Perfect Homemade Pie Crust
You’ve decided on what kind of pie you’ll be making, now you’re just wondering if making your own pie crust is worth it. Let me tell you, it is! 100 percent. It’s easier than you think, and fun once you give it a try. You’ll never go back to store bought.
There’s nothing more satisfying for a baker than making an a pie from scratch, including the crust. Store bought crusts don’t even touch a homemade crust. Sure, they’re a bit more convenient, but if you make up a couple batches of pie crusts and freeze them, you’ll always have a crust ready to make whatever pie strikes your fancy. That little bit of extra effort is worth it, trust me.
Butter, shortening, or both?
You may be asking, what makes for a better pie crust? I prefer a butter/shortening mix. You still get the flaky goodness of a butter crust, with the added insurance of shortening helping the crust to retain it’s shape as it bakes. A straight shortening crust lacks the flavor of a butter crust.
Ingredients
- Flour All-purpose works best in this recipe.
- Butter Creates the flaky goodness in the crust, plus adds flavor.
- Shortening Helps the crust retain it’s shape.
- Salt Brings out the flavors.
- Ice water Helps hold the ingredients together. Must be cold in order to keep the rest of the ingredients as cold as possible before baking.
How to Make Pie Crust
Step One The butter must be cold. You can pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes before you start this recipe. Then, chop the butter into small cubes. Set back in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Step Two Add the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Step Three Add the butter cubes and shortening to the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter, or two forks, cut the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until it resembles pea gravel. It’s ok if there are some bigger chunks.
Step Four Add some ice and water into a medium size measuring cup. If you don’t have ice, use very cold water from the tap and pop it in the freezer before you cube the butter. Slowly add in the ice water 1 tablespoon (don’t get any ice in the bowl) at a time until large clumps form, which is usually about 8 tablespoons. The dough will start to come together. It shouldn’t be shaggy, but it can be a little bit tacky.
Step Five Once the dough has started to form large clumps, you can start forming it into a ball. It’s ok if there is some flour mixture in the bottom of the bowl. If it seems too dry, go ahead and add more water. You may want to start with just dipping your fingers in the water and continuing to form the dough ball. This can be enough to do the trick. You don’t want to add too much water though.
Step Six Once you have formed the dough ball, you’ll need to cut it in equal halves using a knife. You’ll see chunks of butter and shortening in there, this is what you want.
Step Seven Form the dough balls in to round discs. This will make rolling them out easier. Wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge to chill for two hours.
Step Eight After they have chilled, you’ll need to roll them out. If just using one, you can freeze the other one. If using both, just take out the one you will be rolling out first. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out, turning it after each roll, until it’s about 12 inches round. A standard pie plate is 9 inches, so you need it to be a bit larger than that as you will be shaping it to the inside of the pie plate.
Step Nine To get the crust into the pie plate, roll the top of the pie crust around the rolling pin just enough to pick it up off the counter. Lay it down evenly over the pie plate and gently shape the pie crust into the pie plate.
Step Ten There will be a bit of an overhand, which is normal. You’ll need to trim this off, leaving about an inch of extra crust. Use this to fold up underneath the the rim of the pie crust to form a thicker rim. If you are doing a lattice top, do not fold up underneath. You will do your lattice design and then fold the edges over.
How to Make a Lattice Top
A lattice top can make your pie look really fancy and is fun to do. It’s not as difficult as it would first seem. The following are some simple instructions so you can make a lattice top for your next pie.
Step One Roll the pie dough out just as you did for the crust you put into the pie plate.
Step Two Using a sharp knife, or pastry cutter, cut long strips out of the dough. You can make them even, or you can make some thinner and some thicker to add some visual interest.
Step Three Lay strips of dough across the pie in the same direction, leaving space in between.
Step Four Once you have laid the strips out on the pie, you will fold back every other strip all the way until you can’t go any further without removing the strip entirely from the pie. Lay a strip of dough across the pie, over the strips of dough that aren’t folded over.
Step Five Fold the strips of dough back over the one you have laid across. Then, fold back the strips of dough that are under the one you have laid across them, and leave the other ones alone. Lay another strip of dough across the pie, fold the strips back over the strip you have laid down. You should begin to see the lattice forming.
Step Six Repeat this process until you have gone over the whole pie. Once you start doing it, you will see that it is not that difficult, and kind of fun!
Frequently Asked Questions
Make sure the butter is COLD before you use it. Move it from the fridge to the freezer 30 minutes before you plan to use it. If you have it in the fridge, you can pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes as well before you’re ready to use it. I also keep my other ingredients cold, such as the shortening. It’s always in my fridge, and my flour is always in my freezer.
Other than keeping your ingredients cold, especially the butter, I would say to be sure to add the water slowly and not to over handle the dough. The heat from your hands can melt the butter in the dough, making it difficult to achieve the flaky layers so desired in pie crust.
This is usually because you have overworked the dough. Remember, you want to mix it just enough so everything comes together, but not too much so you overheat the dough with the heat from your hands.
Other Recipes to Try
Homemade Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour, all-purpose
- 6 tablespoons very cold butter
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup ice water
Instructions
- Stick the butter in the fridge for 30 minutes before you cube it. The butter must be really cold.
- Add ice and water into a medium measuring cup. If you don't have ice, add water to a medium cup and put in the freezer while you prepare the crust.
- Cube the 6 tablespoons of butter up and set aside in the fridge.
- Add the 2 1/2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon of salt into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the cubed butter and 1/2 cup shortening into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter and shortening into the flour dry ingredients until it resembles pea gravel.
- Slowly add water to the flour mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, using a spatula to mix the water into the flour mixture, until it forms large clumps. I usually end up using 8 tablespoons.
- The mixture will seem crumbly, but it will soon start to form large clumps. At this point, you should be able to form the clumps into one large dough ball. The dough should not be shaggy and sticky. The key to this is not adding too much water at once. Go slowly when adding the water.
- Once you have formed the dough ball, cut it in half with a knife.
- Flatten the dough balls into discs; this makes the dough easier to roll out.
- Wrap the discs in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 2 hours.
- On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 12 inch round circle, shaping it with your hands as you go. The dough does not always roll out in perfect circle, so it helps to shape it with your hands as you roll it out.
- When the dough is rolled out, use the rolling pin to transfer it onto the pie plate. Fold just the top of the dough over the rolling pin and lay it over the pie plate. Shape the crust to the pie plate and fill with whatever type of pie you are making.
- This crust recipe makes two crusts. If you are making a pie that does not have a top crust, put the second dough ball in a freezer-safe bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Remember to use very cold butter in this recipe.
- Store in the fridge for up to three days, wrapped in plastic and in an airtight container.
- If you need to store the crust for longer, store in the freezer. Wrap in plastic, then put it in an airtight, freezer-safe container and store for up to three months.
- This recipe makes two crusts, so the nutrition information listed is for that amount.
Nutrition
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