My Favorite All Butter Pie Crust

This All Butter Pie Crust is my absolute favorite pie crust recipe. It works EVERY time and produces flaky, buttery homemade pie crust that will make your pie recipe perfect!

With this easy tutorial you will get the perfect pie crust every time.

The BEST Pie Crust Recipe

I’ve been using this all-butter pie crust recipe for over 10 years. I always try other recipes but I come back to this one because it’s so easy and so good.

To make a good pie crust you need just 4 ingredients: fat, water, flour, and salt. You can use a few different kinds of fats for pie crust, the most popular being butter, shortening (Crisco), or lard. I’m going to go against the grain and tell you, my crust is all butter. I love butter (who doesn’t?) and I find that the taste of an all butter pie crust is so much better than any other recipe.

4 Ingredients to the Best Pie Crust

A pie crust recipe with butter is such an easy pie crust to make. There are two ways I make this crust: in a food processor or by hand. You can do either one! This really is a no fail pie crust made with butter!

1. Flour – plain all-purpose flour is best
2. Salt
3. Butter – make sure your unsalted butter is COLD
4. Water – make sure to use ICE WATER

This crust makes one 9-inch pie crust. If you want to make a double crust pie, just double the recipe.

My all butter pie crust recipe is quick, fast, easy and delicious! It’s the perfect vehicle for ALL your pie recipe needs.

How to make Homemade Pie Crust

When you start making an all butter pie crust, you need to think ahead a little. Everything needs to be COLD. Cold butter and ice water are the keys to a successful crust. Before you start, dice your butter and then put it back in the refrigerator. Then fill a measuring cup with ice and water.

• Dice your butter and add it back to the refrigerator.
• Add your all purpose flour and salt to your food processor.
• Add your butter. It’s COLD, straight from the fridge. Don’t touch it too much. Don’t go answer the phone. Cold, straight from the fridge to the food processor! Pulse a couple of times.
• Add your ICE water. Not the ice, just the cold water. Start with 2 tablespoons.
• Pulse a few times, let it run a few seconds. I always add a third tablespoon of water at that point, always. But, depending on altitude and humidity and your kitchen and the star alignment, you might not need the third…or you may need a fourth.
• If it’s not coming together add more water, but wait to see if it comes together. You do not want a wet dough. It takes a few seconds for it to turn into the ball of all butter pie crust!

How to make pie crust by hand

• If you don’t have a food processor, you can do this by hand with a pastry cutter. Just whisk the flour and salt first. Then cut in the butter until you can’t anymore (this is called a shaggy dough).
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press it together until it forms a disk. Try not to work it too much – just enough so it comes together.

How to roll out pie crust

At this point, I do something unconventional: I don’t chill it yet. I roll out my dough, put it in my pie plate, THEN chill it while I make my filling. This dough is sturdy enough to roll right away, and if it’s rolled out, it chills faster.

• Place the dough between two sheets of wax paper or parchment paper. Roll to 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick. If your dough isn’t too soft you can also do this without the parchment but you’ll need to lightly flour your work surface.
• I like to pick mine up and flip it over and around every few rolls until it gets too big to do that. This is important because that way you know it’s not sticking to your surface. There is nothing worse than rolling out the perfect dough and have it crack and break when you go to pick it up.
• The easiest way to transfer your all butter pie crust to your pie plate is to roll it up on the rolling pin. If you’ve moved your crust around a bit, it should roll up no problem.

Pie Plate Size

Put it in your pie plate. Press it to fit, gently. This crust fits best in a 9-inch pie plate (not deep dish). Beware: not all pie plates are the same size. Some are 9 1/2″, some are 10″, some are 7″. Be sure what size you have before you start.

How to crimp your edges

• I like to lay the overhang flat around the pie rim, then fold it under if possible. It won’t be overhung that much around the whole pie plate. Some will be flat, some will have enough to fold under. Use your knuckles to crimp the edges as shown.
• You can also skip the finger step and use the tines of a fork to crimp the edges.
• Make it decorative: Another way I like to dress up my pie edge is to make a second all butter pie crust and use small cookie cutters to cut shapes and put them around the edges.

How to stop pie crust from burning

Use a pie shield or tear off strips of foil that are about 1 1/2″ thick. (No need to measure, just guesstimate.) Tear those in half and wrap them around the pie.

Then bake the pie, as directed. About 10-15 minutes before the pie will be done, remove the foil. So many recipes say to add the foil if the pie is getting too brown, but how are you supposed to do that without burning your fingers? (Um, you can’t. That’s a fact.) Make a preemptive strike – cover first, then remove so the edges can brown to a normal color.

Expert Tips

Cube your butter: while you’re assembling your ingredients, cube your butter and put it back into the refrigerator to chill at least 5 minutes. Starting with cubed butter makes it easier for the processor to work it into the dough.

