Homemade Flaky Pie Crust Recipe

I know, pie dough has a reputation. But once you know what each step is doing, it stops being scary. I weigh my flour every single time (more on that below), and I’ll show you how to do it with cups too.

What Makes a Flaky Pie Crust

So what does a really good pie crust look like? Light, flaky, and tender. It should bake up nice and golden. And when you lift out a slice, it shouldn’t droop.

The flakes come from butter. Those little chunks of cold butter in the dough melt in the oven and turn into steam. That steam lifts the dough into layers. More big chunks means more flakes.

Think of pie crust as something between shortbread and puff pastry. If the butter gets rubbed in too much, you end up with something more like shortbread. Actually, the technique is a lot like my quick puff pastry, just with less butter.

See those big chunks of butter? That’s what makes it flaky.

Ingredients for Pie Crust

Amounts are in the recipe card.

• Flour – Regular all-purpose is what I use most of the time. If you have pastry flour, use it! It has less gluten, so the crust comes out even more tender. Fluff, scoop, level (1 cup = 150 g).
• Butter – I use unsalted so I can control the salt. Only have salted? Use it and cut the salt in half. European-style butter has more fat, so the crust comes out even richer.
• Ice water – Just tap water with ice cubes in it. Cold water keeps the butter from going soft on you.
• Sugar – Just regular granulated sugar. A little helps the crust brown. Skip it for quiche and other savory pies.
• Salt – Kosher salt. It seasons the dough so the crust doesn’t taste flat, and it brings out the butter flavor.

How to Make Flaky Pie Crust

All the amounts are in the recipe card at the bottom.

Mix the Pie Dough

1. Weigh the flour – this is the biggest reason pie crusts fail. With too much flour, the dough turns dry and crumbly. You need 338 g. No scale? Fluff up the flour in the bag first, then scoop it with the cup and level it off with a knife. That’s about 2 1/4 cups.
2. Coat the butter in flour – cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and put them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Very cold butter holds its shape while you work it in. Then dump the flour, salt, sugar, and butter into a big bowl. Toss it with your hands so every cube gets coated.
3. Flatten the butter – now squish each cube flat between your thumb and index finger. Go fast, because warm hands melt butter. Keep tossing and rubbing until you have some flat, half-walnut-size pieces and some smaller pea-size ones.

   Big or small butter pieces? More big pieces give you a flakier crust. Making cutouts or a braided edge? Rub the butter in a bit more so the shapes hold.

   

4. Add the ice water – make a well in the middle and pour in 6 tablespoons of ice water. Toss it all with your fingers until it looks evenly damp. No kneading! Kneading builds gluten, and that’s what makes a crust tough.
5. Check the dough – grab a handful and give it a squeeze. Does it hold together? Then you’re done with the water. Still crumbly? Add more, 1 tablespoon at a time, and toss after each one. Too sticky? Sprinkle in a little more flour.
   
6. Press the dough together – tip it out onto a clean counter and press it into a mound with both hands. Just press. Bending or kneading it toughens the crust.
7. Shape and chill – cut the dough in half and pat each half into a disk about 6 inches wide. Wrap them up and pop them in the fridge for at least 2 hours. They’ll keep there for up to 2 days. Please don’t skip this. While it rests, the flour soaks up the water and the gluten relaxes. The butter gets firm again too. You’ll notice the dough is less crumbly, it rolls out more easily, and it doesn’t shrink as much in the oven.
   

Roll Out the Pie Crust

1. Work with one disk at a time – leave the other one in the fridge. If the dough is too hard to roll, give it 10 minutes on the counter. If it starts getting sticky, back in the fridge it goes for 10-15 minutes.
2. Flour the counter – a light dusting on the counter, the rolling pin, and your hands. Go light. You only need enough so it doesn’t stick. Set the disk down, slide it around to flour the bottom, then flip it and do it again.
3. Roll it into a 12-inch circle – I start in the middle and roll out toward the edges. Every few rolls, give the dough a quarter turn. It stays round that way, and you’ll catch it right away if it starts sticking. Dough feels stiff? Press it a few times with the pin before you roll. For a 9-inch pie dish, roll it to about 12 inches. That gives you 1 inch of overhang.

