Foolproof All-Butter Pie Crust Recipe

This all-butter pie crust recipe is time-tested and practically fool-proof pie dough recipe! Unbelievably flaky and flavorful and super easy to make!

Why you’ll love this all-butter pie crust recipe?

• Simple ingredients – As title states, this pie dough is made of all butter. It’s convenient for those of us who don’t usually have shortening on hand. Just for the record, I have nothing against shortening or lard, it’s just I don’t use them enough to keep them on hand.
• Flavorful – Egg yolk adds more flavor and richness.
• Easy – I use my stand mixer to make my pie crust dough. But a simple pastry cutter gets the job done as fine.
• Convenient – The recipe is super easy to double for double-crust pies.

You’ll get flaky, tender and the most flavorful pie crust every SINGLE time. Follow my tips below to ensure a pie success! I’ve made it enough to know how reliable and foolproof this recipe is, 8+ years and counting. 

Shortening Pie Crust VS All-Butter Pie Crust

Which is better all butter pie crust, or old-fashioned shortening pie crust?

Well, I’m glad you asked. Here’s the truth. Pie dough with shortening holds its shape better, especially if you took your time to shape a beautiful pie edges, intricate designs. And thus, if you’re going for impressive pie with detailed, intricate designs, go with pie crust recipe with shortening .

That being said, you’ll still get decent – aka rustic – looking pies with this butter pie dough, but extra tender and melt-in-your-mouth flaky!

1. Mix together flour and salt first.
2. Add frozen butter cubes and egg yolk. Mix until butter is about pea-size.
3. Add ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms into a ball.
4. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in a plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling it out.

5 TIPS FOR PERFECTLY FLAKY TENDER PIE CRUST

• While this’s not crucial, I highly recommend weighing the flour, instead of measuring by volume. This ensures proper ratio of dry and wet ingredients.
• Cut the cold butter into small cubes and freeze it for at least 30 minutes.
• Don’t over-mix the dough to avoid tough pie crust. TIP: cubing the butter into small cubes (about 1/4 tablespoon pieces) helps to prevent this issue. 
• Use ice cold water to ensure your dough stays nice and cold and prevents melting the butter.
• Add water 1-2 tablespoons at a time, so you don’t put too much liquid into the dough. Or you’ll end up with sticky dough that is hard to work with.

Why is it so important to keep the butter and dough cold?

It’s crucial to use cold butter and ice water to make a pie dough, because we don’t want to completely melt the butter into the dough. We want lots of small chunks of butter throughout the dough, so that when we bake the pie crust, those butter pieces melt, creating little pockets in the crust. (Remember, laminating technique for making flaky croissants? This’s basically the same concept.)

Butter swirls and chunks all over the pie dough is a good sign!!

1. I fold the edges out and roll it until it meets the pie dish. You’ll get a nice and thick border, if you will. It won’t be perfect all around, in some places it’ll be thinner, and in some places thicker, but that’s ok.
2. Then I use simple 3-finger method to crimp the edges, as shown below. Classic and timeless.

2 ways to freeze a pie dough:

1. Method #1: Wrap the flattened pie dough in a plastic wrap. (If you’re planning to freeze for more than a month, I’d double wrap in plastic.) Place it in a freezer bag. And freeze for up to 3 months.
   • When ready to make a pie, thaw the frozen pie dough in the fridge overnight. 
2. Method #2: Roll the chilled pie dough and lay it in a pie dish. Crimp the edges. And then wrap the entire thing in a plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months.
   • Make sure it has plenty of space around it, and doesn’t get smushed with other things. That’s why I recommend upright freezer for this method.
   • When ready to bake, you can take it straight from the freezer into the oven for blind-baking.

How to blind-bake a pie crust:

Some recipes, like my lemon meringue pie, pecan pie, banana cream pie, require the crust to be blind-baked first, which basically means the crust is cooked without the filling.

1. Place a sheet of aluminum foil over a chilled pie crust. Add pie weights (or raw beans, or rice).
2. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes.
3. Carefully remove the weights and aluminum foil. Using a fork, pierce holes all over the crust to prevent bubbles and air pockets throughout the crust. 
4. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Save this amazing all-butter pie crust recipe now. And leave a review once you give it a try!

This recipe was originally published on January 6th, 2013, and last update was on November 19, 2020.