Homemade pie crusts are about a thousand times more flavorful, flaky, and tender than the store-bought kind. It takes a little bit of extra work to get a perfect pie crust, but it absolutely does not need to be as intimidating as it may seem.
Until the dough comes together in a cohesive ball, it seems like something has gone wrong. Not to mention all of the frustrations when pie dough shrinks or loses its shape after baking. I’ve factored in as many potential pie crust woes into this recipe to make it as foolproof as possible.
I actually completely overhauled my pie crust recipe in 2020 to make it even more tender and flaky. I took a bunch of feedback I’d received over the years from readers to improve the recipe and I’m SO happy with the results. Take a look at just how FLAKY:
I spent weeks testing, experimenting, and researching different pie dough methods, tips, and tricks. Some worked, others didn’t.
I’m sharing a ton of tips that truly work in this post, so let’s go ahead and get right into the juicy stuff. (Or should I say flaky stuff?)
How to Make the Best Ever Pie Crust
For Flaky Pie Crust, Keep Everything COLD, Especially Your Butter
If your kitchen is above 73°F, you can refrigerate all of your ingredients and equipment including your bowl, rolling pin, and pie plate until it’s between 65-70°F (dip an instant-read thermometer into your flour to gauge the temperature). If it’s a hot day, or you have hot hands, you’re probably better off making your pie dough in a food processor.
If your kitchen is warm, fill freezer bags with ice and a little water and set them on your work surface for 10 minutes to chill it before rolling out your pie dough. This will prevent the butter from becoming greasy as you work with the dough.
Pea-Sized vs. Large Chunks of Butter in Pie Dough
- The general rule of thumb is that smaller pieces of butter will result in a more mealy textured crust that holds up better to custard fillings.
- Larger chunks of butter will yield a flakier crust better suited for fruit fillings. Larger chunks also run the risk of creating pools of butter as your pie dough bakes.
- Overall, the differences can look relatively minor from a visual perspective once the crusts are baked.
- If you don’t have a ton of pie dough experience or confidence, I’d recommend small pieces of butter. It makes the dough much easier to work with!
- Take a look at what a difference it makes to use pea-sized vs. large chunks of butter in pie crust:
Cut the Butter Into Small Uniform Pieces
It should take just a couple of minutes to cut the butter into the flour mixture so you don’t risk the butter getting too hot. For this reason, it’s helpful to start out with pieces of butter that are already small in size. I’ve included several options for processing the butter below. My personal favorite is to grate it like cheese!
Method 1: Grater or Knife
Take your butter and freeze it for about 10 minutes, or until it’s super cold and firm. Using the large holes on a grater, literally grate the butter like cheese. If you have it, you can use the grater attachment on your food processor, but otherwise use the large holes on a box grater. Return the grated butter to the freezer for another 10 minutes until it’s firm before adding into the flour mixture.
If you don’t have a box grater, freeze your butter for even longer, until firm, then use a sharp knife or bench scraper to slice it into chunks.
Working quickly, use your hands to further cut and break the butter into pieces the size of small peas. You can also use a pastry cutter/blender or two knives.
Method 2: Food Processor
Since I live in Phoenix where temperatures often exceed 85°F, I typically use a food processor to make pie dough. It’s quick, easy, and prevents the butter from warming up too much. Cube your sticks of butter with a bench scraper and freeze until firm. Add into the dry ingredients in the bowl of the food processor with the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas.
You want the butter to end up the size of little peas. This will help bring the dough together cohesively without overworking it.
Overworking the pie dough develops more gluten, which can make the baked crust tough and dense instead of light and flaky. This can also cause the crust to shrink while it’s baking. Additionally, overworking the dough with your hands can start to melt the butter, preventing that flaky texture from forming.
Creating pea-sized bits of butter will also prevent the butter from pooling into greasy puddles as the pie bakes. I used to use larger chunks of butter and would encounter these grease pools too often, so I’ve scaled back to much smaller pieces.
How Much Water to Use For Pie Dough?
This is one of the trickiest parts of making pie dough. The reason is that many factors affect how much ice water you’ll need to add, such as the climate and humidity of your kitchen and the brand of flour you’re using. That’s why the recipe calls for a range of water. Add half of the total amount to start with. Toss it in to combine either by hand or with a few pulses of the food processor.
