Flaky Homemade Pie Crust
Scared of making homemade pie crust? You’re not alone!
Homemade pie crust was a staple in my house growing up. My family doesn’t mess around when it comes to pie. I realize now that not everyone prepares 4-6 pies for a casual Thanksgiving gathering of 8-10 people, but that’s just how we roll. My mom is an avid pie baker, and pie baking is a unique skill. Even though I grew up baking alongside her and was very comfortable in the kitchen, I didn’t even attempt pies until after I’d left home because, quite frankly, they intimidated me.
I’ll be honest: making homemade pie crust from scratch STILL intimidates me. Like right now just typing about it, I can feel my heart rate rising. And then I hear Paul Hollywood in my head declaring, “No soggy bottoms!” I’d like to think that I’ve learned a few secrets over the years, but homemade pie takes some finesse.
Homemade pie crust is all about technique
Pie crust is 3 simple ingredients: fat, flour, and salt. It’s the ratio of those ingredients and the technique that turn it into something wonderful. I think that’s what makes it so terrifying–there’s nothing to hide behind, and everything comes down to how much you know about how to treat the ingredients.
But when it comes to homemade pie crust, I assure you: YOU CAN DO IT! You really can! I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve to help you turnout flawless pie crusts with confidence. Then the next time you’re in charge of the dessert for a gathering, you can wow everyone (including yourself!) with a flaky, irresistible, homemade pie.
5 secrets for homemade pie crust success:
- Ice, Ice, Baby! Your ingredients MUST be cold. In my recipe, I use both butter and shortening. I recommend keeping both in the freezer until you’re ready to bake, especially the shortening. Wait to us it until it’s had several hours in the freezer. Also add ice to the water you use for your crust to make sure it’s extra cold.
- A food processor is your best friend. Not only does a food processor cut down on the elbow grease required, it also yields a better product. You’re able to better incorporate the fat, flour, and water without overworking your mixture. This is important because the more you handle your dough, the tough it gets. (This means less flakage!) On the flip side, getting all the elements fully and evenly incorporated means a really light, flaky crust. A food processor will help you achieve the right balance. Plus it’s a time saver!
- Chill your dough. Pastry often benefits from being chilled prior to baking, and pie crust is no exception. Chilling it will help your dough retain its shape without leaking out too much of the fat. This means FLAKAGE! I recommend rolling out your crust, putting it in your pan, and then storing it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes prior to baking. Just make sure you’re using a pan that can go directly from the freezer to the oven, like a disposable aluminum pan.
- Shortening?! Yep, shortening. You may be sitting there thinking, why not an all-butter pie crust? Well let me tell you. Butter gives pie crust exceptional flavor. But shortening gives it better flakiness than just butter alone. By using a combination of both butter and shortening, you get the best of both worlds. I’ve tried several all-butter recipes and I come to the same conclusion every time: a butter/shortening combination is better.
- Bake it on the bottom rack. The cure for a soggy bottom? Baking your pie on the bottom rack of the oven. Place your pie on a cookie sheet and bake on the bottom rack. The cookie sheet will also help conduct heat right to the bottom of your crust.
If you follow these 3 secrets for success, I guarantee your pie crusts will come out better than ever before! And let’s face it, homemade pie crust is a labor of love. It’s not something you’re likely to do as part of your weekly meal prep, BUT I’ve also got a few homemade pie crust hacks that will help you maximize your efforts so you can have homemade pie crust in a pinch.
Homemade pie crust hacks
- Freeze some for later! Pie crust freezes really well, and it also bakes great directly from the freezer. My recipe makes enough for two pie crusts, which will be good for one double crusted pie recipe or two single crust recipes (if you’re making a crumb topping). If you only need one crust, make both and freeze one for later. If you need two crusts, make 1.5x this recipe so you still have an extra one for later. When you freeze pie crust, roll it out and put it in the pie pan and then into the freezer. For fruit pies, you can assemble an entire fruit pie, freeze, and bake it straight from the freezer. I do this when I’m preparing for Thanksgiving so I can have my pies prepped in advance but still have warm pie the day of.
- Use disposable aluminum pie pans. Stay with me, here. There’s two reasons why I recommend this. (1) You can put it in the freezer and then bake directly from the freezer to the oven. (2) The aluminum helps reflect the heat while baking, yielding a crispier, flakier pie crust.
A word about blind baking
For any pie novices out there, you may not even know what blind baking is. Blind baking is when you bake just a pie crust with no filling in it. You may choose to do this for a number of reasons. Some bakers always blind bake no matter what, even if they are making a fruit pie with a long bake time. Usually you blind bake a crust if you’re doing a custard-filled pie that requires little or no time oven time. I don’t blind bake my fruit pies that go in the oven for longer periods of time (40+ minutes). I find that placing the pie on the bottom rack on a cookie sheet does the trick to ward off those dreaded soggy bottoms.
If you’re baking a recipe that calls for you to blind bake your crust, make sure you weigh down the crust. Use dry beans or pie weights on top of parchment paper. The parchment will help you easily lift them out following the blind bake. (Don’t invert your blind baked pie crust because it WILL fall out of the pan!) I sometimes lay a piece of foil over the pie weights and push to the edges of the crust so that they don’t s fall in on the pie shell. Also ALWAYS chill your dough before blind baking. This will better hold its shape and not pull away from your pie pan.
Let’s get baking!
Ok, I think you’re ready to bake some homemade pie crust! I know you can do it, and I want to see your pictures and stories of your own homemade pie success!
Homemade Flaky Pie Crust
Equipment
- Food processor with regular blade attachment optional, but I highly recommend!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup shortening chilled/frozen
- 3 Tbs butter
- 5-7 Tbs ice water
Instructions
- Pour flour and salt in a medium mixing bowl or the bowl of your food process. Mix or pulse to combine.
- Cut shortening and butter into small cubes. Add to the flour mixture.
- If you're using a food processor, pulse briefly until the fat is incorporated into the flour looks like small pee-sized bits. If you're not using a food processor, use a pastry cutter to cut in the fit until it's in pee-sized bits.
- If using a food processor, pulse briefly as you stream in the ice water, starting with only 5 Tbs and only added more water if needed, until the dough comes together but it not flaky nor overly wet. Be careful not to overmix! If you're doing this by hand, at the water and mix gently with a fork until dough comes together, starting with 5 Tbs of water and adding more only if needed.
- Generously flour a counter or tabletop and turn out your dough onto the surface. Using your hands, bring the dough together until it's in a neat ball (again, be careful not to overwork!) and then cut the dough in half and reform the two pieces into neat balls.
- Roll out the balls one at a time on the floured surface, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
- Transfer the rolled dough into a pie tin, cut away any excess, and crimp the edges. Repeat with the second pie crust unless you're using it to place on top of your pie for a double crust. In this case, add your fillings, and then top with your second pie crust. Add slits to the top to allow steam to escape while baking.
- Bake according to your pie recipe instructions.
Blind Baking
- If you're blind baking your pie crust, place pie tin with rolled out pie crust in the fridge or freezer while you heat the oven to 450°F. Just make sure you're using a pie pan that can go from the freezer to oven, like a disposable aluminum pan.
- Take a fork and gently fork the bottom of your pie crust in 8-10 places.
- Add a layer of parchment paper over the inside of the pie shell and fill with pie weights or dry beans.
- Bake 15-18 minutes until the crust is set and edges are starting to brown. Let cool before adding filling.