Longbourn Farm

Simple Homemade Recipes & Farm Tips

  • About
    • Press
    • Contact
  • Cookbook
  • Meal Plans
  • Work with Me
  • Resources
  • Blog
    • Recipes
      • 30 Minutes or Less
      • Main Dish
      • Dessert
      • Breakfast
      • Bread
      • Appetizer
      • Side Dish
      • Soup
      • Salad
      • Drinks
    • Gardening
    • Chickens
    • Farm
      • Beekeeping
      • Livestock
      • Land
      • Horse
Home » Recipes & Tips » How to Make Pie Crust

How to Make Pie Crust

11/24/20 | Dessert, Kitchen How-To's, Recipes & Tips

Jump to Recipe - Pin Recipe
Get step-by-step directions on how to make pie crust as, 3 essential tips for making any pie crust recipe a success, and an amazing pie crust recipe! #pie #dessert #piecrust #piecrustrecipe #howtomakepie #howtomakepastry #pastry #baking #bakingpie #pieday #piday #applepie #cherrypie #chocolatepie #dessertpie #blackberrypie #peachpie

 Get step-by-step directions on how to make pie crust as, 3 essential tips for making any pie crust recipe a success, and an amazing pie crust recipe!

Get step-by-step directions on how to make pie crust as, 3 essential tips for making any pie crust recipe a success, and an amazing pie crust recipe!

Learning how to make pie crust isn’t hard – it’s something everyone can do and it takes no time at all! In all honesty, setting up to take photos of this process took way longer than actually making the pie crust. Ha! Instead of purchasing pie crust this holiday season, make your own! It will change your life. Promise.

I like an all-butter pie crust because one of the mantras of my life is “when you have to choose between 100% butter or anything less, you always choose 100% butter.” My life mantras usually revolve around food. Ahem. I took step by step photos for this post {over 15!} to make sure you have all the information you need to successfully make perfect pie crust! Let’s dive in.

How to Make Pie Crust: Tip 1

First, you need to prep your ingredients. Start by preparing the butter and water. I fill a 2 cup measure halfway with ice and then top it off with water and put it in the fridge. For the butter, I cut it into cubes about 1/2 inch square, pile them into a bowl and then put the bowl in the freezer. The first tip for how to make pie crust is to keep the ingredients very cold. Even if you’re using shortening, stick that in the freezer too.

Perfect pie crust

Leave the butter in the freezer for about 10 minutes. I usually measure out and combine all my dry ingredients while I’m waiting. As a side note, I made double the recipe here, which is why that looks like a pound of butter. Cuz it is.

Perfect-pie-crust

How to Make Pie Crust: Tip 2

Next, you’re going to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. I like to do this by hand, but you can, of course, use a food processor to make it go a little faster. When you start, you’ll question if it’s ever going to come together.

perfect pie crust

About the time you start questioning your arm strength and decide you need to up those arm workouts, it will start to look like this:

Perfect pie crust

Keep going, you’re almost there! The goal is to cut the butter in until it looks to be the size of peas, like this. There will be some larger and some smaller pieces, you’re going for an average here.  

perfect pie crust

Now, it’s time to add your wet ingredients. Regardless of the recipe you use, you’ll want to keep them cold. I use sour cream in my recipe so I leave that in the fridge until I’m ready to add it. To make it mix in a little easier, I dilute it with a tablespoon or so of the ice water. Do not add too much water during this step, just a tablespoon will do.

perfect pie crust

After I add the sour cream dilution, add the ice water a tablespoon at a time until the dough just barely starts to come together.

perfect pie crust

It will be a cold shaggy mess at this point and when you dump it onto the counter, it will fall apart and there will be dry crumbs. Don’t panic! That’s what is supposed to happen. The second tip for how to make pie crust is to not add too much water. Add just the right amount for the dough to come together.

perfect pie crust

How to Make Pie Crust: Tip 3

Flour your surface and work it together briefly with your hands until it makes a semi-smooth ball. Divide this recipe into two pieces for two pie crusts {again, I had four because I doubled the recipe}.

perfect pie crust

Next, it’s time to roll out the dough. If your dough doesn’t feel cold to the touch, stick it in the freezer for 10 more minutes before rolling it out.

perfect pie crust

You want to keep the butter in the dough cold, this is what gives pie crust a flaky texture. You should be able to see the pea-sized pieces of butter in the dough when you roll it out.

perfect pie crust

Roll out the dough into a circle 12 inches across. Or roughly that. Fun fact: most bench scrapers are 6 inches long, so just use that to measure! As you roll, rotate the dough 90 degrees after each pass with the rolling pin. This keeps it from sticking.

perfect pie crust

Then, you’ll need to transfer your dough to the pie plate. Just place the rolling pin on top of the dough and gently fold it over the pin.

perfect pie crust

Then just pick up the pin and roll it out into the pie plate. Easy as…pie!

perfect pie crust

Gently lift the edges of the dough and help it settle down into the bottom of the plate. Once you have it down in the crease of the plate, just fold under the excess that’s hanging off the edges. Now, if you rolled the dough a little large and there is a lot of excess, you’ll need to trim it. But if you rolled it to about 12 inches, there should just be a small amount that will fold under easily.

If I have a section with a lot of excess, I’ll relocate it to a portion of the crust with less. If you try to fold it under and you have way too much excess, the edge of the crust will be too heavy and it will literally melt off your pie as you bake it. Ask me how I know….

perfect pie crust

Then just design the edge however you choose. I did a classic ruffle here. You don’t want to over-handle the dough. Not only does this warm it up, it works the flour more which can make your pie crust tough and cause it to shrink. The third tip for how to make pie crust is to handle the dough as little as possible.

Get step-by-step directions on how to make pie crust as, 3 essential tips for making any pie crust recipe a success, and an amazing pie crust recipe!

