Easy Pie Crust

Ingredient Notes

In addition to the ingredients below, you’ll need ice-cold water to form the ultimate dough for your pie crust. As you’ll see, the recurring theme with pie crust-making is keeping things cold, so that the crust becomes flaky while it bakes. Scroll down to the recipe card below the post for the full, printable recipe measurements and step-by-step instructions.

• Unsalted Butter – Make sure the butter is cold from the fridge.
• All-Purpose Flour – Use a kitchen scale or the spoon and level method rather than scooping your measuring cup directly into the flour. Accurate measuring is super important! I go into this in-depth in my tutorial on how to measure flour.
• Egg – To bind everything together.
• Distilled White Vinegar – Vinegar helps protect the dough against overworking. If you don’t have white vinegar, you can use water instead if preferred.

How to Make Pie Crust From Scratch

This approachable homemade pie crust recipe isn’t hard to make, and I think you’ll taste the difference compared to store-bought. The pie dough comes together in minutes in the food processor, and it’s easy to handle. That was my goal when I created this recipe, since I wanted to make a pie crust that anyone could master in just a few steps. Here’s how to make it:

• Prepare the butter. Start by cutting the butter into 1/2-inch cubes. It should be cold from the fridge.
• Combine the butter and flour. Next, combine the cold, cubed butter with flour and salt in a food processor. Pulse several times until the mixture is crumbly, but still has large chunks of butter.

• Add the egg, vinegar, and ice-cold water. Now, add the egg, vinegar, and 2 teaspoons of ice water to the dough. Pulse again until the dough starts to come together. If needed, add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time.

• Shape and chill the pie dough. Turn the blended dough out onto a clean work surface. Then, press it into a ball, and flatten it into a disc about 5 inches wide. Afterward, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 60 minutes.

• Roll out the pie crust. When you’re ready, take the dough out of the fridge and roll it into a flat circle on a lightly floured surface. Roll from the center to the edges, rotating occasionally. You’ll want to roll the crust out so it’s about 11 inches in diameter, leaving you at least 1 inch on each side of the pie plate.
• Refrigerate until it’s time to fill. Lastly, transfer the rolled-out dough to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold under the excess dough, then crimp the edges. Then, refrigerate the pie crust while you prepare your pie filling.

When and How to Blind Bake a Pie Crust

Some pies require pre-baking of the crust, also known as blind baking or par-baking. This involves baking the empty prepared pie crust before you add the filling. This is most common in no-bake recipes and desserts with a pudding or custard filling, like coconut cream pie or French silk pie. You can also do a partial blind-bake for recipes where the filling will still be baked afterward, like pumpkin pie. In these cases, blind baking the crust creates a sturdy base and prevents a soggy bottom.

Here’s a summary for blind baking your homemade pie crust. If needed, I have a full tutorial on how to blind bake a pie crust that goes into the steps in detail. Refer to the specific recipe directions to know if you should blind-bake your crust before you fill it.

1. Prepare for baking. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Leave your chilled pie crust in the fridge until you’re ready to fill it.
2. Weigh down the crust. Adding pie weights keeps the crust from puffing up too much in the oven. Place a sheet or two of parchment paper over the chilled crust. Then, fill the crust about 3/4 of the way full with a combination of pie weights and dry rice or beans. Push the beans/pie weights to the edges of the pie plate. This helps the edges of the crust hold their shape.
3. Blind-bake. Now, bake the crust in the 375ºF oven for about 15 minutes, or until the edges begin turning golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and remove the pie weights and parchment paper.
4. Dock the crust. Use a toothpick or a fork to poke holes into the bottom of the crust. This is a technique called “docking” a pie crust, and it prevents bubbles from forming.
5. Bake again. Return the crust to the oven without the pie weights and bake for another 7-8 minutes, or until the bottom begins to brown as well.

Recipes Using a Homemade Pie Crust

Now that you’ve got your easy pie crust taken care of, let’s move on to the filling! The recipes below are some of my favorites that complement this classic, buttery crust.

• The classics. Try out this flaky pie crust in classic holiday desserts like homemade apple pie, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
• Fruit fillings. Fill this pie crust with peach pie, cherry pie, or berry pie filling. You can easily adapt the filling depending on which fruits are in season.
• Crumble pie. If you can’t decide between apple pie and apple crumble, my apple crumble pie is the best of both worlds.
• Custard and pudding pie. This old-fashioned chocolate pie is super rich, creamy, and decadent, as is this German chocolate pie. This crust also goes great with my favorite coconut custard pie.
• Mini pies and hand pies. You can use this homemade crust as an alternative to store-bought pastry crust in recipes for apple hand pies or mini blueberry pies.

Make-Ahead, Storage, and Freezing

• Make the pie dough ahead. If desired, you can prepare this crust up to 3 days in advance. Simply keep the plastic-wrapped dough in the fridge instead of removing it and rolling it out after 60 minutes. If you want to make it more than 3 days ahead of time, you’ll have to store it in the freezer according to the instructions below.
• Freeze the unbaked pie crust. To freeze your pie crust, wrap it in two layers of plastic wrap after flattening it into a disc. Store it in the freezer for up to one month. You’ll have to thaw it out in the fridge before proceeding with the recipe.

More Easy Pie Crust Recipes to Try

• Oreo Pie Crust
• Classic Graham Cracker Crust
• How to Make a No Bake Crust