The effort to make homemade pie crust pays off in a flakier and tastier result than anything you buy pre-made. Use this list of simple tips, from choosing the best ingredients to using the proper technique, to turn out a perfect pie crust every time.
1. Use Very Cold Butter or Fat
Butter, shortening, lard, or suet—whatever fat the recipe calls for should be well-chilled and cut into small pieces to start with for the flakiest crust in the end. Thefat in a pie crustmust maintain some of its integrity in the dough to make the crust truly flaky. Starting withvery cold fatmakes it easier to keep from overworking the fat into the dough. On a hot day, you may need to chill the fat in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes before you start making the dough.
2. Retain Some Chunks
Many recipes direct you to work the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Just be sure to retain a few larger chunks of fat in the dough to ensure optimum flakiness. As it heats up, the fat creates steam, causing little pockets of air that create the flaky character. Maintaining a few bigger pieces of fat also deters you from overworking the dough.
3. Limit the Water
Start off using the minimum amount of water or other liquid called for in the recipe. Water aids gluten development, which you want to avoid for a tender pie crust. Add just enough water (or other liquid) so the dough holds together when you pinch a piece between your fingers. The dough should look quite shaggy.
One way to limit the water?Use vodka instead—it contains less water by volume than actual water and the alcohol bakes off.
4. Make a Disk
Before you chill or roll out the dough, take the time to shape it into an even disk less than 1-inch thick and with smooth edges. Well-floured hands and a well-floured work surface makes this easier. This step makes the doughmucheasier to roll out quickly and evenly and helps prevent cracking on the edges.
5. Chill the Dough
Chill the dough before you roll it out for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days. Again, on a very hot day, you may want to put the dough in the freezer for about 10 minutes just before you start to roll it out.
6. Roll the Dough, Turn the Dough
Roll out the dough on a well-floured work surface with a well-floured rolling pin. With each pass of the rolling pin, turn the dough a quarter turn (about 90 degrees). This alerts you if the dough starts to stick. In that case, lift up one side and throw a bit of flour underneath.
7. Think Curbs, Not Driveways
Roll out and away from yourself, then pick up the rolling pin to start from the center again. Be careful to keep even pressure on the rolling pin across the entire circle of dough so the edges of the dough remain as thick as the center—you want curbs, not driveways.
8. Let the Dough Fall Into the Pan
When you line the pie plate with the dough, lower the dough loosely into the pan, letting the dough fall down into the creases at the edge rather than pushing or forcing it. Stretched dough simply pulls back to its original shape when you bake it.
9. Chill the Lined Pie Pan
Cover and chill the lined pie pan (and any rolled out top crust) beforeblind-bakingor filling the pie. This helps the pie keep its shape (and size!) when you bake it.
10. Bake Until Brown
To get the full tenderness and flakiness of agreat pie crust, be sure to bake the pie until the crust turns fully brown, not just golden.
FAQs
Start with chilled ingredients
Butter creates a sturdy, crisp pie crust. For this, it is important to keep all ingredients cold which will inhibit the development of gluten in the flour. Use butter right out of the refrigerator and add ice-cold water to make the dough.
What is the most important rule in making a pie crust? ›
PIE DOUGH RULES
As important as not overmixing is staying chilled, literally!! That means keeping all elements cold— your counter, ingredients, hands, heart (just kidding!). No, but seriously, cut up your butter into little cubes and chill them before you incorporate them into the flour.
What is the number 2 most important thing when making pie crust? ›
#2—Add cold water
Add the ice water gradually to the dough, about one tablespoon or so at a time, and stop when the dough is just moist enough to hold together when a handful is squeezed.
Is making pie crust difficult? ›
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.
What is the secret to making flaky crust? ›
While butter, shortening, or lard make equally light and tender crusts, an all-butter crust will be flakier due to butter's higher water content: as the crust bakes the butter melts and its water turns to steam, creating thin, crisp layers (flakes).
