Homemade Pie Crust (double crust)
Homemade pie starts here. This all-butter pie crust is flaky, tender, and full of real butter flavor - the kind that turns a simple filling into something truly special. It’s easy to work with, dependable, and versatile enough for both sweet dessert pies and savory favorites like quiche. Once you’ve made your own crust from scratch, it’s hard to go back.
Equipment
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Rolling Pin
- Silicone Mat optional but makes rolling easier
- 9" Pie Plate I like glass pyrex and ceramic plates
- Parchment Paper if you will be blind baking the crust
- Pie Weights if you will be blind baking the crust
Ingredients
- Ice Cubes
- ½ cup Water (as needed)
- 2 ½ cups All-purpose Flour (spooned and levelled) (322g)
- 1 tbsp Granulated Sugar
- ½ lb Salted Butter (cold and cut into cubes) (227g)
Instructions
- See blog post for more detailed instructions if needed.
Making the Dough
- Chill water: Place ½ cup water in a bowl with ice and set aside.½ cup Water, Ice Cubes
- In a large mixing bowl stir together flour and sugar.2 ½ cups All-purpose Flour (spooned and levelled), 1 tbsp Granulated Sugar
- Cut in butter: Toss cold butter with the flour mixture to coat. Flatten each cube between your fingers (“shingle”) until you have butter pieces of mixed sizes, up to walnut-sized. Keep dough cold. See post for more details.½ lb Salted Butter (cold and cut into cubes)
- Add water: Add 5 tbsp ice water and gently toss to hydrate. Add more water 1 tbsp at a time until a shaggy dough forms that holds together when squeezed.
- Form dough: Gently press dough together (do not knead aggressively). Divide into 2 discs, wrap, and chill 1–2 hours.
Prepping Dough in Pie Plate
- Roll out: On a floured surface, roll one disc into a circle about 2 inches larger than your inverted pie plate. Transfer to the plate without stretching. Chill 10 minutes.
- Trim & crimp: Trim to 1–1½ inches overhang, fold under, and crimp edges. Dock bottom and sides if par- or blind-baking. Freeze 15 minutes.
Par and Blind Baking
- Bake: Heat oven to 425°F (220°C). Line crust with crumpled parchment and fill with pie weights or beans.
- Initial bake: Bake 15–24 minutes, until the bottom looks set but slightly damp. Remove weights and parchment.
Finish Baking
- Par-bake: Bake 4–7 minutes more, until dry-looking.
- Blind-bake: Bake 10–12 minutes more, until lightly golden.
- Cool: Cool completely before filling. Baked shells may be frozen up to 3 months.
Notes
- Shingling the butter is a process that flattens the butter into thin and wide "leaves" of butter instead of small balls/chunks. This aids in making a flakey crust and is easy to do. Walnut size pieces may seem larger than what you are used to, but trust the process, it is great for flakey crusts.
- The amount of water you need to hydrate the dough properly can vary. Many factors can influence this including the brand of flour, and the humidity on the day of baking. So don't worry so much on the exact amount but more on the feel and look of the dough.
- The points you need to chill your dough - after you make the dough discs - chill for 1-2 hours. After you line your pie plate, leave the overhanging dough - chill for 10 minutes to let the gluten relax. After it is fully assembled and crimped - chill for 15 minutes in the freezer or 30 minutes in the fridge, to harden the fat before baking.
- I use mung beans as pie weights and have to bake my shells longer than the 15 minutes most people do when using ceramic pie weights. So depending on what you use as pie weights will likely impact the baking time. If you remove the pie weights too early before the pie dough has set, it will shrink. A little shrinkage is normal, as butter contains water which evaporates during baking.