Flaky All Butter Pie Crust

This is my fail-proof recipe for perfect buttery flaky pie crust. You can make this pie crust recipe in your food processor — it is ultra-easy!

When I first started Foodology Geek I wasn't making a lot of pies. Then all of a sudden it seemed like I had more pie recipes than I ever imagine was possible.

I think in the beginning I was a little bit afraid of making pie crust. Maybe it just seemed too hard. It became my mission to find a pie crust recipe that came out perfect every single time.

Lucky for you, I found two pie dough recipes that I use over and over again. This easy butter pie crust recipe is one of them and the over one is my Buttermilk Pie Crust Recipe.

Both of these easy pie dough recipes are fantastic. If I don't have any buttermilk in the fridge, I usually make this all-butter pie crust recipe.

This recipe is super simple and comes out perfect every single time.

What You'll love about this Butter Pie Crust Recipe

• Easy. Making this pie crust is easy. A butter pie crust only has a few ingredients.
• Versatile. This pie crust can be used for savory or sweet pies.
• Flaky. The super-easy pie crust bakes up flaky and tasty every single time.
• Freezer friendly. This pie dough freezer well, so you can always have a patch in the freezer.

Ingredients for Making a Butter Pie Crust

• Flour: I use all-purpose flour for this recipe. My go-to flour is King Arthur. I use their flour almost exclusively for all of my baking.
• Salt: Use a high-quality salt like. Kosher salt, sea salt, or Himalayan salt.
• Sugar: I use organic granulated sugar. But, regular granulated sugar is fine as well. Feel free to leave out the sugar if you are baking a savory pie.
• Butter: Use unsalted butter and make sure your butter is very cold. Right out of the fridge.
• Ice-water: Fill a half cup measuring cup with ice and then with water. You won't use all of this water but you will want to have enough cold water on hand.

How to Make Perfect Pie Dough

There are two ways to make this pie crust; by hand or with a food processor. I tend to use the food processor all of the time. I do not find a significant difference in the flakiness of my pie crust between the hand-done one and the one made in the food processor.

Food Processor Instructions for Pie Crust

1. Dry Ingredients: Mix the dry ingredients together in the work bowl (fit with the metal blade.) Pulse a few times to mix.
2. Butter: Dice and add the butter to the work bowl and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
3. Ice Water: Turn on the food processor and with it running, slowly add the water, a little bit at a time. Add just enough water to see the dough start to come together and pull off of the sides.
4. Turn Out: Dump the pie dough onto A floured surface: Using your hands bring the dough together into a ball.
5. Rest: Cut the dough in half and form into two equally sized disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least four hours.

Hand-Made Instructions for Pie Crust

1. Dry Ingredients: Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl and whisk together.
2. Butter: Dice and add the butter to the work bowl. Use your fingers or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dough.
3. Ice Water: Add the half cup of water and mix it into the dough using a spatial.
4. Turn Out: Dump the pie dough onto A floured surface: Using your hands bring the dough together into a ball.
5. Rest: Cut the dough in half and form into two equally sized disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least four hours.

PRO-TIP: Freeze your butter and use a box grater to grate it. Add the frozen shredded butter to the flour mixture. This step is an easy way to skip over having to worry about if you cut your butter into the flour properly. It's perfect everytime.

How to Blind Bake A Pie Crust

Some pie recipes ask that you blind bake the crust.

What this means is that you bake the crust before adding the filling. This is most commonly seen in cream pies or no-bake pies. Like my Banana Cream Pie Recipe.

Some common issues when blind baking is a crust is crust shrinkage and the crust puffing up too much. You can easily solve these issues by following the steps below.

Steps to blind baking a pie crust

1. Make a Pie Dough: Of course, I recommend either the simple Pie Dough in this post OR my Buttermilk Pie Crust Recipe. You will only need a half recipe if you are using one of my recipes. Keep in mind you can always make the full recipe and freeze half for later.
2. Roll Out: Roll out the pie dough and place it in your pie dish. You can do a simple fluted edge.
3. Chill: Refrigerate the dough in the pie dish for at least four hours or up to overnight. I have also frozen my pie crust for an hour if I'm short on time. Chilling the pie dough helps prevent shrinkage and the colder the butter and water are in your pie dough the more flakiness you will get when the pie bakes.
4. Parchment Paper: Cover the chilled crust with parchment paper. Add pie weights or dried beans to weigh down the parchment paper.
5. Bake: Preheat the oven to 400℉. Bake for 15-16 minutes, until the edges begin to brown.
6. Dock the crust: Remove the pie crust from the oven and carefully remove the parchment and the pie weights. Use a fork to poke the bottom of the crust. Poke the crust all along the bottom about every inch or two. This will help keep the crust from puffing up.
7. Finish baking: For a fully baked crust you will bake for another 14 to 15 minutes. For a partially baked crust, you will bake for another 7 to 8 minutes.

More Pie Recipes to try

• Homemade Pumpkin Pie
• Classic Southern Pecan Pie
• Banana Cream Pie
• Vegan Pumpkin Pie
• Mini Blueberry Hand Pies