The Only Pie Crust Recipe You’ll Ever Need

I’m pretty sure all home cooks are thoroughly confounded by some recipe, technique or kitchen task.

It could be working with yeast dough, deep frying, or pressing a candy thermometer into action. We all have them, these pesky little kitchen nemeses that we either can’t seem to get right or that we never even attempt because we’ve become convinced we’ll just screw it up anyway.

Mine is making hot chocolate (don’t ask) but I’m willing to bet that for at least some of you it’s pie crusts that have you stumped.

If you avoid baking pies because you don’t want to bother with the crust, scrap your old recipe and give this one a try. I don’t toss around superlatives lightly, so I mean it when I say that this pie crust recipe really is the only one you’ll ever need. It produces a buttery, flaky crust that is incredibly easy to work with.

Somewhere along the way, flaky pie crusts became synonymous with lard or shortening but this crust is all-butter and definitely the better for it.

Otherwise, the ingredients here aren’t anything unusual. It’s the technique that forms a tender crust with lots of flaky layers.

First, rub the butter into the flour by hand to create flat, little shards of flour-coated butter, adding just enough water to bring the dough together.

Don’t try to shortcut things by using a food processor or pastry blender.  Instead, work the butter into the flour by making a sort of snapping motion with your fingers. This results in flakes of butter as opposed to the pebbled or sandy texture often described in other recipes.

Next, fold and roll the dough repeatedly, almost as though you were making puff pastry, to create those coveted layers.

If you’re like me, you are no stranger to pie dough that tears and needs patching or pinching back together.  The folding and rolling process for this dough helps to prevent that, making for a supple dough that rolls out evenly and is a cinch to slide into the pie plate.

Another tip: don’t stretch your dough to fit the pie plate. Roll the dough out a little larger than the pie plate and then ease it into place. Once it’s positioned over the plate, I like to lift the edge of the dough with my right hand (I’m a leftie) then gently nudge it into place using the back of my left forefinger.

This dough doesn’t take long to make, but it does need a little time to chill before using. Don’t skip this step. I know it’s tempting, but the dough needs to rest.

If you’re making a single-crust pie and blind-baking the shell, chill the crust again after transferring it to the pie plate but before baking. This helps to prevent the crust from shrinking down into the pie plate.

If you’re making a double-crust pie, consider brushing the top crust with a little egg wash for a glossy finish to your pie.

Either way, don’t skimp on baking time. For maximum flavor, the finished crust should be a deep, golden brown, probably just a little darker than you think it ought to be.

Because this crust has no sugar, it works well for both sweet and savory pies. You can always sprinkle a little sugar across the top before baking if you want or try incorporating a bit of citrus zest or fresh herbs to the dough, this crust is a winner even without those extras. Stash an extra batch of dough in the freezer and baking pies will suddenly be as easy as, well, you know.