Pick up a piece of the mixture and pinch it between your fingers. It should hold its shape. If it crumbles away or seems really floury and dry, then you need to add more water.
At this point, I like to turn the mixture out onto a work surface and begin pressing it together into one messy lump of dough. Doing so will give you a better indication if you need to add more water.
The dough won’t look like much at first. It’ll be kind of craggly and messy looking, and that’s okay.
Once you have a fairly cohesive mound of dough, flatten it into a disk and fold it onto itself, kneading gently as you work.
Do this a couple of times to ‘laminate’ the dough. Every fold will give you more flaky layers. Just be careful to be gentle and work the dough only until it comes together into a smooth cohesive disk like this:
If you were to cut the mass in half, such as for a double-crust pie, you can visibly see the layers of butter thanks to that extra folding step. These layers are going to bake into crispy, tender, flaky goodness:
Give the Dough a Rest
If you have problems with your crusts shrinking while baking OR if your crust becomes tough, then it needs more time to rest so the gluten can relax so it doesn’t snap back to its original smaller shape. I’ve included these resting periods in the recipe directions.
After mixing it: wrap it in plastic and refrigerate overnight. You can shorten this to a few hours if you must, but I find overnight really makes a difference in preventing classic pie issues.
After rolling it out: let it rest in the fridge after you’ve rolled it out and placed it in the pie dish and/or after you’ve assembled. Do NOT stretch the dough to fit into the tin, as it will snap back like a rubber band while baking.
Now let’s move on to the other area of pie crust that I think frustrates a lot of people.
How to Roll Out Pie Dough
I typically roll out my dough on a marble pastry board, but that is totally optional. You can use the trick I mentioned above of icing down your counter before rolling to help keep things nice and cool. Avoid overworking the dough as you roll it out. Keep the dough moving on a lightly floured surface so you don’t roll over the same areas repeatedly, making it tough.
You’ll want about a 12-inch diameter for a 9-inch pie pan. Some pans are deeper than others, so factor that into your rolling. Whatever you do, make sure the thickness is about 1/8-inch for your pie crusts. Thinner will result in rips and tears. Thicker and it won’t cook through and get flaky.
Flour your work surface, the dough itself, and your rolling pin throughout the process as needed. There are two inexpensive tools that I find are both a MUST when it comes to rolling out pie dough: a flour shaker and a bench scraper.
The flour shaker allows you to easily add flour wherever sticking might be happening. The bench scraper allows you to easily keep the dough moving as you roll it out, which is essential. I keep the dough moving in quarter-turns to prevent sticking and to keep it an even thickness.
Alternatively, you can roll the pie dough out between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap. I find that most non-commercial paper and plastic wrap isn’t big enough to accommodate a 12- to 14-inch diameter circle, so I don’t often use this method.
If at any point the butter begins to get melty and sticky, return the dough to the fridge immediately.
Use your fingers to flute the edges of the pan if you wish. I find that I need to make a more dramatic flute than I might think since the design will loosen during baking. Whatever you do, don’t make the flute too thick and heavy, otherwise it’ll slump down the sides.
More Dough Than Other Recipes?
You might notice in the recipe below that I call for more ingredients than other recipes. This is because I think it’s easier to work with dough when you have a little more than you may need. It comes together more cohesively and if you get any rips, tears, or make any mistakes with a design, you have extra.
This especially comes in handy if you have a deeper pie dish or if you want to get fancy with any designs.
Pie Crust: Butter vs. Shortening?
I’ve done an extensive amount of testing on pie crust. Let’s just say my kitchen has seen a LOT of butter. I made the messes and did the testing so you don’t have to. Here’s what I learned.
When it comes to pie dough, I’ve heard a lot of confusing and conflicting opinions about which is the better fat. If you’re curious, you can learn more about the general differences between butter and shortening here. But I actually tested the two fats in pie crust side-by-side to compare. I still need to do testing with lard, so stay tuned for that!
