Making a homemade pie crust doesn’t have to be intimidating. This easy pie dough recipe creates two flaky, tender pie shells with a combination of very cold butter and vegetable shortening. The butter provides rich flavor and flaky layers, while the shortening helps create a tender crust that’s easy to work with.
The most important part of making a great pie crust is keeping the ingredients cold. When the butter and shortening stay cold while you work, small pieces of fat remain surrounded by flour and create flaky layers as the crust bakes. If the fat becomes warm and starts melting before the pie goes into the oven, the flour absorbs it and the finished crust can become tough.
This flaky pie crust recipe uses a food processor to quickly combine the flour, salt, sugar, butter, shortening, and ice water. The dough is chilled before rolling, then divided into two portions for a bottom and top crust. One of the best things about this recipe is that the dough can be prepared ahead of time and frozen either as dough balls or rolled-out crusts. That makes it particularly useful during the holidays or whenever you want homemade pie without making the crust from scratch the same day.
Whether you’re making apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, or another favorite dessert, a reliable homemade crust is worth mastering. Once you understand the importance of cold ingredients, minimal handling, and proper chilling, making your own pie dough becomes much less intimidating.
Try these other sweet recipes: Luscious Lemon Squares, Easy Chocolate Ice Cream or Salted-Caramel Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.
PrintPerfect Pie Crust
This is Ina Garten’s Mother-in-law’s recipe and it is amazing. A delicious, flaky crust. Let me tell you, making your own pie crust should never be intimidating. In fact, making your own homemade pie crust is actually pretty easy. The best pies start with a flaky homemade crust, which is a lot easier to make than some people fear. The yield of this recipe is for 2 pie shells. You can freeze the pie dough in balls or rolled out.
- Total Time: 1:00
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
- 6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water
Instructions
- Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn’t stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.
Notes
- When combining the ingredients, it’s important to keep them cold — particularly your fat. If the fat, especially butter, softens and begins to melt, the flour will absorb it, creating a tough dough.
- Prep Time: :20
- Cook Time: :20
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Fridge
- Cuisine: Universal