Homemade pie crust, despite its reputation, is surprisingly simple to make. All bakers, from beginners to pros, can (and should) learn to make pie crust with confidence. This Pie Crust Tutorial provides everything you need for consistently perfect results.
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Bakers, whether new or experienced, often feel intimidated by making pie crust. There are so many "rules" out there that can make the process feel overwhelming. After more than a decade of baking pies professionally and five years of running a pie blog, I wanted to create a comprehensive guide to simplify the process. I'll also address common challenges my readers face when it comes to making pie crust.
I'm on a mission to convince bakers to skip the store-bought dough and try making their own at home. Pie dough made from scratch is not only quick and easy but also well worth the small amount of extra effort it requires compared to buying it from the store.
This comprehensive guide on How to Make Pie Crust is jam-packed full of useful information and should be considered a roadmap for you. While there is a recipe at the end of this tutorial with all the recommended ways to make pie crust, this was designed as a gateway to help you discover the best method for you making pie crust with links to additional helpful articles and tutorials that will support you in mastering pie crust. You can jump around using the menu below, or skip to the end of the article for the full recipe.
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Different Types of Pie Crust
Remember, there are many types of pie crusts. While a flaky, buttery crust is the classic choice in the U.S., it's not always the best option for every pie. On this site alone, you'll find 25 different pie crust recipes, each tailored to specific types of pies. They can be sweet or savory, light and crumbly, flaky and buttery, press-in or roll-out; there is a whole range of styles to fit various applications.
While you can explore the archives for more specific pie crust recipes, this tutorial focuses on classic American-style buttery, flaky pie crust. This type of crust is ideal for traditional fruit pies or savory pies served warm or at room temperature. However, flaky butter dough isn’t the best choice for pies that will be served cold, like cream pies. When chilled, traditional pie crust can lose its soft, flaky texture, becoming firm and tasting somewhat stale—similar to a croissant that’s been refrigerated. This happens because the butter in the crust hardens when cold, making the texture denser.
For cold pies, I recommend using Pâte Sucrée (Sweet Pie Crust) or Pâte Sablée (Sweet Tart Dough). The tips in this tutorial are geared toward traditional pie crusts and may not apply to those recipes.
Useful Tools for Beginners
You don’t need fancy equipment to make great pie dough at home, but at minimum, you do need your ingredients, a big bowl and a rolling pin. However, having a few key additional tools can help a reluctant pie baker overcome their intimidation and set themselves up for success. Here is a quick overview of some useful tools to have on hand to successfully tackle homemade pie crust:
Kitchen Scale: Flour should always be measured by weight. If you want to bake like a pro, a kitchen scale is a must. It's more accurate than measuring by volume and leads to better results. Though I list cup measurements in my recipes, I personally only measure dry ingredients in grams or ounces to avoid errors—using a scale will transform your baking routine for the better.
Rolling Pin: There are many styles of rolling pins, and the best one is the one you're most comfortable with. That said, I do have some preferences. I usually use two rolling pins when rolling out pie dough: a tapered French dowel for control and precision and a straight dowel to ensure even thickness of the dough. If I had to pick one, it would be the tapered pin. I’m not a fan of rolling pins with handles, as they offer less control, but what matters most is using what you're comfortable with.
A Food-Safe Spray Bottle: This is a very useful tool for hydrating spots of pie dough that are dry without adding too much water. If you’ve ever struggled with properly hydrating pastry (more on that below), this is a great tool to have.
Dry Pastry Brush: A dry pastry brush is essential for brushing off excess flour, especially when working with sticky dough that needs extra flour for rolling. It should have natural bristles and should always be kept dry and reserved exclusively for pastry work to maintain the condition of the bristles.
Pastry Wheel: A pastry wheel is the best tool for cutting pie dough into lattice strips. You could absolutely use a knife instead, but a pastry wheel makes the task easier and more precise.
You'll also need a food processor, pastry blender, or stand mixer if you plan to make pie dough using those tools.
To see all these recommended products as well as a few other tools that are useful to have for making pies, check out this Guide on Essential Tools for Making Perfect Pies.
