This easy pie crust is made with butter and shortening for a buttery, flaky homemade crust. Using these tips, making pie dough from scratch is perfect for beginners!
Use in your favorite homemade pies from savory to sweet fillings like razzleberry pie, pumpkin pie, my tomato pie recipe and homemade chicken pot pie.
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Easy Homemade Pie Crust
This is my go-to easy pie crust recipe when baking. All you need are a few simple ingredients to make your pie crust from scratch. Today I’m going to break down the steps for you so you can make your own pie dough at home this year.
There are many variations with pie crust but I prefer using both butter and shortening. Butter yields the best flavor and the shortening makes it nice and flaky! However you can absolutely make an all butter pie crust if you aren’t a fan of shortening. Both ways yield a crust that has superior taste and texture.
Pie Crust Recipe Ingredients
This easy pie dough recipe only takes 5 simple ingredients and makes two pie crusts. For a single crust pie, halve the ingredients. So simple for beginners!
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Flour: Make sure to use high quality all-purpose flour (I prefer King Arthur’s). Make sure to measure flour accurately.
- Sugar: I use granulated sugar. If you’re making a savory pie, you can leave this out.
- Salt: I love to use a fine sea salt (Jacobsen’s is my favorite).
- Butter: Make sure it’s very cold. I like to use unsalted so I can control the amount of salt.
- Shortening: I like to put my shortening in the freezer for about 15 minutes beforehand to help firm it up a bit.
- Water: Make sure to use ice cold water. This will help bind the pie dough.
How to Make Pie Dough
The key to any great pie crust is keeping it cold. Make the refrigerator your best friend and you got this!
- Make the dough: Combine the flour, salt and sugar. Then cut the butter and shortening into dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until it forms crumbs. For the perfect pie crust, work fast so the butter doesn’t have time to warm up. Add 2 Tablespoons of water. Stir and add more water until it forms a dough.
- Refrigerate: Cut dough in half and wrap each disc of dough with plastic wrap. I like to press it into disks so it’s easier to roll out. Place in refrigerator for at least an hour.
- Roll it out: Roll out on a floured surface, rotating your rolling pin 45° to insure even thickness.
- Place in pie dish: Then carefully place dough in pie pan. Press the crust edges using your thumb and index finger for fluted edges. You can also cut off the extra dough around the edges or press it down with a fork.
How to Blind Bake Easy Pie Crust
If you’d like to par-bake this easy pie crust without a filling, cover with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Remove paper and beans and bake an additional 15 minutes, or until crust is golden and cooked through.
Baking Tips
- Keep everything cold. Work as fast as you can and don’t skip the refrigeration process for a flaky pie crust.
- If your crust cracks, don’t stress. Wet your finger and then gently press the dough back together. Don’t worry about it looking perfect. It takes practice and will still taste delicious.
- Thick crust. Make sure to roll the dough out leaving about 2-3 inch overhang over the pie dish.
- How to transfer to the pie dish. To transfer dough to the pie dish you can fold the dough in half and then in half again. Then open it once in the pie dish.
- Shiny crust. For an extra golden brown and shiny crust, make a simple egg wash for pie and brush on top of the edges before going into the oven.
Favorite Recipes to Make with Pie Crust
This perfect homemade pie crust tastes amazing with just about any filling. Below are a few of my favorite pies:
- Coconut cream pie
- Brown bag apple pie
- Apple cheesecake pie
- Strawberry pie recipe
- Chocolate silk pie
- Banana cream pie
- Apple cranberry pie
- Peach pie
- Breakfast pie
Need more pie crust options? I love this simple pretzel crumb crust or Oreo crust when I need something quick and easy!
More Pie Crust Recipes
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Easy Pie Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1-2 Tablespoons granulated sugar , optional
- ½ cup unsalted butter , chilled and cubed
- ⅔ cup vegetable shortening , chilled
- 1 Tablespoon vinegar
- ½ cup water , divided
Instructions
- Use a pastry cutter. In a large bowl, combine 2 3/4 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 Tablespoon sugar. Cut 1/2 cup butter and 2/3 cup shortening in with a pastry cutter until it forms coarse crumbs, or pea-sized pieces with a few larger bits of fat are formed, being careful not to overmix. You'll want to work fast so the butter doesn't have time to warm up.
- Finish pie dough. In a cup, add water and ice cubes. Stir and let sit a few minutes. Measure 1/2 cup of ice cold water to use. Add 1 Tablespoon vinegar and 1 Tablespoon water and stir in with a wooden spoon. Continue to add 1 Tablespoon water at a time (up to 1/2 cup) until a dough is formed and isn't overly sticky. If it feels too crumbly, dip your fingers in the ice water and bring dough together with your hands. If it feels too sticky, sprinkle a little more flour and bring dough together with your hands.