Then you’re done! Stick it in the fridge while you make whatever filling you’re using – it will bake up better if you fill it when it’s cold. Here’s my recipe! But if you apply these tips to any pie dough recipe you have, it will turn out great. Know you know just how to make pie crust.

Need some delicious pie recipes?

  • Easy Blackberry Pie
  • Chicken Pot Pie
  • Homemade Chocolate Pie
  • Homemade Berry Pie
  • Triple Berry Pie
  • Savory Beef Hand Pies
  • The Best Homemade Pumpkin Pie
  • Homemade Apple Pie
  • Chocolate Pie Crust
  • Cookie Dough Pie
  • Chocolate Chip Pie Recipe
Fluted pie dough in a pie plate next to three portions of pie dough.
Print Pin
5 from 1 vote
Share on Facebook

How to Make Pie Crust

Learn 3 essential tips for making the perfect pie crust that's flakey and delicious. Keep the butter really cold and don't overwork it! Click for tip 3.
Prevent your screen from going dark
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword all butter pie crust, how to make pie crust, perfect pie crust
Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 2 pie crusts
Calories 1463kcal
Author Longbourn Farm • Alli Kelley
Get ad-free recipes in PrepearLearn more about Prepear here!

Equipment

  • Redmond Real Salt

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter 2 sticks, very cold
  • 3 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1/2 cup water, ice cold add it gradually, you may not use it all
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Cut butter into slices and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
  • Whisk together dry ingredients.
  • Cut butter into dry ingredients until it is the size of peas.
  • Mix 1 tablespoon of the ice water into the sour cream. Drizzle into the dough.
  • Add ice water, one tablespoon at a time, mixing gradually, until the dough just starts to come together. 
  • Turn it onto a floured surface and gently bring it together with your hands. It shouldn't be falling apart, if it is, add another tablespoon of water. Do not over-work the dough!
  • Divide it into two portions and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

Video

Follow me on YouTube!Watch more videos and subscribe!

Notes

Keeping the ingredients cold will give you a better and more flakey pie crust.
You can keep the dough in the refrigerator for 3 days or in the freezer for 3 months.
If you want to use the crust right away after making it, place it in the freezer for 10 minutes to make sure it stays cold.

Nutrition

Calories: 1463kcal | Carbohydrates: 131g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 97g | Saturated Fat: 60g | Cholesterol: 253mg | Sodium: 1411mg | Potassium: 219mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 2950IU | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 7.3mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @longbournfarm or tag #longbournfarm!

Comments | 7 comments

« Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls
Easy Lemon Pound Cake »

Comments

  1. Alli says

    January 4, 2018 at 4:23 PM

    5 stars
    My favorite pie crust recipe!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Triple Berry Pie Recipe (Open Faced) • Longbourn Farm says:
    May 10, 2022 at 10:22 PM

    […] How to Make Pie Crust […]

    Reply
  2. Apple Galette Recipe • Longbourn Farm says:
    November 11, 2021 at 4:50 PM

    […] my homemade all-butter pie crust recipe, click this link! Coarse sugar is a large crystal sugar, sometimes called turbinado sugar or sugar in the […]

    Reply
  3. Skillet Chicken Pot Pie • Longbourn Farm says:
    January 14, 2021 at 6:44 AM

    […] you want to make homemade pie crust, I have a fabulous recipe that works well. Just check out my pie crust recipe. I enjoy the storebought cust for the ease of use and simplicity. Just unroll and add a few vents, […]

    Reply
  4. The Best Homemade Pumpkin Pie • Longbourn Farm says:
    December 21, 2020 at 10:17 PM

    […] Pie Crust recipe a week before Thanksgiving so I have it all ready. I have a great tutorial on how to make pie crust here! I’d definitely pop over and go through that tutorial if you’re hesitant about […]

    Reply
  5. Homemade Chocolate Pie • Longbourn Farm says:
    September 4, 2020 at 4:15 AM

    […] my homemade pie crust recipe, Click Here! You can use semi-sweet chocolate or milk chocolate. I like a combination of both. You can use […]

    Reply
  6. Strawberry Galette Recipe • Longbourn Farm says:
    July 9, 2020 at 12:12 AM

    […] great way to make this dish a little more special is to make your own homemade pie crust. That said, if you’re crunched for time or already have it on hand, no one is going to come […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Hi, Friend!

Alli Kelley
Alli Kelley is an Agriculture focused entrepreneur. She runs a successful food blog, a consulting and coaching business, and all the social media connected with an online presence.

She also owns and operates a small, diversified farmstead where she enjoys home improvement projects, experimenting in the garden, creating profitable mini businesses on the farm, and of course, riding her big grey horse, Zane.
Read More…

Agriculture

Side view of a full DIY chicken waterer.

DIY Chicken Waterer Tutorial

posted in Animal and Land, Chickens, Farm & Family, Livestock

(sponsored)Are you wasting $2500 a year on food? Learn how to reduce food waste in your home and get the most out of your dollar and reduce your environmental impact! @beeffordinner #BeefItsWhatsForDinner #NicelyDone #beeffarmersandranchers

How to Reduce Food Waste

posted in Animal and Land, Livestock, Main Dish, Recipes & Tips

pasture full of cows

Where Does Beef Come From?

posted in Animal and Land, Livestock

Meal Plans + Ad-Free Recipes

less stress save time prepare ad
FTC Disclosure of Material Connection: The way I provide you with free content is through affiliate links and some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links, they will be marked in the post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to YOU. Read terms here.

Copyright © 2022 · Longbourn Farm • Tasteful Theme by Restored 316

Longbourn Farm
  • Home
  • Cookbook
  • Meal Plans
  • Work With Me
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Gardening
  • Chickens
  • Farm