Essential Pie Crust Tools
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Buy Now → Methods for Making Pie Crust
Just as there are many types of pie crust, there are also many ways to prepare it—and it's important to remember that no single method is "the best." Let’s talk about the pros and cons of each to see how they can impact the final result.
Making Pie Crust by Hand:
Pie dough made by hand will almost always be flakier than when made by any other method. The reason handmade dough is flakier is that the butter naturally stays in larger pieces than when processed by a machine. The drawback of this method is that it is more difficult to evenly hydrate the dough, so you may need to add more water than with other methods to get it to come together.
See this Guide to Making Pie Crust by Hand for more in-depth information on this method.
Making Pie Crust with a Pastry Blender:
This method is similar to making pie dough by hand, but instead of rubbing the butter into the flour with your fingers, you use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour. It’s a great option if you want the benefits of handmade dough but don't literally want to get your hands in the dough. The downside of this method is similar to the handmade method: it can be harder to evenly hydrate the dough.
See this Guide to Making Pie Crust with a Pastry Blender for more in-depth information on this method.
Making Pie Crust In a Stand Mixer:
If done properly, making pie dough in a stand mixer can result in very tender, mildly flaky pie dough. The dough comes together easily, especially after the water is added, and it’s easy to clean up. The con here is that making the dough this way causes the most gluten formation, since the dough is "worked" more by the mixer. To adjust for this, do not let the machine run beyond the point when the dough has come together.
See this Guide to Making Pie Crust in a Stand Mixer for more in-depth information on this method.
Making Pie Crust in a Food Processor:
Using the food processor is my overall preferred method for making pie dough. While it may not produce the flakiest crust, it creates an ultra-tender dough that’s incredibly easy to make with just the push of a button. The dough hydrates evenly, so you won’t need to add extra water.
The downside is that pie dough made in a food processor isn’t as flaky, since the butter tends to break down into smaller pieces. However, it strikes a great balance: mildly flaky, ultra tender, and very simple to make.
See this Guide to Making Pie Crust in a Food Processor for more in-depth information on this method.
Adding the Right Amount of Water
Adding the right amount of water to pie crust can tricky. I've noticed bakers are typically afraid of over-hydrating their pie dough and causing toughness, so most tend not to add enough water.
Make sure to add enough water so there are no dry spots in your pie dough, as those dry spots will not disappear even during resting. Err on the side of adding more water rather than less. The pie crust should hold together easily when gently squeezed in your hand. Any powdery bits should be gently hydrated with a few drips of water.
That being said, don't add so much water that your pie dough becomes super soft! You'll know it when you see it.
Storing Pie Crust
Resting is an essential step in making a proper pie crust. Resting both allows time for proper hydration and relaxes the gluten that was formed during the mixing process. Both of these things will also make rolling out the pie dough easier.
I don’t recommend making pie dough the same day it needs to be rolled out or baked! If possible, plan to make pie dough at least one day ahead of time. You can store it in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 days or the freezer for up to 3 months.
To store pie dough, wrap it as tightly as you can in plastic wrap, then use a rolling pin to roll out the pie disk and flatten it so it fills any gaps and essentially makes an airtight seal with the plastic wrap. This helps to prevent it from oxidizing (or turning a muddled gray color). If you plan to store the dough for an extended period of time, then wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap.
Baking Homemade Pie Crust
Almost as important as how you prepare pie pastry is how you bake it. There is one main rule to remember when it comes to baking all-butter pie dough: very cold dough should be put in a very hot oven. All-butter pie pastry should be thoroughly chilled before baking and baked at a high temperature, ideally around 425ºF.
See this Guide to Baking Double Crust Fruit Pies for more detailed tips.
However, not all pie fillings can be baked at a high temperature, which means that sometimes the pie crust will need to be partially or fully blind-baked. Usually, a specific pie recipe indicates how the pie crust should be baked, so refer to those directions.
Here is a full guide on Blind Baking Pie Crusts for more information.
More Resources
As a dedicated pie website, there are many more tutorials and guides on how to be successful at pie making. Explore this Kitchen Tutorials page for all of the articles. Here are some popular posts:
Full Recipe
How to Make Pie Crust
Homemade pie crust, despite its reputation, is surprisingly simple to make. All bakers, from beginners to pros, can (and should) learn to make pie crust with confidence. This Pie Crust Tutorial provides everything you need for consistently perfect results.