- Chill dough. Cut the dough in half and wrap it in plastic wrap. I like to press it into a disk so it's easier to roll out. Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.
- Roll out pie dough. Once dough is chilled, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick.
- Transfer to pie pan. Folding the dough in half, and then folding in half again, carefully transfer to a pie pan. Unfold. Make the crust edges using your thumb and index finger. You can also cut off the extra dough around the edges or press it down with a fork. Proceed with cooking the pie crust per your recipe instructions.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Recipe FAQs
You definitely can use one, but I prefer to use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter because I find that the food processor tends to overwork the dough and cut the butter too fine.
Take your pie to the next level by topping with an intricate lattice pie crust. It’s a fun way to fancy it up and bring some pizzazz to your holiday table.
Blind baking your pie crust will help solve that issue. You just want to be sure you chill your pie crust in the pie pan for at least 20 minutes before baking and use enough pie weights or dried beans to hold down all of the crust.
Place the dough disks wrapped in plastic in a zip-top bag or freezer container up to 3 months. Place in the refrigerator overnight to thaw before using.
Categorized as: American, Christmas, Desserts, Freezer-Friendly, Pies + Tarts, Thanksgiving
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
What if you don’t have a food processer?
You can also do it by hand using a pastry cutter or 2 knives! :)
why use vinegar in making a pie crust from scratch?
It may seem strange to add vinegar to the pie crust recipe, but it’s definitely the secret ingredient! It’s important to add vinegar because it tenderizes the pie crust and makes a softer dough. The vinegar helps to prevent the development of gluten, which creates a tougher crust. So be sure to add the vinegar so that your pie crust develops the perfect, soft texture!
One of the questions mentions vinegar, and your response says it’s necessary for a tender crust. But the version of the recipe I see omits vinegar. What’s your recommendation? I have also heard a couple of tablespoons of vodka in lieu of some of the water is good.
You can add 1 Tablespoon of vinegar when you add the water. It helps make the crust more tender :)
Is this recipe for a 2 crust pie? I didn’t see that information anywhere in the recipe.
Yes it is for 2 pie crusts!
Saving this for the pie season! Thanks for sharing!
Your pie dough sounds sooooo easy. I will follow that recipe on my next endeavor to make my own pie crust.
Hope you enjoy as much as we do! :)
Homemade pie crust is the way to go for holiday baking! Yours looks perfect!
Thank you! It’s definitely easier than you would think too! :)
You make it sound so easy! Can’t wait to try this one. I like this! Thank you for a great recipe!
I love homemade pies. I need to try your pie crust recipe!
With this easy crust I am going to be a pie making machine!
Have fun making pies! :)
Can I make this pie crust with a Kitchen Aid mixer? I don’t have a food processor.
Do you have a pastery cutter? I’ve done it by hand many times and it works just as well! :)
Recipe sounds great. Can’t wait to try it.
where can i get pie beads from
Most kitchen stores have pie beads available. Or, you can use dried beans (kidney, black, whatever you have). If you use dried beans, you can reuse them multiple times – but don’t try to make a meal with with them. All that time in the oven dries them out and makes them starchy. :)
curious do you need to bake crust first before using or filling?
Depends on that type of pie you’re baking! If it’s something where the whole thing gets cooked, like apple pie, you don’t need to bake ahead. But if you’re making a custard pie, like French Silk, then yes – you do need to bake before filling. :)
Thanks for the lessons on making a homemade pie crust. This will be my
first time that I will making my own crust.
I have this in the fridge chilling right now! I am making the Razzleberry pie recipe today. I had never heard of it before, and can’t wait to taste it. When I was making the dough for this crust I was just a little confused. In the Ingredients it has 8-12 Tablespoons of ice water. In the Directions it tells us to add 3 Tablespoons of water. I was worried that only adding the 3 wouldn’t be enough compared to the 8-12. I found that after the 2nd Tablespoon of water the dough looked like your picture, but I added another Tablespoon of water, per the directions. It made the dough thinner than I expected. Is it possible it wasn’t cold enough? Or should I just omit the third Tablespoon of water next time? I am hoping that once the dough is chilled it will be okay. Thanks!!
Thanks for the tutorial! I have never made pie crust before…I may just have to give it a try!
Before your photo with the foil and pie weights, you say you like to pre-bake your crusts “a little” for all of your pies. How much time is “a little?” I like the idea because I like a browned crust and sometimes, the filling is cooked before the crust is fully ready. How long do you pre-bake your crust? Thanks!
Hi Jill! I bake mine for 5-7 minutes with the foil and pie beads on top. :)
I make pie dough all the time, and you’re right, the food processor makes it so easy. I love that pie dough is so versatile– it can be used for pies, tarts, empanadas, pot pies, and more! Haha, can you tell I love pie ;-)
I love pie too! All the recipes you listed sound amazing! :)