How to Make Perfect Flaky Pie Crust (with videos!)

We all need a foolproof (or almost) recipe for pie crust, the flaky kind, the one that can be used during the holiday season, and also for fruit pies. This is a basic recipe that can be made in the food processor or by hand. It uses few ingredients (shortening for flakiness and butter for flavor) and can be frozen.

As much as I love my all-butter shortcrust pastry, sometimes you want to make and old-fashioned pie and that calls for our trusted recipe that also use shortening. This is my go-to recipe and it is really good.

I have to admit that there's probably nothing like shortening to achieve that flakiness that almost resembles puff pastry, but in a recipe that is easy to make, where we can take shortcuts like using the food processor.

Ingredients

They are very simple so buy the best you can afford.

• Butter: it gives the pie crust flavor and is less greasy than shortening. Use unsalted and make sure it's cold.
• Shortening: it gives the pie dough unmistakable flakiness. Use it cold also.
• Sugar: it's a small amount but good if you're using it for a sweet pie recipe.
• Flour: I use all-purpose flour mostly, but sometimes cake flour if that's all I have.
• Water: it's mandatory that the water be very cold, that's why we use iced water. The colder the ingredients, the better the result.
• Salt: I use sea salt or kosher. But regular table salt also works if that's all you have.

Easy steps

As with the other pie crust recipes in this blog (basic pie crust and Italian pie dough) the mixing method is pretty similar.

1

Put flour, salt, sugar, cold butter and shortening in bowl of food processor

2

Pulse using on-off until the butter/shortening is the size of peas or beans. They will be uneven

3

Add iced water and process in short bursts

4

Grab some mixture with your hands. If it’s crumbly and floury it needs more water

5

When ready, it should come together and hold well without crumbling

6

Dump onto a clean surface and start bringing it together but without kneading it

7

It will come together, just make sure you don’t over work it

8

Wrap and refrigerate or freeze according to recipe directions

Check out my other content @VintageKitchenNotes on Jumprope.

Rolling the dough

If you organize the space, this is an easy step.

The video in this post shows how to roll the pie crust and line a pan, which can be made by crimping the edges or using the rolling pin as shown in the video. It depends a lot on the type of pie you're making.

Lining the pan

After rolling the dough, the most simple way I know to line the pie dish is by folding the dough in half, placing it in the middle of the pie plate (images below) and then simply unfolding it. As you can see, it covers the plate perfectly and makes it easier to continue with the fitting and crimping of the edges.

Blind baking

Blind baking is pre-baking the dough with weight on top. It is called like that because the raw pie dough is completely covered with paper (parchment paper or aluminum foil) and weight.

If left to chance without piercing and/or blind baking the pie dough will puff as it bakes and then shrink. We don't want that. We want it to keep the shape as much as possible so that we have enough space for the filling. Also, some fillings tend to seep into the unbaked dough while baking, so this step ensures that the dough develops a layer before the pie is filled and is not soggy after it is baked.

1. Make sure the oven is preheated according to the recipe instructions.
2. The pie crust must be cold or frozen and already in the pie pan.
3. Cover it with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
4. Add some weight: ceramic ones like in the images below, or use raw rice, chickpeas, lentils, even flour. Any ingredients that will not burn and will weigh the paper down.
5. Bake for 15 minutes until you can remove the paper with the weight. Do this carefully to make sure you don't burn your hands and take out the whole thing at once.
6. Bake the pie crust 5-10 minutes longer, until barely colored and dry.

Top tips

• Cold ingredients - I can't stress enough how important this is. Temperature is a deal-breaker when it comes to making flaky yet tender doughs. I dice the butter and shortening and put them in the freezer for 5-10 minutes right before starting to make this recipe. And make sure you have ice water (if you don't have ice cubes put the water in the freezer before starting also).
• Don't overwork it - another crucial tip. When you touch the mixture too much the butter and shortening start to melt and mix too much with the flour, and that is not what we want. That's why using a food processor is good for mixing those ingredients together, because you don't touch them much. Some people have colder hands but some don't (like myself), so mix the whole thing just until it's come together, but don't knead it as you would bread for example.
• Resting time - when the flour is mixed with other wet (water) or fatty (butter) ingredients the gluten starts to develop. That is good for bread but not at all for a pie crust. That's why we need to let it rest after the dough comes together. That time relaxes it and accomplishes two things: it allows the pie dough to roll easily without forcing it, and it hardens the butter again ensuring flakiness.

Other recipes you might like:

Let me know in the comments below if you made this recipe and loved it, and also if you had issues, so we can troubleshoot together. I love to hear what you think, always. Thanks for being here, it's much appreciated.
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How to Make Perfect Flaky Pie Crust

★★★★★ 5 from 10 reviews

• Author: Paula Montenegro
• Prep Time: 20
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 1 9-inch pie 1x
• Category: Pies - Basic recipes
• Method: Mixing
• Cuisine: American

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Description

We all need a foolproof (or almost) recipe for pie crust, the flaky kind, the one that can be used during the holiday season, and also for fruit pies. This is a basic recipe that can be made in the food processor or by hand. It uses few ingredients (shortening for flakiness and butter for flavor) and can be frozen.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter, very cold
• 4 tablespoons (60g) shortening, cold
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Pinch of salt (I like kosher)
• Iced Water (tap water with ice cubes)

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Instructions

1. Put ice 4 or 5 ice cubes in a measuring cup and fill with cold water.
2. In a food processor put flour, sugar, and salt.
3. Add cubed cold butter and shortening and pulse using on/off turns, until the butter is the size of peas or beans. It will be irregular.  
4. Add about ½ cup of ice water and pulse a few times. 
5. Check the bottom of the bowl with a spatula so that you don't have a lump of flour that the blades didn't pick up.
6. Check if the mixture is too dry and floury. If you take some and squeeze it in your hand it should hold its shape and not crumble apart.
7. Add more water (if needed) and pulse until it barely comes together. Check the dough again. If you take some and squeeze it in your hand, it should hold together and not crumble. 
8. Transfer dough to a barely floured surface and gather it together into a ball.
9. Don't overwork it or the dough will be tough.
10. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour or up to 3 days. Or freeze for up to a month. 

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Notes

Sugar: it's a small amount but good if you're using it for a sweet pie recipe.

Flour: I use all-purpose flour mostly, but sometimes cake flour if that's all I have.

Water: it's mandatory that the water be very cold, that's why we use iced water. The colder the ingredients, the better the result.

Cold ingredients - I can't stress enough how important this is. Temperature is a deal-breaker when it comes to making flaky yet tender doughs. I dice the butter and shortening and put them in the freezer for 5-10 minutes right before starting to make this recipe. And make sure you have ice water (if you don't have ice cubes put the water in the freezer before starting also).

Don't overwork it - another crucial tip. When you touch the mixture too much the butter and shortening start to melt and mix too much with the flour, and that is not what we want. That's why using a food processor is good for mixing those ingredients together, because you don't touch them much. Some people have colder hands but some don't (like myself), so mix the whole thing just until it's come together, but don't knead it as you would bread for example.

Resting time - when the flour is mixed with other wet (water) or fatty (butter) ingredients the gluten starts to develop. That is good for bread but not at all for a pie crust. That's why we need to let it rest after the dough comes together. That time relaxes it and accomplishes two things: it allows the pie dough to roll easily without forcing it, and it hardens the butter again ensuring flakiness. 

Keywords: flaky pie crust

Paula Montenegro

I'm Paula, a baker for more than 30 years and your designated recipe finder, sharing the best ones on this blog, with simple ingredients + easy-to-follow instructions.