Easy Pie Dough (Crust)
This foolproof all-butter pie dough recipe uses a food processor to make a dough that's easy to work with and bakes up beautifully, every time.
- Total time
- 2 hr 20 min
- Active time
- 20 min
- Yield
Makes 2 single crusts or 1 double crusted pieMakes 2 single crusts or 1 double crusted pie
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Equipment
- 3 required
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Ingredients and Constraints
Ingredients
- Preparation: Cut Into 1/4-inch Pats
- State: Cold
Ingredient watchpoints3 watchpoints
Short requirements and tradeoffs to check while gathering ingredients; detailed source notes stay expandable.
Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon (5g) kosher salt; for table salt use same weight or half as much by volume
The source ingredient row lists alternatives.
Details and source
Acceptable alternatives: half as much by volume
Source: Easy Pie Dough (Crust)
Unsalted Butter
2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces; 280g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pats (see note)
The source row includes a form, size, temperature, or preparation detail.
Details and source
Source: Easy Pie Dough (Crust)
Water
6 tablespoons (3 ounces; 85ml) cold water
The source row includes a form, size, temperature, or preparation detail.
Details and source
Source: Easy Pie Dough (Crust)
Additional ingredient notes
Required setup
Equipment
Before You Cook
Constraints, controls, and warnings to review before starting.
Decisions before cookingDetails1
Reviewed comparisons and tradeoffs that affect the path before the first active step.
The Myths Behind Flaky Pie Crusts
Combine flour with a bit of salt and sugar, cut in some butter, lard, and/or shortening, then add just enough cold water to get it to come together into a disk.
Roll it out and bake. The underlying difficulty in the technique comes during the first stage of cutting the butter into the flour.
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Method Timeline
Prep
ActivePrep
20 min
Source Recipe JSON-LD prepTime.
Rest
PassiveRest
2 hr
Source recipe card lists chilling time.
Finish
ActiveFinish
Not listed
Final serving step and finishing actions from the source directions.
Step 1
Combine two thirds of flour with sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse twice to incorporate. Spread butter slices evenly over surface. Pulse until no dry flour remains and dough just begins to collect in clumps, about 25 short pulses. Use a rubber spatula to spread the dough evenly around the bowl of the food processor. Sprinkle with remaining flour and pulse until dough is just barely broken up, about 5 short pulses. Transfer dough to a large bowl.
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Image detailsPhoto collage showing pulsing butter into flour, and then additional flour into the dough to make easy, all-butter pie dough.Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik · Easy Pie Dough (Crust)Dev reference Troubleshooting1
CautionTough or Leathery CrustStep 1Tough or Leathery Crust
The coating fries up thick or tough instead of thin and crisp.
It's also got a relatively high water content (around 15–17%), which can cause excess gluten to form and turn your crust leathery if you aren't careful.
Prevention
Don't cut it in quite enough, and you need to add extra water to absorb the excess dry flour, so you get the over-formation of gluten, and a tough, leathery crust.
Inputs and tools5
Uses
- 2 1/2 cups (12.5 ounces; 350g) all-purpose flour, divided
- 2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5g) kosher salt; for table salt use same weight or half as much by volume
- 2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces; 280g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pats (see note)
Equipment
Step 2
Sprinkle with water. Then, using a rubber spatula, fold and press dough until it comes together into a ball. Divide ball in half. Form each half into a 4-inch disk. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before rolling and baking.
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Image detailsUsing a spatula to mix water into easy, all-butter pie dough.Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik · Easy Pie Dough (Crust)Dev reference %3Amax_bytes(150000)%3Astrip_icc()%3Aformat(webp)%2F__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__2011__07__20151017-easy-pie-dough-vicky-wasik-step2-38af2356beca4bb98cf6da1694727b39.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Image detailsPhoto collage showing adding water to processed pie dough, incorporating it with a spatula, and dividing it into two halves.Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik · Easy Pie Dough (Crust)Dev reference Inputs and tools2
Uses
- 6 tablespoons (3 ounces; 85ml) cold water
Techniques
Step 3
When ready to shape the dough, pull out one ball, set it on a well-floured work surface, and sprinkle with more flour. Use a tapered rolling pin to start rolling the dough out into a circle, lifting the dough and rotating it while rolling to achieve an even shape. Continue rolling, changing the angle of your rolling pin as you go to get an even shape and thickness. The finished dough should overhang your pie plate by an inch or two.
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Image detailsRolling out easy, all-butter pie dough using a tapered rolling pin on a white marble counter.Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik · Easy Pie Dough (Crust)Dev reference Inputs and tools1
Uses
- 2 1/2 cups (12.5 ounces; 350g) all-purpose flour, divided
Step 4
Pick up the dough by carefully rolling it around your rolling pin, using your bench scraper to help lift it off the work surface. Unroll it over a pie plate. Gently lift and fit the dough into the pie plate, getting down into the corners.
Warning:
Pick up the dough by carefully rolling it around your rolling pin, using your bench scraper to help lift it off the work surface.
