Easy Pie Crust Recipe Step-by-Step Tutorial
Making homemade pie crust doesn’t have to be complicated. This easy pie crust recipe walks you through each step so you can create a flaky, tender crust every time. With simple ingredients and clear instructions, you’ll learn how to mix, roll, and shape your dough with confidence. Whether you’re baking a holiday pie or a weeknight quiche, this step-by-step guide makes it easy to master a classic homemade crust that tastes so much better than store bought.
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I am so happy to share with you this homemade pie crust recipe because after years (years) of trying different recipes and techniques I really do think this is the BEST pie crust!
It’s made with real food (butter – or lard if you want – not shortening) and even some whole wheat flour and is still flaky, easy to roll and shape without much shrinkage, and most importantly, tastes great.
Is pie crust easy “as pie?”
I don’t know about you, but I have never found the saying “easy as pie” to ring true, because pie crusts aren’t easy! They just aren’t for me at least (any other hands raised out there?).
But I couldn’t do the pre-made crusts after looking at the ingredient list (which includes bleached flour, hydrogenated lard with BHA and BHT, starches, xanthan gum, sodium propionate and potassium sorbate) and realizing that pie crust is super cheap to make from scratch. I shouldn’t have to pay extra for ingredients I don’t want to eat or serve to people, right?
So the search began for a good all butter pie crust recipe (sometimes called a ‘shortcrust’). I tried Martha Stewart’s pâte brisée, the egg-and-vinegar ‘no-fail’ crust (really shrinks…), crusts with only egg or a ton of water, crusts made in a food processor, with a fork, or with a pastry cutter. I would weigh, measure, and ‘knead’ (weird when you don’t want gluten to form…) – the list went on, but none were the one. They would be tough, shrink a lot, take days of planning, or be impossible to work with.
It wasn’t until I read an article about the science behind adding a bit of vinegar (though you don’t have to add it) and at the same time finally realizing what my dough should look like after adding water (still crumbly, no clumping) that it came together for me. I put a recipe together that finally worked every time!
I’ve been making this crust for a number of years now, taking it to holiday gatherings, usually filled with this decadent chocolate chip walnut pie or this make-ahead crumb-topped apple pie, and getting lots of compliments on the crust.
It’s not just me – this really is a winner crust.
Pie Crust Recipe Step-by-Step
Step 1: Add dry ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to mix. I usually add 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour (not regular whole wheat flour), but if you don’t have any, it’s fine with all purpose flour.
Step 2: Add butter, cut in cubes. I simply cut each 1/2 cup stick into 12 pieces and dump it in the dry ingredients. You can cut it smaller if you want.
Step 3: Pulse until it is mixed and you see medium-small coarse crumbs (12-15 pulses). TIP: I used to leave them larger (the typical “pea-sized” recommendation), but those large pieces of butter made it really hard to roll out later, sticking to the rolling pin.
Step 4: Add vinegar, if using, and 1/2 cup of water. Process until you see the dough start to hold together around edges but still look crumbly (14-15 pulses, you do not want it to form a large clump, as that creates tough crusts). Grab a small handful of crumbs and press together – when it stays together as pictured, it’s good. If needed, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you can hold it together as shown.
Can I make this without a food processor?
I find it easiest to start this crust in a food processor since we’re cutting in hard butter and it takes forever by hand (this is similar to my processor). However, if you don’t have a food processor, you can still make a great crust! I’d suggest freezing the butter cubes and then grating them. Put the grated butter in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to get it back to cold and then mix it gently into the dry ingredients with a fork before adding the wet ingredients.
Step 5: Divide crumbly dough into two pieces of waxed paper (or plastic wrap). This is where you can see that the dough should really look more like crumbs, not formed dough at this point.
Step 6: Shape. I initially found shaping the crumbly dough with my hands would warm the dough too much and become sticky. The solution I learned? Use the waxed paper, pulling up the edges and shaping it by pushing and forming into a disc.
Step 7: Turn the rounded dough over in the waxed paper and continue to push and shape into a formed disc. Perfection – no overworked dough! Repeat with second mound of dough.
Step 8: Refrigerate wrapped pie dough about 30 minutes, usually the time needed to make your filling. You can make it ahead and refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze for a couple of months.
