The Perfect All Butter Pie Crust is made with just a few ingredients that will combine to create a rich and buttery base for your favorite pie filling!
Tips to Make Homemade All Butter Pie Crust
In the realm of baking, there’s an art to creating the perfect pie, and at the heart of the perfect pie lies the unsung hero – the pie crust. It should be light, flaky, buttery, and baked through.
Get ready to elevate your baking skills as we unravel the mysteries, tips, and techniques behind crafting the perfect all-butter pie crust. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or a pie enthusiast eager to hone your skills, these tips and the recipe below promise to be as delightful as the pies you’ll soon be creating. Let the flour fly and the buttery aroma fill your kitchen!
Creating the perfect all-butter pie crust involves attention to detail and technique. Here are some tips to help you achieve a flaky, delicious crust:
Ingredients:
- High-Quality Butter: Use unsalted, high-fat butter for a rich flavor and flaky texture. Make sure the butter is kept cold throughout the process.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour for a good balance of protein without creating a tough crust. Chill your flour too to help ensure success!
- Cold Water: Keep a bowl of ice water handy and use very cold water to keep the butter from melting.
- Salt: Even if you use unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor.
- Lemon Juice: This will help to inhibit the production of gluten, which will help to keep the pie crust from being tough and shrinking when you bake it. You can also use vinegar or vodka.
Equipment:
You don’t need any equipment other than a rolling pin and a pie pan for my favorite all butter pie crust. My technique for flaky pie crust is made completely by hand so that anyone can do it!
But you can choose several different methods and decide on your favorite. The perfect pie crust is a personal preference!
- Food Processor: Using a food processor can make the process easier. It helps distribute the fat (butter) more evenly. This method is quick and also keeps the butter colder since your hot hands won’t be in the mix! Literally!
- Pastry Blender or Fork: If you don’t have a food processor, a pastry blender or a fork works well to cut the butter into the flour.
- Plastic Wrap: Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap before chilling to prevent it from drying out.
- Rolling Pin: A cool rolling pin helps keep the dough from sticking. Rolling between two sheets of parchment paper is also effective.
Technique:
- Keep Everything Cold: Cold ingredients are crucial for a flaky pie crust. Chill the butter, water, and even the flour, bowl, and rolling pin if possible.
- Cut Butter Properly: Cut the cold butter into small cubes. This ensures even distribution in the dough.
- Minimal Mixing: Overmixing can lead to a tough crust because the more you work the dough, the more gluten is formed. Mix the dough just until it comes together; some visible bits of butter are okay and even desired!
- Chill the Dough: Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (or overnight) before rolling. This relaxes the gluten and solidifies the fat.
- Flour for Rolling: Use minimal flour when rolling out the dough to avoid making it tough. Too much flour can alter the crust’s texture.
- Handle with Care: Handle the dough gently, especially when transferring it to the pie dish. Pat it into place rather than stretching it. Stretching the dough will cause it to shrink back during baking.
- Prevent Shrinkage: Let the dough relax after rolling it out and before fitting it into the pie dish. This minimizes shrinkage during baking.
- Ventilation: If your pie has a top crust, make sure to cut slits or create a decorative pattern to allow steam to escape.
- Egg Wash: For a golden finish, consider brushing the crust with an egg wash before baking. Sprinkle on granulated sugar, demerara sugar, or sanding sugar for a sweet crunch!
- Bake at the Right Temperature: Preheat your oven for 30 minutes before baking and bake the pie at the temperature specified in your recipe for the best results.
Remember, practice makes perfect, so don’t be discouraged if your first attempt isn’t flawless. Adjustments can be made based on your experience and preferences.
Best Pie Recipes and Cookbooks
You would think that there are only so many ways to make a pie and I guess you would be right. The crust has just a few simple ingredients and the most popular pies, like apple, pumpkin, key lime, and pecan, would seem pretty straight forward with similar recipes.
But I have found such a huge variety of techniques and flavor combinations that I am absolutely amazed and inspired!
Here are a few of my Pie Recipes that I love:
My favorite Pie Cookbooks are:
I honestly would not be able to pick a favorite – I recommend all of them!
Let me know what your favorite kind of pie is in the comments!
Perfect Homemade All Butter Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 20 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cubed
- 1/2 cup ice-cold water or more if required.
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and put into a bowl. Place the butter into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
- In a medium bowl add the flour, sugar, and salt and stir to combine. Add the very well chilled butter cubes to the flour mixture. Use your fingers to toss the butter cubes in the flour mixture. Work quickly and keep the butter cold. Press the butter cubes to start to flatten them.
- Rub the butter pieces between the palms of your hands very quickly. If the butter is beginning to warm up, place the bowl in the freezer for a couple of minutes.
- Combine the ice water and the lemon juice. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water to the bowl. Toss gently with your fingers or a spatula. The pie dough will still be a little crumbly but it will hold together if you squeeze a bit into a ball. If more water is needed to make it hold together, add it one tablespoon at a time.
- Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press the dough together, folding it over on itself until it starts to hold together. Do not to work the dough too much or it will become overdeveloped and tough.
- Shape the dough into disk and wrap the disk in plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days and frozen for up to 3 months.
- When ready to roll the dough, remove it from the refrigerator for about 5 to 10 minutes. If it was frozen, thaw in the refrigerator over night.
- Flour our countertop and rolling pin well. Remove the pie crust from the cling wrap and roll out even to about 1/8 inch thick. Move the crust to your pie plate. Cut off the excess, leaving about a half inch. Fold the excess under and crimp the edges. Chill for at least 1 hour before blind baking or filling.
Thanks for your help with the tech issues. Though I haven’t cooked from it, I found Pieometry (https://a.co/d/70bN6tQ) interesting – and I’d like to cook from it eventually (I borrowed it from the library and bought a Kindle copy, which isn’t quite the same thing).
I tend to make CI vodka crust but I think that I chronically under-hydrate pie crusts. They almost always crack at the edges when I roll them out.