Step 5
For a single-crusted pie, use a pair of scissors to trim the dough so that it overhangs the edge by 1/2 inch all around. For a double-crusted pie, at this stage, fill it and drape your second round of pie dough over the top. Trim it to a 1/2-inch overhang along with the lower crust. Either way, tuck the overhanging edge(s) under itself all the way around the pie.
Step 6
Flute the edges of the pie crust using the forefinger of one hand and the thumb and forefinger of the other. The single-crust pie shell is ready to be blind-baked or filled. For a double-crusted pie, brush with an egg white, sprinkle with sugar, and cut vent holes in the top with a sharp knife before baking.
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Image detailsUsing fingers to flute the edges of easy all-butter pie dough in a pie plate.Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik · Easy Pie Dough (Crust)Dev reference Inputs and tools1
Uses
- 2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
Troubleshooting
Reviewed failure and correction notes from process controls.
Avoid dry flour patches
The dough will not come together without extra water.
The butter was not cut in enough to coat the flour before hydration.
Prevention
Pulse until the dough just starts to clump before adding the remaining flour and water.
Recovery
Add water sparingly and press the dough together; avoid kneading it smooth.
Source: Easy Pie Dough (Crust)
Handling and Storage
Reviewed hold, storage, make-ahead, and service-timing guidance.
The Benefits of the Food Processor Method
No more trying to visually judge whether the fat is properly cut into the flour.
No more adding ice water a drop at a time until a dough is formed. The flour-fat paste formed at the beginning is much softer and more malleable than pure butter, which means that your final dough rolls out smoothly and easily with little-to-no risk of cracking like a traditional pie crust, even without the vodka.
Learn More
Extra cooking notes, tests, and source details kept out of the step-by-step method.
Why this works
Quick kitchen reasons behind the main choices.
Keep Your Dough Cold
Just like with grinding meat, the key to great pie dough is to make sure that your fat doesn't melt too much.
Testing notes
Useful tests and side-by-side notes after the method is clear.
How Pie Crusts Really Work
The one trick that got majorly hyped up about it was the inclusion of vodka in place of some of the water in the recipe.
In fact, it's not the fat that's coating pockets of dry flour. It's the flour that's coating pockets of pure fat.
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On Butter, Shortening, and Lard in Pie Dough
The question of which fat makes the best pie crust is prime stomping grounds for eternal debate between bakers, and it comes down to a battle between texture and flavor.
Butter melts at a relatively low temperature (below body temperature) and has a very narrow workable range. It's also got a relatively high water content (around 15–17%), which can cause excess gluten to form and turn your crust leathery if you aren't careful.
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Butter
Butter melts at a relatively low temperature (below body temperature) and has a very narrow workable range.
It's also got a relatively high water content (around 15–17%), which can cause excess gluten to form and turn your crust leathery if you aren't careful.
Shortening
Produces crusts that are extremely tender once baked.
Lard
Pros: The best for working with—it has a wide workable temperature range and is not nearly as soft as shortening.
Creates very tender, flaky crusts once baked. In that case, shortening is so much softer than butter at room temperature, it's much more likely to form the fat/flour paste while the butter remains in discrete chunks.
Tips for a Perfect Pie Crust
Weigh Your Flour Get yourself a scale.
Measuring dry ingredients—anything more than a few teaspoons—by volume is simply not accurate. Depending on how tightly packed it is, the weight of a cup of all-purpose flour can vary by as much as 50 percent.
Weigh Your Flour
Measuring dry ingredients—anything more than a few teaspoons—by volume is simply not accurate.
Depending on how tightly packed it is, the weight of a cup of all-purpose flour can vary by as much as 50 percent. Five ounces of flour (the equivalent of one cup) is five ounces of flour, no matter how tightly it is packed.
Use a Food Processor
Nothing is as efficient or as consistent at cutting fat into flour.
Use a Spatula to Incorporate Water
Your processed flour and butter are sitting there in the bowl of your food processor and you're tempted to save yourself a bit of cleanup by just adding the water directly in there, right?
Sure, it'll work out okay, but you won't form nearly the same level of flakiness as you do if you incorporate with a spatula. Here's what a crust made 100% in the food processor looks like: Compare that to the crust I made with the spatula: See the difference?
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Use a Tapered Rolling Pin
While a ball-bearing-based heavy-duty cylindrical rolling pin might fit in a Norman Rockwell painting, the slender, slightly tapered French-style rolling pin offers far more control when rolling dough, is easier to clean and store, and is
And that's basically all I know about pie crust. July 2011 This recipe was cross-tested in 2022 to ensure best results.
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July 2011
This recipe was cross-tested in 2022 to ensure best results.
Recipe structure
Components and intermediate outputs created by the method.
Main recipe
Recipe card ingredients and steps.
Makes 2 single crusts or 1 double crusted pie
Extra useful notes
Short source-backed recommendations and facts that do not need a step.
For a slightly more tender crust, replace up to 6 tablespoons of butter with vegetable shortening.
For a slightly more tender crust, replace up to 6 tablespoons of butter with vegetable shortening. Pie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator before rolling and baking.
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Source and Origin
Origin declaration
Adapted from source
Imported from the Serious Eats page for dev review.
Copy risk: Unchecked
Easy Pie Dough (Crust)
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