These are the secrets and techniques to creating a no-fail butter pie crust recipe that gained’t droop or shrink, and seems tender and flaky each time.

The Greatest Pie Crust Recipe with Butter

It looks like there are two huge pie seasons that hit yearly: Spring’s berry pie season and Fall’s Thanksgiving pie season, with all different slices o’ pie falling someplace in between.​ 

We’re smack dab in the midst of prime time pie making and consuming ​and everyone is aware of {that a} foolproof butter pie crust recipe is the make-or-break level of baking a tremendous home made pie. Extra essential than no matter fruity, nutty, or creamy fillings you whip up—the true take a look at is its crust. It must be flaky, gentle, flavorful, and straightforward to slice by way of with a fork.

I’m a bit obsessive about baking pies due to the excessive pie crusts I’m incessantly impressed by due to the Instagram account of my favourite native pie firm.

Now, after a lot trial and error, I’ve determined that is the one pie crust recipe I’m keen to wager my pie on. And now, every part that I do know, you’ll too.

Is Butter or Shortening Higher for Making Pie Crust?

All good pie begins with good dough. However tips on how to go about reaching the proper flaky pie crust has been as hotly debated as whether or not Madonna or Girl Gaga is the actual queen of music.

All butter pie crust vs. shortening: An all butter crust with totally different dimension chunks of the fats in your dough makes it flaky and light-weight. Butter accommodates extra water than shortening, in order it bakes the steam puffs up the crust creating gentle and flaky layers. Shortening can tackle a greasier really feel, and lacks the identical taste as butter.

All butter pie crust vs. lard: The primary situation with utilizing lard is that it may be troublesome to get your palms on top quality rendered leaf lard. Lard variations present in grocery shops are sometimes hydrogenated and crammed with preservatives.

For me, an all butter pie crust recipe with out shortening makes the proper, flaky pie crust that checks all the flavour containers.

What’s in This All Butter Pie Crust

I’ve tried all of the tips of including vinegar or vodka to my pie crust so as to add that additional snap to crust, however ultimately it comes right down to preserving issues chilled for the very best flakes. I additionally add sugar to my dough for a only a barely candy style, and a shock ingredient for just a little extra carry and loft: baking powder!

Right here’s what all you’ll must make the very best pie crust:

• All-purpose flour
• Granulated sugar
• Kosher salt
• Baking powder
• Unsalted butter—I really like utilizing European butter with 85% fats content material for the very best outcomes
• Ice chilly water

Meals Processor or Pastry Blender for Pie Crust: Which is Higher?

You need chunks of fats in your pie dough, which on this case is the butter. The processed or cut-in butter chunks within the dry dough must be the dimensions of cornmeal, peas, almonds and walnuts, aka a mix of easy, small, and large chunks of butter for the flakiest texture.

Course of the butter in levels. To attain this, use both a meals processor to pulse half of the butter (3 to 4 pulses), or a pastry blender to hand-cut it into the number of fatty sizes. Add the remainder of the butter and repeat. I’ve discovered the meals processor is often the best methodology so it’s sometimes what I exploit.

Use fast pulses. When utilizing the meals processor, make sure you use fast pulses, not lengthy processing, otherwise you’ll lose your chunks of butter. Add simply sufficient water to barely convey the dough collectively.

Find out how to Make Pie Crust

Utilizing both the meals processor methodology or pastry blender methodology outlined above, make the pie dough. Then, dump the dough onto a flippantly floured floor and use a bench scraper to pull and scrape the dough and butter collectively, creating ribbons of shaggy dough folded onto itself.

Add extra water just a little at a time till you’ll be able to form the dough right into a ball. Lower the ball in half to make two, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at the very least Half-hour as much as 4-5 days, or freeze for as much as a yr.

Don’t knead the dough or it’s going to make an excessive amount of gluten and the crust will probably be robust. Additionally keep away from over dealing with the dough, particularly with heat palms, or the butter will soften.

When you’re able to roll your dough, take away it from the fridge to a flippantly floured countertop. Use your fingers to make indentations alongside the surface circle of the pie disc earlier than rolling (this helps stop the perimeters from cracking). Pound the dough with the rolling pin to heat it barely because it flattens and turns into extra pliable.

On the subject of rolling out the dough consider unfurling a flag, not steamrolling it. First, roll all alongside the surface fringe of the pie dough to flatten it barely. Then, ranging from the middle of the dough, roll the dough, rotating it with each few swipes, till it reaches the dimensions you’re in search of, about 12 to 13 inches for a 9-inch pie pan.

Tip: To understand how giant a circle you want on your pie, invert a pie tin and set it flippantly on the dough and lower a circle across the tin about 2-3 inches larger than the tin’s edges.