Shortening
All-shortening dough can be easier to work with in one sense because unlike butter, shortening requires less chilling time. Shortening has a higher melting temperature than butter. However, this also means that unlike the very hard chunks of cold butter that remain in the control dough, shortening is soft enough that it is easily overworked, resulting in a crumbly crust instead of a flaky crust. In our blind-baked shortening crust, the parchment paper holding the pie weights actually stuck to the crust, pulling some of it off with it.
As you can see in the photograph, the all-shortening dough ended up being flat, tender, and fairly crumbly. The texture was actually reminiscent of shortbread, and it was completely lacking in flavor. In fact, the flavor reminded me of store-bought dough.
Butter
In this all-butter dough, there were plenty of visible chunks of butter studded throughout. Once it came together and was chilled, it was a bit of a challenge to maintain that perfect temperature where it’s warm enough to shape but cold enough that the butter doesn’t melt. Especially for me living in the desert. The extra effort paid off immensely, though. This pie crust was ridiculously light, flaky, and loaded with rich buttery flavor. You could immediately tell this was homemade, in the best way. This is why I almost always prefer a 100% butter pie crust.
If you like the benefits of shortening, then I’d recommend a 50-50 ratio of butter and shortening to get the best of both worlds.
Other Pie Crust “Tricks” Put to the Test
Vodka in Pie Crust?
A few reputable sources have claimed that by substituting a portion of the water with vodka in a pie crust recipe, you prohibit gluten development and therefore ensure a tender, flaky crust. I tested this against my standard pie crust recipe and found the differences to be slight. I don’t think it’s worth the extra effort if you don’t have chilled vodka on hand.
Optional SECRET Ingredient!!
As you can see, I’ve done a lot of side-by-side testing of pie crust variations. Most of the time the classic recipe has won out, with a single exception: SOUR CREAM!
Sour cream acts as a tenderizer in baked goods, and I was curious to see if it would significantly affect the texture of pie crust.
- I added 2 tablespoons of sour cream to my standard single recipe along with the butter.
- This dough was very soft and slightly sticky, but easy enough to work with.
- The texture was ultra-light, puffy, and flaky, almost like puff pastry.
- This pie crust puffed up to a surprising height.
- If you have sour cream handy, I definitely suggest giving it a shot.
How to Add Sour Cream
Add in 2 tablespoons to the single recipe below, and reduce the water by about 2 tablespoons, or as needed.
Can you Make Pie Dough Ahead of Time?
Yes! Here are your options:
1. Chilling the dough disk: Pastry dough can be shaped into a disc and refrigerated for up to 3 days, as long as it’s well wrapped in plastic.
2. Chilling the unbaked pie shells: Refrigerate for up to 3 days. Simply roll out your dough, lay it into your pie tin, crimp the edges, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. When ready, simply remove from the fridge, fill, and bake. This works perfectly for single-crust pies like pumpkin or sweet potato.
3. Freezing dough: Pastry dough can also be shaped into a disc and frozen for up to 2 months, well wrapped in plastic, and placed in a freezer bag or airtight container. Defrost in the fridge overnight before rolling out.
4. Freezing pie shells: Unbaked pie shells can also be covered and frozen for up to 2 months. No thawing necessary.
How to Bake Pie Dough
I’ve included instructions on how to blind-bake the crust for recipes that require an already-baked crust. Otherwise, just follow the directions in the pie recipe you’re following for baking the crust – or, check out my full article on How to Blind Bake Pie Crust here!
The Best Pie Pan for the Best Pie Crust
The material of your pie pan can make a big difference in how your pie bakes. I recently used this Best Ever Pie Crust recipe to experiment with different pie pans, to determine which pie pan is best. Check out my Best Pie Pan article here to see my side-by-side experiments using glass, ceramic, metal, and disposable pie pans, and learn which pie pans I recommend.
Expert Tip!
Place your pie pan on a rimmed baking sheet before putting in the oven. This helps you to remove the pie tin without damaging the crust with your oven mitts. Better yet? Place the sheet on a BAKING STONE to ensure a golden crispy bottom crust and avoid any sogginess.
Take a look at these pies using this recipe, all made by HTH community members – many of whom had previously struggled to master pie dough! Follow the tips in this article to bake pies that look like these:
To kickstart the holidays coming up, I made a persimmon cranberry pecan pie. The star was definitely the crust. It was flaky, buttery and so yummy. The only downside is you have to chill the dough for awhile so plan accordingly.
