Homemade Pie Crust by Beyond Frosting

This soft and tender Homemade Pie Crust has ultra flaky layers and the most delicious buttery flavor. It’s super easy to make and goes wonderfully with all your favorite filling recipes!

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Flaky Homemade Pie Crust

Is it just me or are flakey and tender pie crusts completely irresistible? There is something about a bite of buttery crust paired with a delectable filling that just makes me happy.

But you know what doesn’t make me happy? Those frozen pie crusts from the store that always fall apart. They’re easy I know, but there has to be a better way! I think this simple homemade pie crust recipe is the answer.

What Makes this Recipe Work

I pulled together a few of my favorite pie crust components to make it – vinegar and an egg. The egg helps bind the crust together while the vinegar keeps it supple, making it the easiest crust to work with ever! No more cracking and falling apart when you’re trying to transfer it to the pie plate. Phew!

The best part of this simple from-scratch recipe is the buttery flavor and flaky texture of the crust. It doesn’t get hard or dry, no matter what filling you add to it! Plus, you can easily make it in advance and store it in the fridge or freezer.

What You’ll Need

The following ingredients come together to form the ultimate dough for your pie crust. Here’s the roster:

• Unsalted Butter: Cold from the fridge.
• All-Purpose Flour: Use the spoon and level method rather than scooping your measuring cup directly into the flour. This ensures accurate measurements.
• Salt: Just a dash!
• Egg: To bind everything together.
• Distilled White Vinegar: Vinegar helps protect the dough against overworking, but you can use water instead if preffered.
• Water: It should be ice cold.

How to Make Pie Crust From Scratch

Homemade pie crust isn’t hard to make, and it’s so much better than the store-bought stuff! The dough comes together in just a few minutes, and it’s very easy to shape and manipulate.

Cut Butter: Cut the cold butter into 1/2-inch thick cubes. It should be fresh from the fridge.

Combine Flour, Salt & Butter: Combine the flour, salt and butter in a food processor. Pulse several times until the mixture is crumbly, but still has large chunks of butter.

Add Egg, Vinegar & Water: Add the egg, vinegar and 2 teaspoons of ice cold water. Pulse until the dough begins to hold together. If needed, add additional water 1 teaspoon at a time.

Flatten Dough & Chill: Turn the dough out onto the counter. Press it into a ball, then flatten it into a disc about 5 inches wide. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a minimum of 60 minutes.

Form Crust: Roll the dough onto a lightly floured surface, rolling from the center to the edges and rotating occasionally. Roll it out so it’s about 11 inches in diameter, leaving you at least 1 inch on each side of the pie plate.

Prep for Filling & Chill: Place the dough into a 9-inch pie plate and fold under the excess edges, then crimp the edges. Refrigerate the dough while you prepare your pie filling.

How to Blind Bake Pie Crust

A lot of pie recipes require pre-baking of the crust, also known as blind baking or par-baking. I like to follow this tutorial from Sally’s Baking Addiction, which I’ve summarized below. For deep-dish pie plates, I recommend using Sally’s dough strip technique to prevent the crust from shrinking too much. This is for a partially baked crust.

Heat Oven: Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Weigh Crust Down: Place a sheet or two of parchment paper over the chilled crust. Fill it 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 hold up the edges of the crust.

Bake: Bake the crust for about 15 minutes, or until the edges begin turning golden brown, then remove it from the oven.

Poke Holes: Use a toothpick or a fork to poke holes into the bottom of the crust. This prevents bubbles from forming.

Continue Baking: Place the crust back into the oven and bake it for 7-8 minutes, or until the bottom begins to brown as well.

Tips for Success

Take a second to look over these tips and tricks before you make and pre-bake your pie crust.

• Use Very Cold Butter: Don’t remove the butter from the refrigerator when you’re gathering the ingredients for your pie crust. Leave it in the fridge until you’re ready to cut it up so it stays as cold as possible. Cold chunks of butter in the dough make for extra flaky pie crust.
• Roll Out the Dough Over a Silicone Mat: I like to put a silicone mat down underneath my parchment paper to keep it in place while I’m rolling out the dough. Be sure to lightly flour the parchment paper and roll the dough from the center to the edge, rotating it occasionally. This prevents sticking.
• Don’t Trim the Edges Too Much! You want at least 1 inch of extra crust hanging over the edges of the pie plate to fold underneath and crimp.
• Chill Before Blind Baking: It’s important that your dough is cold when you place it in the oven to par-bake it. Don’t forget to refrigerate it until you’re ready to do so.
• Bake Over a Rimmed Baking Sheet: I recommend placing a rimmed baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven when you’re blind baking your pie crust. If there are large pockets of butter on the edges of the crust, they can sometimes leak over the sides.

Serving Suggestions

Now that you’ve got your crust taken care of, let’s move on to the filling! The recipes below will beautifully complement this buttery pie crust.

• Fill with Chocolate Pie Filling: This old-fashioned Chocolate Pie is super rich, creamy and decadent. If you’re looking for a crowd-pleaser that even the pickiest kids will wolf down, this one’s a winner!
• Make Apple Crumble Pie: Can’t decide between apple pie and apple crumble? You don’t have to! My Apple Crumble Pie gives you the best of both worlds, and this crust provides the perfect base.

How to Store

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.