Chill the crust before baking: regardless of whether you’re pre-baking the crust or making a filled and baked pie, chill the crust at least 30 minutes before baking – or even freeze it. Baking it COLD is the key.

Thickness: roll the crust to about 1/4-inch thick. If it fits in a 9-inch pie plate with just a bit of overhang, it’s the correct thickness.

Roll on a lightly floured surface if you’re not rolling between sheets of wax or parchment paper.

Only add 1 tablespoon of water at a time – it’s easy to add more but you can’t take it out once it’s in!

I like baking in glass pie plates – I find them the best at getting the bottom done and the best for slicing.

Pie Dough Recipe FAQ

Pie Dough Recipe Resources

• How to blind bake a crust
• How to make a lattice pie crust
• Crumble for any fruit pie
• How to make a two crust pie

My Favorite Easy Pie Crust Recipe

4.37 from 244 votes

This easy all butter pie crust recipe is made with just four ingredients. It’s fast and can be made in the food processor or by hand. It’s the perfect pie crust for all your pie recipes!

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Chill Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Yield 10 servings

Serving Size 1 serving

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Ingredients

 

• ▢ ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter diced and chilled
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups (155g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2-4 tablespoons ice water (I always use 2 tablespoons)

Instructions

• Make sure your butter is diced and cold before starting. Make sure you’re using ice water also.

Using a food processor:

• Combine flour and salt in food processor. Pulse once to mix. 
• Add butter and process until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of water and pulse, a few times. I always add a second tablespoon of water and pulse until the dough forms a ball. This takes a few seconds. If you find your mixture is too dry, you can add another tablespoon of water, one teaspoon at a time. 
• Turn the dough out onto a silicone baking mat, if you have one. If you don’t, you’ll need to flour your surface. Press the dough ball into a disk and roll to about 1/4″ thickness. If it sticks to the rolling pin, place a sheet of wax paper on top of the dough so you don’t have to add more flour. Be sure to flip and rotate your dough as you go so it does not stick to your surface. Roll out the dough to a few inches larger than your pie plate (about 12″ for a 9″ pie plate).
• Place in pie plate and press to fit. Tuck under any overhang and crimp or use the tines of a fork to decorate the edges. Chill until ready to fill.

By Hand:

• Add flour, butter, and salt to a large bowl. Cut your butter in using a pastry cutter. Work in one tablespoon of water at a time. I find I need to use 2-3 tablespoons of water when I’m doing this by hand.
• Turn the dough out onto a silicone baking mat, if you have one. If you don’t, you’ll need to flour your surface. Press the dough ball into a disk and roll to about 1/4″ thickness. If it sticks to the rolling pin, place a sheet of wax paper on top of the dough so you don’t have to add more flour. Be sure to flip and rotate your dough as you go so it does not stick to your surface. Roll out the dough to a few inches larger than your pie plate (about 12″ for a 9″ pie plate).
• Place in pie plate and press to fit. Tuck under any overhang and crimp or use the tines of a fork to decorate the edges. Chill until ready to fill.
• This pie crust is great for filling and the recipe makes 1 crust that fits comfortably in a 9″ pie plate. For a bigger pie plate or for a double crust, double the recipe.
• Make sure to chill the pie crust at least 30 minutes before filling or baking. If you’re blind baking the crust, chill at least 2 hours or freeze 30 minutes.
• The crust can be wrapped well with plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator up to 2 days or frozen for up to one month before baking.

Baking instructions

• For Blind Baking: follow the link in the notes below for detailed instructions. Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork. Layer a sheet of parchment paper in the bottom and up the sides of the crust. Fill the crust with pie weights (or dry beans/rice/etc) and bake at 400°F for about 15-20 minutes. Remove the parchment and pie weights carefully, then continue baking until cooked through and golden brown.
• For filled pies: bake as directed in the recipe you're using.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

If you are using salted butter, reduce salt to 1/4 teaspoon.

Double the pie crust to make a 2-crust or lattice topped pie: just double all the ingredients but start with 2 tablespoons water and work up from there (it may only need 2-3 tablespoons).

Learn how to blind bake a pie crust.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 138kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 117mg | Potassium: 16mg | Vitamin A: 285IU | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.7mg

Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Dorothy Kern

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Favorite Crazy For Crust Recipes

Check out all of my pie crust recipes for even more inspiration!

• Simple Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
• Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
• Aunt Tootsie’s Lemon Meringue Pie
• Blueberry Crumble Pie
• My favorite crumb apple pie recipe

Need some pie ideas to fill your crust with? Check out my Pie Recipe Collection!

Snickerdoodle Chess Pie by Something Swanky, Peanut Butter Pie with White Chocolate Ganache by Simple Joy.

Last Updated on December 1, 2020