Such a delicious flavor of pie! YUM!
This recipe lured me to make a piecrust for the first time in over thirty year. It worked well for Apple Dumplings.
Yay! Apple Dumplings sound delicious!
Easy to work with and made flaky, delicious crust!
So thrilled to hear that, Emily!
Delicious crust!!! Flaky, buttery, mmmmm. Thank you!
Yay!
Delicious! Used this crust to make an Apple galette and it was divine! Flaky and flavorful. The only thing I’ll do different next time is use the food processor to make sure the butter is all pea size as I had some butter leakage.
So glad to hear that!
Amazing recipe!! So thankful for Handle The Heat recipes. Made this pie more than once. Will make again very soon.
Hooray!
This crust is DELICIOUS! It makes you wonder why you would ever buy a pre made crust. It’s that good!
So glad to hear this!
Easy to make and perfect for fall baking all the pies!
Easy to handle and flaky!
So good!
Refrigeration helps the dough roll out so nicely.
Great crust recipe. Easy to follow. I have always been intimidated I making pie dough and this was a great recipe. It turned out very flaky and very flavorful.
I’m so happy to hear of your success with our recipe, Michelle! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
This was so easy to do and roll out. And it was so flaky and baked up lovely. I made the apple caramel pie and this crust held up! No soggy bottom. Will make it again and again and again…
Yay!! No soggy bottom’s wanted here! Apple caramel pie sounds fantastic! I’m so happy to hear you loved this recipe, thanks for the rave review!
Love this recipe,, Nice and flaky..
Love this pie crust.. I used my food processor to shred the frozen butter. It made incorporating the flour n butter so much easier.. Thank you.
This was a very easy pie crust to make. Which means, more pie crusts in the future!
That’s a huge win in our book! Yay!!
A very easy pie crust. I have been unsuccessful in the past with homemade pie crusts. This was easy to follow and I can’t wait to taste.
So wonderful to hear you loved this recipe, Karie! Glad that the recipe was easy to follow!
Ok, everyone says their pie crust is “the best.” No, no. THIS ONE IS THE BEST. It’s flaky and perfect. Print this and save! Period. End of story. #
Buttery, flakey and so delicious! I loved the step by step instructions that made it fool proof. Pie crust has always been a struggle for me but this recipe and the instructions made it simple, easy and the result was perfection!
Yay!! So happy to hear of your success with this recipe, Tiffany! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Thank you so much for this great pie crust recipe – I finally have had success making pie crust using these ratios! It has always been tricky for me, but all of your tips really helped!
Hooray!! So happy to hear that, Veronica!
One of the best pies I’ve ever made. The crust cooked beautifully and was flakey. All of Tessa’s adjustments to her original recipe were spot on. I used an aluminum pan rather than my usual stoneware pan because I wanted a crispier bottom. I will definitely rely on this recipe when I make my thanksgiving pies.
Wonderful to hear! So glad you love this new-and-improved recipe, Wendy 🙂 Be sure to tag Handle the Heat on social media so we can see your gorgeous Thanksgiving pies!
I have tried this crust twice now. It is fantastic and so flavorful. It will become my only go to pie crust recipe.
Amazing!! So happy to hear that, Megan! Thanks for the rave review!
Quick and easy pie crust.
Absolutely fantastic! made both savoury and sweet pie and both turned out delicious with this dough!
Hooray!!
I usually have a hard time with our crust, but I nailed this one!
Woohoo!! So happy to hear that!
Fantastic recipe – delicious and doable – definitely my go-to pie crust 🙂
So excited to hear that, yay!!
This is by far one of the best pie crusts, ever! Recipe is easy to follow and turns out perfect. The tips and tricks are extremely helpful.
Absolutely loved the crust. Used it in a savory Chicken Pot Pie and a sweet Pumpkin Chiffon – Great both ways!
I also really appreciate the tips and details in so many of the recipes on this site. Love reading those and really makes things so much easier to execute!
Both pies sound absolutely delicious, YUM! So happy you loved this recipe!
