How to Make Pie Crust

In this post I want to show you how to make pie crust — perfect, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth pie crust. We will be using butter for this recipe.

This is a recipe I inherited from my husband’s grand mother. It is very easy to make and incredibly tasty. you will notice that it has cider vinegar in it. This will not affect the taste of your dough but will contribute to the extra flakiness.

The secret to this recipe is to have everything really, really cold. In order to have flaky dough you have to make sure that the butter does not melt and remains cold at all times. If you have a big enough freezer you should even place your food processor bowl in it. You will need to plan ahead in order to allow things to be ready.

If you do not have a food processor then you will have to do this with a pastry dough blender with blades or two knives. You can also use your hands but you run the risk of heating the butter too much. Work as fast as you can.

This is how to make pie crust successfully:

This recipe will make 2 – 9 inch crusts.

14 TBS or 200 grs butter – frozen
2 ¼ cup + 2 TBS flour
¾ tsp. salt
5 to 9 TBS ice water
1 TBS cider vinegar

• Place the flour and salt in a bag and mix. Put it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
• Place the very cold flour into a food processor bowl. Pulse it a couple times in order to mix well.
• Cut the butter into 3 pieces.
• Add 2/3rds of the butter to the flour and process until it forms small peas.
• Add the remaining butter and process until you have small peas – as well.
• Start adding the water – a TBS at a time – as you process the dough.
• At about 5 TBS add the cider vinegar.
• Continue adding ice water as needed until you have uniform dough.
• Remove the dough from the processor.
• Divide in two and wrap in plastic.
• Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.
• Happy baking!

Print the Flaky Pie Dough Recipe Here