Homemade pie crust is something that definitely takes some practice.

Homemade Pie Crust

I’ve been making pies for 10 or so years and still am hit or miss.

It all comes down to the perfect crumbly consistency, rolling it out to the perfect thickness and creating the perfect “pinch”. It takes patience and many manyattempts. This homemade pie crust dough is a cinch to make (thank you food processor!) and yields a simple perfectly flaky crust… well, two crusts to be exact.

And the best part is that you can use this homemade pie crust recipe for both sweet or savory pies.

ingredients for Homemade Pie Crust

To Make Homemade Pie Crust You Will Need:

  • unbleached all-purpose flour
  • kosher salt
  • unsalted butter
  • ice cold water or vodka (see note)

dry ingredients in food processor fitted with the blade attachment.

Then, into the bowl of your food process, fitted with the blade attachment, add 2-1/4 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Secure the lid and pulse to incorporate.

pulse to combine before adding in ice cold butter

Next add in the 2 sticks of ice cold butter.

Ice cold butter and water is key to the flaky crust. For this, I recommend cutting the butter, place it onto a plate and freeze it for 20 minutes before adding it into the food processor.

butter incorporated into flour

Then pulse it a few times until coarse and crumbly.

add in a little ice-cold water at time while pulsing.

Continue to pulse while adding enough of the ice cold water (a tablespoon at a time and NO ice cubes) or vodka until it resembles coarse wet sand. Usually it’s about 3 to 4 tablespoons. However it could be less or more depending on the humidity level and other factors.

NOTE: I’ve recently switched to using vodka instead of water. The alcohol will evaporate faster than water, yielding a flakier crust.

pie dough coming together..

It should resemble slightly wet, coarse sand.

form into to a ball

Place dough crumbles into a bowl or clean work surface and form it into a disc.

divide into 2 equal portions.

Divide the dough in half, about 10 ounces each.

shape each portion into round balls

Form the two pieces of dough into balls and use the palm of your hand to flatten into discs.

wrap in plastic wrap and shape into 2 discs and chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and pop them into the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes to rest before rolling it out.

once chilled, roll one disc out at a time.

Roll the dough out to fit a 9-inch pie plate with a one inch overhang. Then roll it back onto the rolling pin.

drape into pie dishtrim off excess dough

Drape and unroll the homemade pie crust onto your pie plate. Next, adjust the dough and trim any extra dough.

Chill the dough again (in the pie plate) while working on the filling. You want to keep the pie dough cold!

fill bottom pie crust and roll out and top with second disc.

If making a single pie crust, simply fold the trimmed overhang under the pie crust forming a rim. Next use your fingers to crimp. For a double crust, fill the chilled crust with your filling, roll the second disc of dough out and drape it over top. Trim off excess dough, fold and crimp both together, creating a seal.

Lastly, brush the top pie crust with heavy cream or whole milk and sprinkle with sugar before baking. Just make sure you cut air vents for steam to escape.

What Pie Should You Bake?

Here is a list of homemade, from scratch pies I’ve shared on this site. Enjoy!

How To Best Freeze Pie Dough:

Pie dough does excellent in the freezer! Here are a couple of method options: 1: divide, wrap tightly in heavy-duty aluminum foil and freeze. You’ll need to thaw this before rolling. Could take a hour or two to thaw. 2- Divide, roll out and fit in pie plate, wrap and freeze (as mentioned above in the first option). The second option allows you to have a ready to use pie crust and can go directly in the oven frozen. Just increase the baking time by a few minutes or so to make up for it!

Enjoy! And if you give this Homemade Pie Crust recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!

Homemade Pie Crust

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Yield: 1 recipe

Homemade Pie Crust

This homemade pie crust is all done in your food processor. Whether it's sweet or savory this pie crust will meet all your needs! One recipe makes two 9-inch pie crusts
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Additional Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup ice cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons ice cold water or vodka, see notes
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream, for brushing the second top crust (only if making a double crust pie)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar, for sprinkling (only if making a fruit filled, double crust pie)

Equipment

Instructions 

  • Place the flour, salt and butter into a food processor and pulse until it's crumbly.
  • Next add one tablespoon at a time (3 to 4 tablespoons usually works best for me), pulsing after each addition until it forms in to large clumps and resembles coarse slightly wet sand.
  • On a clean surface or in a bowl, form the pie dough into a disc and divide in half (about 10 ounces each). Form both pieces of dough into 2 round disks and wrap tightly into plastic wrap.
  • Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let it rest.
  • Roll out dough evenly and lay in to a 9 inch pie plate leaving an inch overhang. Fold the inch overhang underneath to form a rim, crimp with fingertips. Add desired filling and repeat with the second disk of dough.
  • If using the second disk as a top crust, fold top edge of dough under the bottom edge of dough and crimp. Remember to cut the steam vents in the center of the top dough to let the steam escape.

Notes

 
Freezing Pie Dough:
Pie dough does excellent in the freezer! Here are a couple of method options:
1: divide, wrap tightly in heavy-duty aluminum foil and freeze. You'll need to thaw this before rolling. Could take a hour or two to thaw.
2: Divide, roll out and fit in pie plate, wrap and freeze (as mentioned above in the first option). This second option allows you to have a ready to use pie crust and can go directly in the oven frozen. Just increase the baking time by a few minutes or so to make up for it!
Serving: 1recipe, Calories: 1953kcal, Carbohydrates: 60g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 190g, Saturated Fat: 120g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Monounsaturated Fat: 49g, Trans Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 509mg, Sodium: 2362mg, Potassium: 133mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 5894IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 78mg, Iron: 3mg
Author: Laurie McNamara
Course: Breads & Baked Goods
Cuisine: American