Planning and patience, patience and planning, that’s the key. This was my first time making a double pie crust dough as I often use store bought rolled dough for my pies. I grated frozen sticks of butter for the recipe, and mixed that into the flour with 2 forks since I don’t have a food processor–labor intensive and tiring–but in the end it was worth it. Your Thanksgiving apple pie recipe was awesome and flavorful, and your lattice pie video was great to follow.
The pie was delicious served warm that same evening. After a day in the fridge, the crust was a little hard and thick at the edges. Perhaps, I need to flatten out the dough more than 13″ or cut away more of the lattice edges, or I folded the dough more than necessary. Any thoughts?
So happy you enjoyed this recipe, Iris! If your crust was a bit thick, you are correct–for the Thanksgiving Apple Pie, you want to roll the dough out to about a 14-inch circle, so that might help! If that wasn’t the case, then you may need to shorten the lattice edges just a tad. I experienced that very same thing when I made a lattice crust the first time. While still delicious, the crust was quite thick. Cutting the dough pieces even just 1/4-1/2-inch shorter can make all the difference!
All those who have tasted this crust feel as if its buttery, light and airy. It’s a perfect vessel for any filling!
I’ve been avoiding pastry for so long but based on the success I have had with other recipes by Tessa I thought I’d give this a go (AND I was craving apple pie!). Super easy and gave me a pastry that was easy to handle (even after a long chill) and baked off crisp and light as a feather. No more bought pastry for me
Wonderful to hear! So happy you loved this recipe, Anne 🙂
This pie crust was simple to make, didn’t require too many ingredients, and was easy to work with! I would definitely make it again! I used the sour cream and while I cannot compare since I did not try it without, I do think it was an easy addition and the crust was delicious and flaky.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Monica! Thanks for sharing!
Is it possible to make a savoury pie with this crust? Thanks!
Absolutely! That would taste delicious, enjoy your savory pie! 🙂
Super easy and delicious crust. I also followed the sour cream tip. Used it for the spiced apple galette and everyone loved it!
Delicious! So happy to hear your galette was a hit, Desiree!
I thought making pie was difficult but after this recipe I love baking pies! It is one of my favourite desserts:))
So happy to hear that, yay!!
I tried making the dough in my new 9 cup food processor and I think I may have over mixed it.. it was not at all shaggy or a mass. It was pretty much a smooth dough when it came out. When I halved it, it rolled out very thin and didn’t fully cover a 9 inch glass pie plate. Was I not supposed to half it? I’m going to try out again.. first time pie crust jitters, I guess lol.
Hi Lenny, it does sound like your pie dough may have been over mixed, and possibly too much water was added if it was really smooth. Do you measure your ingredients with a digital scale? We include in the ingredient list and directions details on how to make a single crust as well as a double crust. Which ingredient list did you halve? I’d highly recommend following along with the photos in the pink tip box above the recipe to ensure that your dough looks correct during each step. How was your end result? Please let us know how it goes when you try this recipe again 🙂
i’m so proud of my pie crust!! layery and flaky and so good!!! reminds me of a more stable croissant. Made pumpkin pie and it was perfect thank you
Wonderful!! So glad to hear that, thanks for sharing!
This is hands down the best pie crust that I’ve ever made. I love that it keeps in the fridge well which allows me to make bigger batches when I have a lot of pies to make, especially over the holidays. Delicious, buttery and flaky. Just perfect.
So happy you love this recipe! Just a tip: pastry dough/unbaked pie shells can actually be frozen for up to two months ahead of time, which could help make your holiday baking even easier! Check out our Make Ahead Baking Guide for more details 🙂
The flavor was fantastic! Just a little puffy.
I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe, Haven! What are you using to weigh down your pie crust when you bake it (depending on your filling)? You really want to make sure that your crust is covered in foil, then completely filled with weights to the top when par/blind baking. I used to use Mrs. Anderson’s Pie Weights when making pies but found that the small container didn’t allow for the crust to be completely filled, now I just use dried beans or sugar. I hope you give this recipe another try!
Loved this recipe! The crust was flaky and had a great flavor. Definitely a little time and effort involved, but well worth the effort as it’s infinitely better than a store bought crust. If you are using moist fillings in your pie, I would definitely partially blind bake it first as that will ensure a crisp, not soggy bottom. Definitely would recommend this recipe!