- Total Time10 minutes
- Yield(2) 9" pie crusts
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (4 grams) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (see note for other)
- 16 tablespoons (227 grams) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1" pieces
- ½ cup (115 grams) ice water, more as needed
Instructions
Gather the tools and ingredients required for the method you are using to make the pie dough.
To Make it By Hand:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
- Add the butter and toss to coat with the flour. Using your fingers, squeeze and work the butter into the flour. Use both hands and make the motion as if you were dealing out cards. Continue squeezing and tossing until most of the butter looks shaggy. Some larger pieces can remain, up to the size of a marble.
- Drip in ¾ of the ice water throughout the dough, then toss the mixture together with your fingers. When there is enough water added, the dough should easily squeeze together with your hands. Transfer any fully hydrated dough to a work surface. Drip in more water as needed to any remaining dry spots (or use a kitchen-safe spray bottle). Add just enough water to bring the dough together.
To Make it in a Food Processor:
- Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor.
- Pulse 2-3 times until combined.
- Add in the butter and pulse 5 times.
- With the motor running, slowly pour the water into the flour. The dough should be crumbly and it should hold together when squeezed.
- Empty the flour mixture onto a work surface. If there are any dry spots, drip (or spray) a bit more water on them and briefly knead the dough together.
To Make it in a Stand Mixer:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour, and salt on low speed.
- Add in the butter, and turn the mixer on low (cover the bowl with a towel if flour starts to spill out). Let the paddle cut the butter into the flour until the butter is in small pieces, about the size of a pea, with some larger pieces remaining, no bigger than a marble.
- With the mixer running, slowly stream the water into the bowl. Mix until most of the dough comes together around the paddle, about 15 seconds, and then immediately shut off the mixer to not overwork the dough. The dough should hold together easily. If there are any dry spots in the mix, sprinkle (or spray) a few drops of water on that area.
To Make it with a Pastry Blender:
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and diced butter. Use the pastry blender to sweep through the bowl, mixing the butter to coat with flour.
- Firmly hold the pastry blender by the handle, and press the blades down through the butter. With a rocking motion, continue this process while rotating the bowl to evenly cut the butter into the flour. Aim for mostly pea-sized pieces of butter, with some larger marble-sized chunks for added flakiness.
- Slowly drip in ¾ of the ice water over the dough, tossing the mixture with the pastry blender or a rubber spatula. Add in the remaining water as needed. When enough water is added, the dough should easily squeeze together in your hands.
- Transfer the dough to a work surface and hydrate any dry spots as needed, either by dripping it in or using a kitchen-safe spray bottle. Add just enough water to bring the dough together without overworking it.
To Bring it Together:
- Using your hands, gently bring the dough together into one large ball.
- Divide it into two equal pieces, about 12 ounces each. Shape each piece into a rough disk.
- Place each disk in a piece of plastic wrap and wrap tightly.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the wrapped dough out until it stretches to the edges of the plastic wrap to ensure a tight seal.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
Notes
Weighing your flour is the most accurate way to measure. If you aren't going to weigh it, make sure to spoon it into the measuring cup and then level it off. If you scoop the flour out with the measuring cup and then level it, it could change the outcome of the final product.
This recipe was tested using Diamond Crystal coarse kosher salt. If you use Morton's kosher salt or fine salt, decrease the volume by half.
You can store this pie dough in the refrigerator for 2 days or the freezer for up to 3 months. If you plan to store it for an extended period of time, wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap.
This recipe makes enough pastry to make one double-crust pie or two single-crust pies. You can halve the recipe if you only want to make one single-crust pie.
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Category: Pie Crust
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Katie
Hi I'm surprised there aren't any comments! I haven't made a pie yet but I'm on my way! You've made me excited to make a real pie crust no store bought this year. I saw your video on social media and you made it seem very attainable for everyone to create the crust of their dreams. I appreciate your clear instructions and your light hearted explanation. Your video was perfect, not too slow or overly rushed either. I just wanted to say how glad I am I took the time to watch and learn, and that you took the time to explain and teach. I look forward to a tasty pie and for more videos. Gobble Gobble 🦃🦃🥧