TIP: If you freeze the dough in this disc form, you’ll need to thaw it a day in the fridge before rolling out. Your other option is to roll and shape the dough into a pie plate immediately and freeze it completely covered (flash freeze it first uncovered so the edges aren’t smushed), unbaked. When you want to use it, simply fill with whatever filling you want and bake it from frozen by adding 3-5 minutes to the total cooking time (or blind bake).
Step 9: Rolling out tip. A few years ago I started using a silicone mat made for rolling out pie dough (similar to this). The measurements help me roll it only as big as I need and keeps things tidier.
Step 9b: Start rolling. With plenty of flour to prevent sticking, roll out the dough. The edges will crack, but simply pinch and press them together and keep rolling. (I now like to use a smooth French rolling pin, I find it creates a smoother finished dough.)
Step 9c: Finish rolling out. Pinch, press, and shape the edges as you roll to your finished size. It won’t look perfect, as you can see in the final rolled crust above, but we’re cutting off or rolling under those edges, so no worries!
Step 10: Transfer rolled dough to pie plate. I simply fold it in half and center it on the plate before unfolding. You can also roll it up on the pin to transfer and unroll it over the plate.
Step 11: Shape edge. Roll under excess dough (or trim edges), pressing crust together along sides and around the top to make a uniform smooth edge. Make sure the crust is firmly pressed into the bottom and corners of the pan (leaving the dough ‘stretched’ on the bottom causes it to shrink).
To Trim or Roll? When my kids were home, I always trimmed the edges and baked the trimmings after sprinkling with cinnamon sugar for a little treat. Now that they aren’t here I don’t need that (lol), and I found that I would often trim too much, not leaving enough to shape the edges which caused the edged to shrink down when baking. Rolling all the dough under allows me to have a tall edge to flute and bake up nicely.
Step 12. Flute edge and refrigerate. Shape the pie dough edge however you want: fluting like I show (I either use my knuckle on the inside and press between two fingers on the outside or I squeeze the edge between my thumb and finger for a more rope-like edge like seen above), using a fork, or attaching shapes with any leftover dough (attach with a beaten egg wash). Refrigerate shaped dough 15-30 minutes (or longer if you can), usually the time it takes to make the filling of whatever pie recipe you’re making.
Need a fully cooked, “blind baked” pie crust?
To bake the crust for a cream pie or other type of pie with a prebaked crust, while the crust is resting in the fridge, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Then prick bottom of the dough and bake for 15 minutes or until browned (using pie weights or not – it’s up to you).
You can see in the apple pie with my favorite big crumb topping above that when the crust is baked the shaping remains with little shrinkage (some butter crusts I tried have shrunk so much that we couldn’t even see any shaping).
You can also see that it’s a nice, flaky crust that browns evenly (though this pie edge shield is my secret weapon in preventing the edges from getting too browned!). Trust me, this is NOT the crust you’ll want to leave on your plate after eating the inside of the pie.
I hope you love this easy pie crust recipe – if you make it, be sure to leave a recipe rating to let me know!
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Easy Pie Crust Recipe
Equipment
- Food Processor (No processor? See by-hand tip in notes section)
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (220g) unbleached all purpose flour, measured carefully if using volume*
- 1 cup (125g) whole wheat pastry flour (or omit and use all 2.5 cups of all purpose)
- 1 tablespoon (13g) sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon (4g) salt use 1 tsp. if using unsalted butter
- 1 cup (226g) butter (or lard, if you choose)
- 2 teaspoons (10g) vinegar (optional)
- 1/2 cup (120g) ice cold water** plus 1-2 tablespoons more if needed
Instructions
- Add the first 4 ingredients (flours, sugar, salt) to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a couple times. Cut each cube of butter into 12 pieces and add to the dry ingredients. Pulse until coarse crumbs (medium-small) form, about 12-15 pulses.
- Add vinegar and 1/2 cup ice water to mixture and pulse until the dough starts to form along the edges of bowl but is still a bit crumbly (about 14-15 pulses).
- Grab a bit of dough and squeeze to see if it holds together – if edges are still crumbly, add a bit more water – 1 tablespoon at a time – as needed. The dough in the bowl should still look fairly crumbly but with some areas forming larger clumps.