So happy you enjoyed this recipe, Ellie! And yes, you are correct to parbake a pie made with a moist filling, thanks for sharing! 🙂
First time making pie, and it turned out perfectly!
So happy to hear that!
Easy to make pie crust. Flaky and delicious.
I use to hate to make pie crusts from scratch but this recipe has converted me to be a pie maker! The recipe was so easy make and the dough was a dream to roll out and work with. Never stuck to the counter! You can actually see the flakey layers after you bite into the crust. I was so glad to see the 2 crust recipe since I wanted to try my hand at making an apple pie with a lattice top…first time doing that! Love the challenges and looking forward to the next!
Wonderful to hear, Lisa! Yay!! 🙂
So easy and yummy! This was my first time making a pie and it turned out perfect. The lattice crust was way easier than I was expecting!
So happy to hear that, Shanna!
This is the best pie crust recipe I have ever made! It comes together so simply and the dough is so soft and easy to work with! Thanks for sharing, I will only ever make this crust from now on!
Hooray!! So excited to hear that, Gail!
This was such an easy recipe to make! I will definitely be using this as my go to for pie crusts for now on.
It came out to be a perfect pie crust. Easy to make with such detailed instructions. Thank you so much Tessa for sharing this recipe.
So glad to hear that!
I’ve tried every pie crust trick, including adding vodka, trying to find a crust that was easy to roll and that I was confident serving to guests. This recipe ended my search. The dough was the easiest I’ve ever rolled and it baked up flaky and delicious. I used all butter and added strained Greek yogurt instead of sour cream because that is what I had in the refrigerator. Thanks to Handle the Heat, I can enjoy making and serving a pie.
Woohoo!! So happy to hear yogurt worked as well! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Hi. Can the sour cream be substituted by yogurt. I noticed in your Cinnamon bin recipe, you this as a substitute for sour cream.
We haven’t tried that! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try 🙂
Loved the flakiness of the crust. This pie was so delicious! My family and friends loved it. I used frozen blueberries and they worked wonderfully. Thank you Tessa for the recipe!!!
Sounds absolutely delicious! So happy you enjoyed this recipe, Margaret!
This crust is delicious and easy to work with! I usually use my grandmother’s all shortening crust recipe but decided to change it and this is great!
Glad you enjoyed it, Erin!
I was intimidated to make a pie crust but it was SO worth it. Best pie crust I’ve ever tasted — so flaky and buttery, and it really wasn’t too complicated. I’ll be making this again! Thanks Tessa and the HTH team for a great challenge.
Amazing!! So happy to hear that, Kasey! Thanks for the rave review 🙂
This is a great pie crust. Grating the butter is a game changer! Make this crust, it’s amazing!
Great pie crust! Grating the butter is a game changer! Try this crust, it will become your go to!
Enjoyed making the crust along with Tessa! Great flaky texture though even with par baking, I had a lot of butter leak from the crust. On to better fluting next time! Thanks for a great challenge!
So happy you enjoyed this recipe, Mary Ann! It sounds like your butter chunks may have been a bit too big-that is typically why butter leaks from the crust. You want to aim for chunks of butter the size of small peas. Hope that helps for your next bake, but I’m so happy to hear this crust turned out super flaky! 🙂
I used this recipe for an apple & strawberry streusel pie. The crust was so delicious and flaky. It cames together so easily. I only had time to let the dough chill for about 4 hours but the texture was still phenomenal!
Yum, your pie sounds so delicious! Happy to hear you enjoyed this pie crust recipe 🙂
I am now so less intimidated making this pie dough! It was easy to follow the step by step directions, and it came out perfect every time I made it!! I am actually looking forward to making pies for the holidays!!!
Woohoo!! So excited to hear that, Karen!
All I have to say is yummmmmmmmm
honestly i stoped baking pies after i had a literal mental breakdown while trying to do one… since i tried this recipe i’ve made 5!!! i absolutely love it
So happy to hear how much you love this recipe, Linda!
The best pie I ever made!!! The taste and texture of the dough is unbeatable!
Wonderful! So glad to hear that, Abi!