The Perfect Pie Crust

The Perfect Pie Crust – A deliciously flaky all-butter pie crust that is so quick and easy to make, and only requires 5 simple ingredients. This crust will pair beautifully with your homemade pie filling!

Perfect Pie Crust Recipe

Looking to make your own pie crust?

My recipe for the perfect pie crust will walk you through every step to create a flaky, buttery crust that is made with just 5 simple ingredients.

You’ll also learn how to blind bake your pie crust.

In just 10 minutes, you’ll have two pie crusts in the fridge ready to be used for all your pie needs!

Looking for the perfect pie filling? Check out my Homemade Cherry Pie, Homemade Blueberry Pie, and my Homemade Apple Galette.

Check out my Fudgy Brownie Pie that uses one of the crusts. ↓

Ingredients you’ll need

Here’s a list of ingredients you’ll need to make this crust. You can find my recipe card at the bottom of this post for the complete list with their amounts.

• Plain/all-purpose flour
• Sugar and salt: Helps to enhance the flavour of the crust.
• Unsalted butter: Cold and cubed. Gives the crust a delicious buttery flavour, and an incredibly flaky texture.
• Water: Ice cold. Keeping everything cold helps create the flakiest crust.

How to make The Perfect Pie Crust

To make this crust, simply grab a large mixing bowl and whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.

Using a pastry cutter or food processor, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs with pea-sized pieces.

Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition until a crumbly dough starts to come together.

NOTE: If using a food processor, do not process to the point that a large ball of dough is formed. The dough should be quite crumbly with large clumps, and should stick together when you press a piece between your fingers.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a 1-inch thick disc.

Wrap tightly in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before use.

The printable recipe card with the FULL list of ingredients and instructions can be found at the bottom of this post.

NOTE: For best results, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup measurements.

Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough, and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.

How to Blind Bake

There are a few reasons why you would need to blind bake your pie crust.

1. If you’re making a no-bake pie, you’ll need to fully blind bake your crust.
2. If your crust needs longer to bake than the filling, you will need to partially blind bake the crust first.

Here’s how to blind bake!

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle, then gently place into a 9-inch pie dish.

Tuck the excess dough under the crust edge and mold together to form a thicker outer crust. Crimp the edges with a fork or your fingers.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, then preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

Line the chilled pastry crust loosely with parchment paper, and fill almost to the top with baking beans. Make sure they’re fully distributed over the entire surface.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until the edges of the crust are starting to brown. Remove the paper and baking beans, and prick holes all over the base with a fork.

TIP: Pricking holes in pie crust is called “docking” and helps prevent the crust from puffing up in the oven. I like to use a combination of using baking beans to prevent the sides of the crust shrinking during the first part of baking, then docking the base to prevent puffing up too much during the last part of baking.

To partially bake the crust: Bake for a further 7 – 8 minutes until the bottom crust is just starting to brown. Proceed with your pie recipe by adding the filling and finish baking.

To fully bake the crust: Bake for a further 15 minutes until the bottom crust is golden brown. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

This Perfect Pie Crust is:

• so quick and easy to make
• made from only 5 simple ingredients
• deliciously buttery and flaky
• perfect for all your pie fillings!

How long will this pie crust last? The dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before use.

This recipe makes two crusts. You can halve the recipe if you only need one crust, or you can freeze the other half for another use.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and hashtag it #simplybakeblog. I’d love to see!

Try these tart recipes!

• The Perfect Tart Crust
• Easy Lemon Tart
• Cornflake Jam Tart
• Bakewell Tart

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Originally Published: July, 2017 | Updated: May, 2023