- Divide the dough onto 2 pieces of waxed paper (or plastic). Grab the edges of one of the paper squares to bring the crumbly dough together into a flattened disc, using hands to press & shape through the paper as needed. Wrap paper around the disc, repeat with other dough and refrigerate 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).***
- Roll out one disc at a time onto a well floured surface. Don't worry about the edges splitting – just pinch back together, press edges into a circle and roll again.
- Transfer the rolled dough to a pie plate, either by rolling onto the rolling pin and then unrolling over the pie plate or by folding in half or quarters before lifting it the the pie plate and unfolding. Fit the crust into plate, making sure it is touching the entire bottom of the plate (press down on the sides as needed to make sure the bottom is not stretched). Trim any edges that are a lot bigger than others – just here and there. You'll want 1 to 1½ inches overhang to roll and shape nice edges. (TIP: I don't trim anymore, I just fold it under to create a bigger edge and it helps minimize shrinkage.)
- Shape edge by folding under the overhang, filling any areas that need it with extra dough, and smoothing edge until even. Shape with desired technique: fluting, fork edge, etc.
- Refrigerate shaped dough 15-30 minutes (or longer) before filling and proceeding with your pie recipe. (TIP: You can also freeze the dough shaped in the pan so it's even more ready to go: flash freeze uncovered a couple hours and then cover the whole plate with plastic or fit it into an extra large baggie and freeze again until needed – up to 2 months in advance.)
To Blind Bake (bake in advance)
- To bake the crust for a cream pie or other type of pie with a prebaked crust, preheat oven to 400 degrees, prick bottom of dough and bake for 15 minutes or until browned (using pie weights or not – it's up to you).
Notes
Nutrition
Recipes to Make with This Pie Crust
- Crumb-Topped Apple Pie (bake now or freeze unbaked)
- Chocolate Chip Walnut Pie (decadent and delicious like a candy bar)
- Easy Onion and Cheese Quiche
This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in 2015.
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Hi! This recipe looks like a keeper, and I look forward to trying it. I noticed you mentioned being particularly careful when measuring the flour if using whole wheat pastry flour. I’ve seen quite a few recipes switch to saying what weight of flour to use instead of what volume. Have you tried making that switch, seeing if that would be an easier way to provide accuracy for this kind of thing?
I haven’t moved to routinely weighing ingredients, Marilyn, but that’s a good idea for this recipe – I’ll make a note to adapt that!
Have you been able to make a great gluten free crust? That’s what we need so my son can eat it. Thanks!
No I haven’t, April. I’ve heard good things about Bob’s Red Mill’s pie crust, though. Google it for the recipe!
This pie crust was pretty good, I made it yesterday for a chicken pot pie i was making. The pie crust recipe has too much vinegar. The vinegar is overpowering and you can still taste it a bit after it’s baked. I think 1 or 2 teaspoons would have been better. Otherwise it was tasty 🙂
Gosh, I haven’t noticed that at all, Riza – maybe my tastebuds are tainted or something. 🙂 Now that I think about it, I’ve never used it for a savory pie – maybe that’s the difference? Hopefully the smaller amount will still give you the flakiness.
Thank you for having a recipe that doesn’t use plastic wrap! I know it’s silly, but I was never sure if waxed paper would keep the dough moist enough. Can’t wait to try it! (SO not happening for THIS Thanksgiving though!)
You’re welcome! I do find waxed paper easier to work with dough like this, although if I’m freezing the disc to use later, I do place the wrapped dough into a freezer baggie.
Can’t wait to try this as I’ve also been on a crust quest! Will this recipe be sufficient for two 10″ crusts? Thanks!
Yes, it makes two crusts Janet. 🙂
Jami!!!! Your recipe is going to take my pie crusts to the stratosphere! :))) I made a really “good” crust for Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. …. .yet I knew it could be a LOT better. (I have a crust frozen that I will still have to use.) I’ll be adding some things to my Monday grocery list.
Thank you for all the photos, they REALLY help!!!
You are ah-MAZ-ing, thank you!!!
Oh, I’m SO glad to know this, Christina! As I’ve make it more, I’ve found I do need to add the higher amounts of water just to make the rolling out easier and it hasn’t seemed to affect the finished product (I have the water ranges in the recipe but always tried to add the least amount – now I go for the bigger amount). I love how it doesn’t shrink much so my fluted edges look good after baking.:)