   Edges cracking? Just pinch them back together.

   Dough keeps sticking? Roll it between two sheets of parchment paper. You won’t need extra flour, and you can flip it right into the dish.

   

Transfer the Pie Crust to the Pie Plate

1. Roll the dough onto the pin – set the rolling pin at the far edge of the crust and roll the dough loosely around it, toward you.
2. Unroll it over the dish – hold the pin over the far side of the pie plate and unroll the crust toward you so it’s centered.
3. Press it into the plate – gently press the dough into the corners and up the sides. Try not to stretch it. If you stretch it, it shrinks back in the oven.
4. Trim the edge – grab kitchen shears and cut around the dish, leaving about 1 inch hanging over. The scraps can go into your second disk.
   
5. Fold the edge under – tuck the overhang under itself and press it onto the rim of the dish. This keeps the crust from sliding down the sides while it bakes. Leave the edge a little thick, too. A thin edge sags and loses its fluting in the oven.
   
6. Chill the crust – pop it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes while you make your filling. If it’s going to sit longer, cover it.

How to Flute a Pie Crust

1. Make a V – on the outside of the rim, make a V with the thumb and index finger of one hand.
2. Press the dough into the V – use the index finger of your other hand to push the dough into the V from the inside. At the same time, press down onto the rim. That downward press keeps the edge from slipping while the pie bakes.
3. Repeat all the way around – making a double-crust or lattice pie? Press the top and bottom edges together first, then flute.

   Why flute? It looks pretty, and the waves make the edge thinner, so it bakes more evenly.

   

How to Blind Bake a Pie Crust

Blind baking means baking the crust before the filling goes in. Do it for wet fillings like quiche, pumpkin pie and custard, so the bottom doesn’t turn soggy. And do it for no-bake fillings like cream pie.

1. Chill the crust – it should go in cold and firm, straight from the fridge. 15 minutes in the freezer works too.
2. Line and fill it – press parchment paper into the crust and fill it to the rim with pie weights, dried beans, or rice. The weights hold up the sides and keep the bottom from puffing.
3. Bake – at 400°F for about 20 minutes, until the edges look set and just start to turn golden.
4. Lift out the weights – grab the parchment by the corners and lift everything out. Careful, it’s hot! Then prick the bottom a few times with a fork.
5. Finish baking – give it 5-7 more minutes if the crust will bake again with a filling, like quiche or pumpkin pie. For a fully baked crust for cream pie, bake 12-15 more minutes, until it’s golden all over.

Marina’s Pro Tips for theBest Flaky Pie Crust

1. Get a crisp bottom crust – put a pizza stone in the oven while it preheats, then bake the pie right on it.
2. Check the bottom – bake in a glass pie plate so you can see when the bottom is golden.
3. Stop the edges from burning – if they brown before the pie is done, cover them with a pie shield or a ring of foil.
4. Fix dry patches – sprinkle a few drops of water on just that dry spot and press it back in. The rest of the dough stays tender.
5. Cut a perfect circle – I use a 12-inch skillet lid. Lay it on the rolled dough and trim around it.
6. Keep the crust from shrinking – flute the edge so it hooks over the rim of the pie plate. The rim gives the dough something to hold on to while the butter melts. In a straight-sided pan with no rim, the sides just slide down. Chill the crust before it goes in the oven too.

Recipes to Make With This Pie Crust

• Mini Cherry Pies
• Mini Apple Pies with Caramel Filling
• Cherry Pie Filling

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Homemade Flaky Pie Crust Recipe

5 from 2 votes

This flaky pie crust is an all-butter homemade pie dough made by hand with 5 ingredients. Step-by-step photos, gram weights, and make-ahead tips.

Makes: about 1 1/2 lb dough (680 g), two 9-inch crusts
Servings: 2 crusts
Calories: 1,454 per crust (340 g), about 182 per slice when cut into 8

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: all butter pie crust, flaky pie crust, homemade pie crust, pie dough

Calories: 1454 kcal

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings: 2 crusts

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups (338 g) all-purpose flour fluffed, scooped, leveled (1 cup = 150 g)
• 1/2 tsp (2 g) kosher salt Diamond Crystal; use 1/4 tsp if Morton
• 1 Tbsp (13 g) granulated sugar leave out for savory pies
• 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter 2 sticks, very cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup (118 ml) ice water you may not need all of it

Equipment: The pans and tools I use are in my Amazon shop.

