to make your own homemade pie crust after you see just how easy and satisfying it is!
How do you ensure the crust stays flaky?
The key to flakiness is keeping the butter cold throughout the process. This ensures that the butter remains in small, solid pieces. When baked, the little bits of butter create steam pockets that lead to a flaky texture.
Can the dough be made ahead of time?
Yes, the dough can be made ahead of time. Wrapped tightly, it can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for longer storage, up to 1 month. If you freeze your dough, just make sure to thaw it out in the fridge before using.
Are there tips for rolling out the pie dough?
First sprinkle enough flour on your counter so that the dough does not stick. Also, coat your rolling pin in some flour. Make sure you start with your dough shaped in a ball or circle. Roll a few times, pressing firmly, then slightly turn your ball of dough about 30 degrees and roll a few more times again. Repeat, rotating the dough slightly every few rolls. This will help your dough roll out into a circle and it will also help it not stick to the counter.
Which is best, by hand or pastry cutter?
Both different methods with similar outcomes. Honestly, I have tried both ways, multiple times and both are great options! You will meet people who swear by one way or the other. But the way you cut the butter is not as important as how much you process your dough. If you over cut the butter into the dough you will end up with a chewy, no so flakey, pie crust. This can accidentally happen with both your hands or a pastry cutter. The trick is just going slow & watching closely.
Remember, the little butter pebbles are what make the flakey pockets in your pie crust. You don’t want those pockets too small or too large. It is all about getting it just right. You may need to experiment with this a bit to get your personal desired texture. I personally like my butter to look like a small piece of gravel. I know that I cut the butter in just right when I roll out my dough and see the butter marbling.
How do you make all-butter pie crust?
- Start by measuring your flour out on a kitchen scale. You can use a cup, but the kitchen scale is the most accurate and will yield the best results.
- Add in your sugar & salt
- Cut the cold butter (not room temperature) into little squares, then place it in the flour mixture. With your fingers, break the butter up into the flour. You could also use a pastry knife or hand held food processor. Once the butter is all broken up into the flour, slowly pour 1 tablespoon of ice water at a time into the mixture. To get ice cold water, you must actually pour a bowl or cup of water and place ice cubes in it. As soon as your dough comes together, you do not need any more water. Often times I stop at 7 tablespoons instead of 8.
- Divide the dough into two even disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Some FAQ About Pie:
Q: What is the best pie plate?
A: Ceramic pie dishes transfer heat more efficiently. Light metal or glass is second best. Here is my favorite pie dish.
Q: Does this recipe make enough dough for both a bottom and top crust?
A: Yes! When you divide your dough into 2 even discs, each is enough for a layer of pie crust. You can use one for the bottom and the other for the top of the pie. If you only need a bottom crust, like in my Pumpkin Pie recipe, you can save the other disk or make 2 pies!
Q: When would I need pie weights?
A: You need pie weights when the recipe calls for a blind bake. That means that the bottom crust will not fully bake once the pie filling is in, or the pie filling will not cook at all, so you need a fully baked crust before filling it, for example in a custard-based pie like my Coconut Cream Pie.
Q: How important is using cold ingredients?
A: Very! If you use warm or room-temperature butter & water, then the pie dough will melt down too quickly in your oven. In fact, keeping your pie dough chilled will totally transform the outcome of your pie. I like to use very cold ingredients, chill my dough for at least 1 hour, roll it out and place it back into the freezer while I preheat my oven. Making the dough as could as I can before baking.
Q: How long should I be preheating my oven?
A: Having a preheated, hot oven will make all the difference. In fact, a trick to make sure that the bottom of the crust fully cooks is to preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes with an empty cookie sheet inside. Then when you are ready to bake the pie, place the pie plate directly on the hot, empty cookie sheet inside of the oven. This will make sure that even heat is distributed through the bottom of the pie.
Q: What is the best way to roll out homemade pie dough?
A: Roll the pie dough out on a lightly floured surface. Roll a few times and then turn the dough 45 degrees, repeat. Roll a few times, turn the dough 45 degrees. That way you will roll out a circle shape if you continue rotating the dough every few rolls.
Recommended Products
Storage Tips
You can store the pie crust in your fridge for up to 3 days before using it. The longer you store it, the more melded the flavors get and the pie crust will actually get tastier.
Freezing Options
You can cover and freeze pie crust for up to 6 months. The best way to do this is to roll it out and secure it in a pie dish. Wrap the pie dish in aluminum foil or put the whole thing in a freezer bag. This makes pie-making super convenient if you have a ready-made pie crust waiting for you in your freezer.
Why make an all-butter pie crust?
Because the pie crust can make or break your pie! If you have a delicious filling with a not-so-delicious, chewy pie crust, then it will be so disappointing! You will enjoy every mouth full if your delicious filling is wrapped in a warm, buttery, flakey crust.
Want more?
If you want to try this recipe but aren’t 100% confident yet, then you are in luck! I have an online class that I have created for people just like you. Ready to learn how to make delicious homemade pie, but unsure where to start. This class is all online, so you can learn in the comfort of your own home. It is broken into 7 modules, plus you get a printable recipe with a workbook that goes along with the class. After you take this course, you will be making pies like a pro! What are you waiting for? Check out the class here.
Recipes You May Love
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email below & we’ll send it to your inbox. Plus get great new recipes from us every week!
All-Butter Pie Crust
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose Flour
- 1 cup unsalted Butter
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 8 tbsp ice water
- 1 tsp milk
- 1 egg white
Instructions
- Mix flour, sugar, salt in a bowl. Cut in cold butter. Break up butter and slowly add cold water. Divide into two discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in fridge for 30 minutes.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
I’d love to see it! Follow @_mrs.madi_ on Instagram and tag your photos with #mrsmadi.
Kay
What temperature do you bake on and for how long?
Madison Reid
Great question! It depends on what pie you make with it. So if you are blind baking the crust to fill with a cream filling, you would bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, but if you are baking an apple pie, you would bake the pie at 400 degrees for 30 minutes and then at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.