Find out how to Crimp Pie Crust

• Crimping a pie crust may be as straightforward as utilizing the tines of a fork to safe the perimeters, nonetheless as I discussed on the prime of this publish, I really like a giant, Dr. Seuss wanting pie crust only for the drama alone.
• Use your fingers to softly roll the overhang of the dough both beneath itself towards the surface fringe of the tin, or, towards the middle of the pie, so it types a hoop on prime as you progress alongside the sting, sealing the sting as you go.
• Crimp the dough utilizing your thumb and index fingers to crimp the dough, firmly. Transfer clockwise till the crimped ring is full.

Find out how to Crimp Crust With Authority

Considered one of my favourite native pie makers shared how they crimp pie dough within the video beneath.

Find out how to Blind Bake Pie Crust for Single Crust Pies

Blind baking a crust earlier than filling is crucial for these unfastened pie fillings like quiches or pies that aren’t baked, comparable to recent fruit pies or cream and pudding-like pies. Bling baking is solely pre-baking a single layer pie crust earlier than filling it to make sure it’s flakey and cooked as a substitute of soggy or underdone.

Tip: Pies may be blind baked as much as 2 days upfront, and wrapped fastidiously and tightly with plastic wrap.

Double crust pies don’t require blind baking because the crust will have to be crammed and crimped with each backside and prime pie dough discs earlier than going within the oven, and the filling acts the identical because the pie weights or beans so the crust doesn’t droop.

Find out how to Keep away from the Crust Stoop

One of many casualties of blind baking an empty pie crust is sides that droop and slide into the center of the pie tin so there’s no sides left available.

Use beans in a bag for blind baking crusts. I found a brand new technique to blind bake my pie crust that works like a appeal. Fill an oven-safe cooking bag with 6 cups of dry beans, raw rice, or pie weights. Place the bagged beans within the semi-frozen, crust-lined pan then put instantly into the oven. When completed, carry the bag of beans from the crust and save the beans within the bag for one more baking day.

After seeing the following pointers from my pal Elise at Merely Recipes, I gave up attempting to recollect whether or not sizzling and quick, or low and sluggish was finest for achievement. I went together with her suggestion to blind bake the crust in a 350°F oven for an extended time, and it really works like a appeal—and it’s completely easy to recollect.

• For a pie that you’ll prepare dinner additional, like a quiche, blind bake the crust at 350°F for 45-50 minutes.
• For pies that want no additional baking, like recent fruit or custard pies, blind bake the crust at 350°F for 60-70 minutes.

Freeze the pie crust for Half-hour earlier than baking. Baking a pie crust frozen strong helps the crimps maintain form and never soften within the sizzling oven.

Towards the tip of baking, examine in on the pie crust. If it’s browning an excessive amount of, shield the perimeters from the warmth with strips of foil tented gently over the perimeters, or use a pie defend.

Suggestions for Making Double Crust Pies

• Similar to single crust pies, make sure your pie crust discs have been refrigerated for at the very least Half-hour earlier than rolling out and inserting in baking tins.
• As a result of double crust pies like pot pies or apple pies have already got a filling and want the highest and backside crusts pliable sufficient to crimp and seal, there’s no must blind bake the pies beforehand.
• Moreover, you solely must freeze the assembled pies for less than 15-Half-hour, simply to agency up earlier than placing into the new oven.

Find out how to Forestall a Soggy Pie Crust

• Brush the underside crust with a whisked egg white earlier than including the filling, making a barrier between the filling and the crust.
• Bake in a glass pie dish to watch the browning of the crust.
• Set on a pre-heated baking sheet whereas baking so the warmth is carried out on to the underside of the pie crust.
• Steam vents look fairly on prime of a double crust pie but in addition serve a goal, permitting the steam to flee because the pie bakes so the highest crust stays flaky and crisp, not soggy.

How Lengthy You Can Freeze Pie Crust

Wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and saved in a freezer-safe gallon bag, pie discs and crimped pie crusts may be saved within the freezer for as much as one yr.

Suggestions for Making the Greatest Pie Crust

If you wish to make an insanely flaky home made pie crust, there are two key issues to bear in mind:

Use a high-quality unsalted, butter for pie crust. When making pie crust I splurge on an excellent European-style model with 85% fats content material. Full-fat butter is the place the flavour lies, with a excessive butterfat proportion and low water content material. Certain, I’ve made pie crust with salted butter, however unsalted permits you to higher management the quantity your self.

Make certain your butter is actually, actually chilly. Sticking it within the freezer for quarter-hour helps. However earlier than you do, use a bench scraper to chop the sticks of butter into ½ inch cubes, then freeze if desired. Or, work shortly so your butter stays chilly and go straight into the blending.

Chilly components, particularly the butter and the water, hold these buttery fats taste pockets strong and stand-alone when the warmth hits the butter reasonably than heat and homogenized within the dough, creating sheaths of flaky layers. Fill a 1-cup measuring cup half means with ice cubes and the remaining water and add a number of tablespoons of water at a time for a shaggy crust.

A few of My Favourite Causes to Make Pie Crust…So Far!

For those who make this recipe, please let me know! Depart a  ranking on this recipe beneath and depart a remark, take a photograph and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.