• Kitchen scale
• Glass mixing bowls
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• French Rolling Pin
• White Ceramic Pie Plate (9-inch)
• Glass Pie Plate

Instructions

Make the Pie Dough

1. Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, toss 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and 1 Tbsp granulated sugar.

2. Add the butter: Cut 1 cup unsalted butter into 1/2-inch cubes and freeze for 10-15 minutes. Add it to the bowl and toss until every cube is coated in flour.

3. Flatten the butter: Press each cube flat between your thumb and index finger, working quickly so it stays cold. Keep tossing and gently rubbing until you have a mix of flat, half-walnut-size pieces and smaller pea-size ones. More big pieces make a flakier crust.

4. Add the water: Make a well in the center and add all but 2 tablespoons of the 1/2 cup ice water. Toss with your fingers until everything is evenly moistened. Don't knead; kneading makes the crust tough.

5. Check the dough: Squeeze a handful. If it holds together, stop adding water. If it crumbles, add the rest of the water 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing after each one. If it's sticky, sprinkle in a little more flour.

6. Press it together: Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and press it into a mound with both hands, without kneading or folding. If a patch stays dry, sprinkle a few drops of water on just that spot and press it in.

7. Shape: Divide the dough in half and shape each piece into a 6-inch disk. Wrap each disk well.

8. Chill: Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. The flour soaks up the water, the gluten relaxes, and the butter firms up. The dough is less crumbly, rolls out more easily, and shrinks less.

Roll Out the Pie Crust

1. Take out one disk: Keep the other in the fridge. If the dough is too firm to roll, let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes.

2. Flour the counter: Lightly flour the counter and the rolling pin. Move the disk around to coat the bottom, then flip it and do the same.

3. Roll: Roll from the center out into a 12-inch circle, turning the dough a quarter turn every few rolls so it stays round. If it starts to stick or soften, chill it for 10-15 minutes.

Transfer to the Pie Plate

1. Roll it onto the pin: Roll the crust loosely around the rolling pin, then unroll it over a 9-inch pie plate, centering it.

2. Press it in: Ease the dough into the corners and up the sides without stretching it. Stretched dough shrinks in the oven.

3. Trim: Trim the dough with kitchen shears, leaving about 1 inch of overhang.

4. Fold the edge under: Tuck the overhang under itself and press it onto the rim, so the crust doesn't slide down as it bakes. Keep the edge a little thick so the fluting holds.

Flute the Edge (optional)

1. Flute: Make a V with the thumb and index finger of one hand on the outside of the rim. With your other index finger, push the dough into the V from the inside and down onto the rim at the same time. Repeat all the way around.

Chill Before Filling

1. Chill: Refrigerate the crust for 20-30 minutes while you make the filling. Cover it if it will sit longer.

Recipe Notes

Measuring flour: Weighing is best. Without a scale, fluff the flour, scoop it with the cup, and level it off (1 cup = 150 g). Packed flour makes a crumbly crust.

Crisp bottom crust: Put a pizza stone in the oven while it preheats, then bake the pie right on it.

Make ahead: Refrigerate the wrapped disks for up to 2 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.

Savory pies and quiche: Leave out the sugar.

Salted butter: Use it and cut the salt in half.

Blind baking: Line the chilled crust with parchment and fill it to the rim with pie weights. Bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes, lift out the weights, and prick the bottom. Then bake 5-7 more minutes for a partly baked crust, or 12-15 minutes for a fully baked one. Full steps are in the post.

Nutrition Facts

Homemade Flaky Pie Crust Recipe

Amount Per Serving (340 g)

Calories 1454 Calories from Fat 846

% Daily Value*

Fat 94g145%

Saturated Fat 58g363%

Trans Fat 4g

Polyunsaturated Fat 4g

Monounsaturated Fat 24g

Cholesterol 244mg81%

Sodium 309mg13%

Potassium 208mg6%

Carbohydrates 136g45%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 7g8%

Protein 18g36%

Vitamin A 2837IU57%

Calcium 53mg5%

Iron 7.9mg44%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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