All-Butter Pie Crust
- Total Time
- 10 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
Yield:2 disks (for 2 single-crust pies or 1 double-crust pie)
- ⅓cup/85 grams ice-cold water
- 2teaspoons distilled white vinegar
- 2teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1teaspoon fine sea or table salt
- 1cup/228 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 2½cups/330 grams all-purpose flour
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)
1435 calories; 94 grams fat; 58 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 27 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 130 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 18 grams protein; 769 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Stir together the water, vinegar, sugar and salt until the sugar and salt dissolve. Put in the freezer until ready to use.
- Step 2
To make the dough in a stand mixer, toss the butter with the flour in the mixer bowl until evenly coated. Beat with the paddle on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. It’s OK if there are a few pea-size clumps, but there shouldn’t be many. Add the water solution all at once and beat on low speed until the mixture forms large clumps and no floury bits remain.
- Step 3
To make the dough in a food processor, pulse the butter and flour until coarse crumbs form. Add the water solution all at once and pulse until the mixture forms large clumps.
- Step 4
To make the dough by hand, toss the butter with the flour in a large bowl until evenly coated. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut or smoosh the butter and rub it into the flour until coarse crumbs form. It’s OK if there are some almond-size pieces, but there shouldn’t be many. Add the water solution all at once and stir with a fork or your hand until the dough comes together.
- Step 5
Whichever method you used, gather the dough into a large mass (about 660 grams total). If making single-crust or regular double-crust pies, divide the dough in half to form 2 disks (330 grams each). For a lattice pie, form a little more than a third of the dough into a disk for the bottom (250 grams), then split the remaining in half to form 2 disks for the top (205 grams each).
- Step 6
Wrap the disks tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and preferably 1 day. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
M
Are these crusts better with European or American style butter?
William Wroblicka
1 cup (228 grams) of American-style butter contains about 1/2 tablespoon more water than an equal amount of European-style butter. It's not clear which style of butter was used in developing the recipe, but it was probably American. Therefore if you use European-style butter you might need a bit more water than the recipe calls for to achieve the same dough consistency. European-style butter, unlike American, is also cultured and so has a different flavor, which you may or may not prefer.
Grumpy But a Good Cook
Please don’t start reviews before you have actually tasted the recipe results. "I'll try this and then report back." "I'll let you know how it turns out." These comments from different dates never get connected in print and no one knows how experiments turn out. Please make the recipe, see how it works and how well you and your family liked it, and then write a complete review instead of trying to hand out your observations in installments. It doesn't work and isn't helpful. Thanks.
Ahuva Greenblatt
The sugar is there for structure -- browning -- not for sweetness, so yes.
Cass
Can not rave about this pie dough recipe enough. After years of making pie dough with many different recipes that turned out very disappointing I discovered this recipe. Every time I've made it the crust has been excellent. I'm not a natural cook. I'm only as good as the recipe I'm using and with this recipe I know the results will be worth the effort. One added step I do is to chill the bowl and all utensils I use to make the dough.
VSB
Would we still use the sugar for a savory pie filling? Many of us no doubt foresee turkey pot pies in their futures.
Janet
I love that Genevieve includes 3 methods of prepping the dough. But it's the rolling that makes me anxious! I've decided that even an amateur's crust is going to be better than the supermarket stuff.
So Cal homr cook
I roll each piece of dough between two pieces of waxed paper. Gently pull the top piece off and then invert the second over the pie pan. VIOLA!!
BB
The recipe does not have enough water. I added 4.5 tsp of ice water so I could consolidate the mixture into a dough ball. it still seems pretty dry, so we'll see...
Susan
I would use half lard and half butter.
Irene
Probably a 9 inch (23 cm) pie crust
MM
I tried this with gluten free flour (Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 mix). 1/3 C water was not at all enough. By the time I had added in enough water, I think I may have over-mixed it in the food processor. I’ll report back on how it turns out.
Sara
Don't leave the water mixture in the freezer for much time at all or it will freeze.
CDB
Any thoughts on gluten free pie crust? My hoping-for-future-daughter-in-law is gf.
PD M
Took a lot of pulses to produce large clumps.
Richard
I have lived in Norway for the past 20 years, and have found that when using butter her, I always have to add more water than American recipes recommend, usually one to two teaspoons more for this recipe.
vegetarian version
This is fabulous. Tried a lot of pie crust recipes before but this one is perfect. Used the food processor which made it easy. The end result was delicious. My husband said that “THIS” is what he looks for in a pie crust. Made one of the best quiches ever today and have another crust in the refrigerator to use for a lemon meringue pie tomorrow or the next day.
gurukaram
Best pie crust! I have been making pies and their pastry for many years and this is now my new favorite pie crust! I followed the recipe closely, using organic cultured unsalted butter. It came out beautifully, golden browned, flaky, and nicely structured - sturdy but light and flaky. It is really the perfect crust - thank you!
Jeremy
I USE THIS FOR MY FOR MY QUICHE RECIPE BELIEVE IT OR NOT, MY FAV! I use standard Costco unsalted butter and left discs overnight.
Ella G.
I was skeptical about the vinegar when I tasted the dough but the pie as baked is delicious. Great recipe.
Nancy
For gluten free cooks: this has become my go-to pie crust. I use Cup-4-Cup replacement flour and pulse it in my blender. After time in the refrigerator, it rolls out beautifully. A little less flavor than a crust made with wheat flower, but an entirely acceptable alternative for those who need to avoid gluten.
Susan Rohrbach
I didn’t like this recipe. The crust was too dense and hard. I like lard or Crisco(bad, I know but makes such a good crust!)
JBN
This recipe works for me just as it is. I use a food processor with the dough blade. It comes together very easily.
Marg
I'll try again, but I'm not sold. I followed the recipe precisely. I like the idea of an all-butter crust, and I liked the flakiness of this one, but I found it harder to handle -- more crumbly, more difficult to clump into ball with the amount of liquid specified, more likely to fall apart during rolling -- than the Julia Child pate brisee that I usually use. Used this for a pecan pie, so I prebaked it a bit (about 10 minutes). Base was nice and crisp, but itoo thin and dark overall.
Elizabeth Dunn
Used recipe on the Tapioca package and Joy of Cooking. Add two more cups of apples and increase other ingredients accordingly.
Elizabeth Dunn
Also, *freeze* completed pie for half an hour or more. Chilling for 1 hour didn’t prevent melting of crust.
Mary
For some reason, the fluting that I did melted away. The pie crusts were chilled before putting them in the oven. One was blind baked, the other wasn't. The crust is great otherwise, but I was sorry to lose the fancy edge.
EllenEsq
This recipe is the bomb! I always struggled with my crusts until I saw this last year. No turning back. It's positively perfect. My added hint, if you don't mind a little extra mess and you have both a food processor and a stand mixer, start with the food processor for the butter and flour, and then move all to the stand mixer for the rest. Really simplifies the blending.
Pauline F
I agrée, 1/3 cup water is not nearly enough for 2 1/2 cups flower. I added at least another 1/3 cup.
Cat
It’s not usually a good idea to use your fingers in the flour, as hands warm the butter too much. Pastry cutters are good, but two sharp knives slicing parallel to each other will also work.
Private notes are only visible to you.
Advertisement