What is one thing you should not do when making pie crust? ›
The Most Common Pie Crust Mistakes (And Ways To Avoid Them)
- The ingredients are too warm. ...
- The pie dough is overworked from excessive mixing or rolling. ...
- The pie dough isn't given enough time to relax and chill. ...
- The pie dough is shrinking down the sides of the pan.
“My preferred fat for pie crusts will always be butter. To me, it is all about flavor, and no other fat gives flavor to a crust like butter does. Other fats, even though they have great pros, lack flavor,” De Sa Martins said. “The more flavorful the butter, the more flavor your pie crust will have,” Huntsberger added.
What is the basic formula for making pie crust? ›
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling.
- ½ teaspoon salt.
- ½ teaspoon sugar.
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces.
- 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water.
Traditionally, what you're looking for in a pie crust are three basic things: you want it to be fully cooked through, without any doughiness between the filling and the bottom crust, you want the crust to be light and flaky with discernible layers, and, of course, you want there to be a rich, buttery flavor.
What is the best flour for pie crust? ›
What kind of flour makes the best pie crust? Well, not high-protein bread flour! Use that for your chewy bagels. What you want for pie is flour that yields a tender, flaky crust, which means medium-protein all-purpose flour or low-protein pastry flour.
Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Tip: Chilling hardens the fat in the dough, which will help the crust maintain its structure as it bakes. And the short rest before rolling relaxes the dough's gluten, helping prevent a tough crust.
Is homemade pie crust worth it? ›
Making your own pie crust is definitely something worth mastering. In terms of cost, tastiness, and healthfulness, it wins hands down.
How do I make my pie crust better? ›
10 Tips for Making Perfect Pie Crust
- Use Very Cold Butter or Fat. ...
- Retain Some Chunks. ...
- Limit the Water. ...
- Make a Disk. ...
- Chill the Dough. ...
- Roll the Dough, Turn the Dough. ...
- Think Curbs, Not Driveways. ...
- Let the Dough Fall Into the Pan.
Though the science is sketchy, a few professional pie bakers swear that it improves the texture of the crust, and they wouldn't dream of making pie dough without it. (Others swear by similarly acidic ingredients like lemon juice.) The acidic properties of vinegar inhibit gluten, some will say.
Why put egg in pie crust? ›
In our experience, sugar can also make the pie dough so tender that it's hard to roll out and transfer to your pan without breaking. Egg: This makes the dough more pliable and easy to roll out.
Should pie crust be chilled before baking? ›
Once the dough is shaped and crimped, the last thing you want to do bake it right away. Chilling the shaped pie allows the aforementioned gluten to relax and the butter to get nice and cold again, both of which help your pie hold its shape better once it's in the oven.
How do you get a crispy crust on the bottom of a pie? ›
Choose the Right Rack in the Oven
Which rack you use in the oven can help ensure a crisp crust. Baking the pie on a lower rack will concentrate heat on the bottom of the pie and help the crust crisp.
Which type of dough is most often used for pies? ›
Most commonly, pies are made using shortcrust pastry dough. This is the most durable type of dough for pie making due to its extensibility and cohesiveness. Most recipes for shortcrust pastry dough use two parts flour to one part fat. Traditionally, the best tasting and fully flavored pie crust was made with lard.
What do you put on pie crust to make it brown? ›
What is Egg Wash? Egg wash is a mix of beaten whole egg and water (or milk or cream), which is used to brush onto the top of baked goods before baking. The purpose of egg wash is to provide a nice golden brown, shiny finish on your baking.
What does an egg do to pie crust? ›
Egg: The egg in this recipe acts as a binder that allows for a flakier, more delicate crust. It also binds all of your ingredients together so that you can roll out your pie dough without it breaking apart.
Egg wash is a mix of beaten whole egg and water (or milk or cream), which is used to brush onto the top of baked goods before baking. The purpose of egg wash is to provide a nice golden brown, shiny finish on your baking. I use this egg wash for pie crust, or this also makes a great egg wash for bread recipes.
