Homemade Pie Crust

Homemade Pie Crust

There’s just nothing like a homemade pie crust. Buttery, flakey and light — it’s the perfect complement to all kinds of sweet fillings — Chocolate Cream, Bourbon PecanClassic PumpkinDutch AppleKey LimePeach & Blueberry and more!

If you’ve never made a homemade pie crust, I’d suggest watching this video first. The video will give you a good overview of the process, and also provide some helpful visuals to go along with the recipe.

As I say in the video, there are two things to remember when you’re making a homemade pie crust: (1) Don’t over mix the dough; and (2) Keep the butter cold. Both of these guidelines are intended to keep the butter from combining too much with the flour, which will keep your crust flakey and light.

If you have questions or need help troubleshooting, feel free to email me at Marie@MarieSaba.com. I personally respond and would love to help!

And one additional note: Don’t expect perfection! No two pie crusts are ever alike, and just when you think your crust is the ultimate failure, it may turn out to be your best one yet. It’s happened to me many times! Happy baking!

Homemade Pie Crust

Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (plus extra for rolling out the dough)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter (cold), cut into cubes
  • 5 tablespoons ice-cold water

Instructions

  1. Place flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine.
  2. Add butter. Process on low until the butter and flour start to combine.
  3. Add 5 tablespoons very cold water. Pulse about 8 to 10 times. The dough should feel dry when you run your fingers through it, but should hold together in a ball when you squeeze it in your hand.
  4. Spread a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter (approximately 1 1/2 feet long). Gently dump the dough (it will be crumbly) onto plastic wrap. Pull plastic wrap together around the dough and mold it with your hands so the dough forms a disc inside the wrap. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
  5. When you are ready to roll out the crust, remove dough from refrigerator, unwrap and let sit at room temperature for about 5 or 10 minutes.
  6. Use your hands to flatten the dough slightly so it will be easier to roll out. Toss some flour on your countertop. Place the flattened dough in the center. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a circular shape that has about the same thickness all the way around. After each roll, turn the dough ¼ turn clockwise in order to keep it from sticking. Continue rolling and turning until the circle is evenly rolled out. Once the dough is large enough to fit your pie plate, gently place in the pie plate with edges hanging over. Gently press the dough into the bottom of the plate. Using your hands, tuck any dough that overhangs the plate into an even edge.
  7. Use your hands to even the edge if needed. Finally, crimp the edges with your fingers for a decorative scalloped shape. Wrap in saran wrap and store crust in freezer for up to 1 month. When you are ready to bake a pie, simply remove the pie crust and pie plate from the freezer, let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, add the filling and bake. Baking the crust from frozen will help the pie crust keep its shape as it bakes.

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Hi! I’m Marie. Mama, wife, homebody. I’m a self-taught chef and cookbook author. 

I love sharing fast, fresh, family-friendly recipes that will, hopefully, make your life a little easier.

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21 Responses

    1. Hi Vicki! Thanks so much of your comment! And I’m so glad you liked the video. I am a little behind on posting recipes but will get to that asap. Hopefully this weekend! Thanks for your patience. The crust recipe is the same as posted here, I’ll just add directions for the blind bake. Big hugs, Marie

  1. What a terrific tutorial! I had just about given up on making pie crust, but you provided new and valuable steps that give me hope and I’ll try again! Great instructions. Thank you.

    1. Hi Barbara! Thanks so much for watching and for taking time to leave a comment! I always love to hear from viewers 🙂 I’m excited for you to try a homemade crust! Stay tuned for more new pie recipes this fall. Hugs, Marie

    1. Hi Jane! Thanks so much for watching and for taking time to leave a comment! I always love to hear from viewers 🙂 Please let me know if you have any questions or requests, and stay tuned for new recipes this fall. Hugs, Marie

  2. Thanks so much. You make it so easy that I feel to do the crust immediately but very important the temperature of the oven to bake it. Thanks again

    1. Hi Laurice! Thanks for watching and for your comment. It’s so nice to hear from you 🙂 The baking temperature depends on what type of pie you are making. If you are blind baking a crust, that is a different time and temperature than if you are baking a custard, nut or berry filling. Do you have a recipe that you planned to use for the filling? That should determine the baking temperature. Please let me know if you need anything else, I’m happy to help! Hugs, Marie

      Also, here is a link to an explanation of blind baking if needed: https://mariesaba.com/recipes/blind-baking-pie-crust/

  3. I love your pie videos! When making a 2- crust pie, can I double the recipe; or should I make the recipe twice?

    1. Hi Donna! Thanks for watching and great question! I prefer to make the recipe twice. It’s easier to mix everything evenly. Let me know if you need anything else. Hugs, Marie

  4. Finally found a very good all butter pie crust recipe. Excellent tip of prep each crust individually. Made an apple pie today and crust came out very nice. This will be my go-to pie crust recipe going forward. Thank you!

    1. Hi Joylene! Thanks so much for your note! I’m thrilled to hear you like the recipe and that it worked well for your apple pie. My mom taught me to make this crust. Sadly, she passed away two years ago, but I love that she lives on through people like you. For that reason, your comment means so much. If you want to send a photo of the finished pie, I’d love to see it! You can email me Marie@MarieSaba.com or tag me @mariesaba on instagram. Big hugs, Marie

  5. Great video. I made your recipe in my food processor. I put the 5 Tblsp of cold water in it, but it seems like it was way too wet. Any suggestions?

    Thanks

    1. Hi Carrie! Thanks so much for watching and for your note! Glad to hear you enjoyed the video. Hm, I supposed I would first double check all the dry measurements. Are you using imperial or metric? My 1 1/4 cup of flour weighs about 175 g, so it’s a bit more than the standard cup/grams conversion. I thought that I had those included in the recipe but I’m not seeing them, so I’ll go back and add asap 😬 If you’re pretty sure the dry ingredients (as well as butter and water measurements) were accurate, then you might have over mixed the dough. The food processor can quickly warm up the butter, causing it to soften, and make the dough feel too wet. Do any of those sound like what happened? Let me know. I’m happy to continue to troubleshoot with you if not 🙂 Thanks again, Marie

    1. Hi Cathy! Thanks for your question. Yes, you can make the crust up to 2 days before. Wrap in plastic and store in the refrigerator. You can also make the crust up to 2 months in advance, wrap in plastic and store in the freezer. Thaw in the refrigerator the night before you plan to roll it out. Hope that helps! Hugs, Marie

    1. Hi Amanda! Yes, it should be. After you chill it, add a little extra flour to the counter and let the crust soak it up a bit (on both sides) before you roll it out. Press the disc of dough gently into the flour so it absorbs better. That should even put your flour water ratio abd make it easier to roll. Use plenty of flour because it sounds like it will be sticky. Hope that helps. Hugs, Marie

  6. Can one double the recipe for two pie crusts (no top crust)? or for when making a pie which requires a top crust? Does doubling your recipe make it too hard to handle; or require too much extra time to work all the butter into the flour … which may then cause the butter to lose that nice chill we need.

    1. Hi Maggie! Yes, you are exactly right. I prefer not to double the recipe because it becomes difficult to evenly mix in the butter and water. I always just make two crusts, one after another. Sorry for the delayed reply and thanks so much for stopping by. Hugs, Marie

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Marie Saba

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