Easy All-Butter Pie Crust

Why I Love This Recipe

This Easy All-Butter Pie Crust was inspired by Martha Stewart's recipe and is perfect for all of your pie-baking needs. Each recipe that calls for a pie crust is different, so make sure you follow all of the steps in the recipe.

This pie crust recipe doesn't use a food processor so no extra gadgets to drag out and clean. This pie crust is also freezable so you can make it ahead of time and have it ready when needed.

Ingredients Needed to Make a Basic Pie Crust

• all-purpose flour
• salt
• sugar
• cold unsalted butter
• ice cold water

How to Make this Easy Pie Crust

Step 1: Prepare some ice water in a glass so that it gets nice and cold. Grate the butter into a bowl or cut it up into small pieces and place it in the fridge until you are ready to add it to the crust dough.

Step 2: Put the flour, sugar, and salt in another mixing bowl and mix together. Add the butter and cut it in using a pastry cutter or a fork. You can then use your hands to fully incorporate everything into a coarse meal with some larger pieces of butter throughout.

Step 3: Measure and add the ice-cold water and mix it in using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your hands.

Step 4: Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface or a silicone mat. Create 2 equal-sized discs using your hands but do not press together too much, just lightly to quickly form 2 circles.

Step 5: Wrap the discs tightly in plastic wrap and place them in the fridge for at least an hour to chill. If you only need one crust, you can place the other disc in a freezer bag and freeze for later.

Step 6: When ready to roll out, remove the disc(s) from the fridge and allow it to sit at room temp for about 10 minutes. Roll the disc out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin, rotating and flipping as you go.

Expert Tips for Making the Best Pie Crust Ever

• First, freeze your butter ahead of time. Then, use your cheese grater to get nice small pieces of butter that are so much easier to cut in! I use this trick all the time and it never fails.
• Make sure you are adding ice-cold water, not just cold water from the tap. This keeps the butter from melting while mixing so when it comes time to bake, the butter slowly melts creating a flaky and delicious crust.
• If you are using your hands to mix the dough, run them under cold water first. This is for the same reason as using super cold water in the mix, it keeps the butter from melting.
• If at any time you think your butter is getting too soft, place the bowl in the fridge for 5-10 minutes, and then continue mixing.
• Don't over-handle your pie crust. This includes when you are making it and when you are rolling it out for your recipe. The more you handle it, the less flaky and it will be and it will also shrink when baking.
• If you are making a savory meal like a Chicken Pot Pie, you can omit the sugar in the recipe.

How To Bake a Pie Crust

Bake this crust as indicated in the recipe you are using. Some recipes will have you bake the crust and the filling together like a galette or chicken pot pie.

Other recipes will require blind baking where you cook the crust first before adding the filling. This is common with some fruit pies or pies where the filling doesn't cook at all like a cream pie. When you are blind baking, you want to ensure you have pie weights or an alternative to help keep the crust in place.

How to Blind-Bake a Pie Crust

To blind-bake this pie crust, make sure you have chilled the crust for at least 4 hours or have frozen it for 30-60 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork (this is called docking) and place a piece of parchment paper on top. Place the pie weights (or an alternative suggested below) on top of the parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and take off the weights and parchment paper (be careful, it is hot).

For a fully baked crust, place the crust back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until the bottom is nice and brown. For a partially baked crust, bake just until the bottom crust is just beginning to brown, about 7-8 minutes.

If you’re making a no-bake pie, allow the crust to cool completely before adding the filling. If your pie is going back into the oven, you can fill the crust while it is still warm.

What are Pie Weights?

Pie weights are usually ceramic or metal balls that you put on top of your crust when you are baking just the crust, or "blind baking". You use pie weights to help keep the crust from shrinking or getting air pockets while it is baking.

Pie Weight Alternatives

No pie weights? No Problem! There are many other pie weight substitutions you can use that you probably already have in your kitchen! These items include uncooked beans (which you can't use for cooking after you use them as weights), rice, sugar or another pie pan are all good options. Place any of these items on parchment paper before putting them on top of your pie crust to bake.

Recipes That Use a Pie Crust

• This Chocolate Walnut Pie from Sulanadapice.com
• Apple Lavender Galette Recipe
• Lemon Cranberry Meringue Pie
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Fresh Mango Galette