I guess you could say that I’m a bit of a pie crust snob. I love a tender, flaky crust that is just barely brown on the edges, never burnt or crispy. And don’t even try to convince me that those pathetic, pre-made, refrigerated or frozen crusts will do. No way!
The methodology of a good pie crust is very similiar to that of a good biscuit (they are both “pastries”, after all). Use cold fat, and do not, I repeat DO NOT, overwork the dough.
The problem with most modern day pie crust recipes is that they call for shortening. I’ve heard that the best crusts ever are ones made with lard, but I don’t have a good lard source at the moment, so I opt for butter or coconut oil instead.
Simple Pie Crust
Yield: One 9″ crust
You will need:
- 1 1/4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour (you can use whole wheat here, but it won’t be as tender. I don’t mind using a little white flour for this recipe)
- 1/4 t. sea salt
- 1/3 cup cold butter or firm coconut oil (coconut oil will make a slightly tougher crust, but still yummy)
- 4-6 Tablespoons cold water
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and salt.
Cut in the butter or coconut oil using a pastry blender or two knives. You can use a food processor if you’d like, just be sure not to overprocess.
The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs. Little chunks of butter or coconut oil are perfectly o.k. and actually preferred.
Carefully add the water, one tablespoon at a time. You are looking for the dough to stick together and form a rough ball, but you don’t want a sticky mess. You might use your hands to form the ball, but be careful not to overwork the dough. Err on the side of crumbly!
Generously flour your countertop and roll out the dough until it is several inches larger than the diameter of your 9″ pie pan. (you might need to flour the top of the dough as you roll, to prevent sticking and tearing).
Carefully fold the dough into quarters and place into your pan. Unfold.
Trim around the edges (if needed), but leave an overhang around the edges of the pan. Gently fold the excess dough under itself. Crimp the edges as desired and make it pretty!
Fill with your favorite pie filling or refrigerate until needed.
Be sure to cover with a pie shield or foil strips while baking (at least for the first part, anyway). Nothing worse than a crunchy, overdone crust!
What are YOUR best pie crust tips?
This post is a part of Traditional Tuesday, Domestically Divine Homemaking, Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Fight Back Friday
Try freezing your butter first, then grating it with the large side of a cheese grater. The freezing makes it extra cold and the grating gets you the right sized crumbs of butter without danger of overmixing.
Ooh, thanks for reminding me about this! I’ve tried this technique in the past, and it does work- especially if you don’t have a pastry blender!
Thank you! And that sounds like a great tip from Jenny!
Thanks for such a great article! I’ve always been a snob for homemade pie crust, too, and was at a total loss as to what to do now that we don’t use shortening (I actually keep a can of the nasty stuff for the *very* rare occasions we choose to treat ourselves – I always think “poison” when I see it in my cupboard).
The coconut oil is a GREAT suggestion especially for dessert pies. Thanks!
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will definitely be making this soon! i realized while reading this that i haven’t made a pie crust since i quit buying shortening. it’s about time that i do! thanks!
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Hi Jill! I just found your blog, and I’m so glad I did! I LOVE it! We’re just starting out in homesteading, and it looks like your blog is going to be very helpful!
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Welcome Amber! Glad you stumbled across us!
Thanks so much for a great go to recipe!
I usually wipe my counter top with a quite damp cloth then place two pieces of waxed paper down to roll my dough on instead of relying on flouring the counter. I use one or two pieces of waxed paper on top of the dough as well. When I’ve finished rolling the dough out, I can just lift the waxed paper with the dough on top and flip it over the pie plate. I used to get too frustrated with the dough sticking to my counter even when I put loads of flour on the counter!!
This is a great tip, Jan! Sounds like it would save a lot of mess. Thanks for sharing!
Jenny’s recommendation to freeze the butter first is my fave tip– I always do this when making biscuits, and then let it chill again before adding the liquid, so the fat is good and hard when you go to bake. It really does that extra something for perfectly tender flaky layers.
Thanks for the step by step!!
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Yes, it’s a great biscuit tip as well!
The one thing I hate about making pie is having to use the wretched shortening. Thank you for telling us another way! I will definitely be using this recipe the next time I make a pie
Wonderful Laura! You’ll have to let me know how it goes once you try it!
I second (or third?) freezing the butter.
My other tip is something my mom taught me about how to get the rolled out crust into the pie pan. Roll it up around the rolling pin (like paper towels are rolled up around the cardboard tube) and then unroll it over the pie plate!
I render our own lard from our organic, pasture raised pork so it is full of vitamin a! If you have a friend raising pastured pork they may be willing to share or give it to you. You could ask at the butcher shop but I deffinatly would only use organic pastured pork.
My mom always freezes her butter, and I must say, I’ve never had better pie crust thanwhen she makes it!
My grandpa always used lard, and let me tell you, it made the BEST pie crust! If you can get it from a local farmer, it’s a good choice, esp for those of us following a more traditional diet.
I’ve heard that too! I just need to find a healthy source of lard now…. hopefully soon!
I’m a big fan of coconut oil as well. Would I be able to grate refrigerated coc. oil just like part-frozen butter?
Thank you!
Hmmm… I’ve never tried that, but my gut instinct would have to say that I would doubt that would work. I think the coconut oil might just turn into a mess from the heat of your hands during grating. But, do let me know if you try it! I’d be curious to see what happens.
I have been using coconut oil for my pie crust for the past several years. I have found if I melt the coconut oil then add to the flour, it mixes much easier. I then use water from the tap rather than ice water. This makes the dough easier to work with. My crust is always flaky and gets a lot of compliments. With any left over pie dough I make cinnamon/sugar pinwheel cookies, which my family loves.
Jill, this is the exact recipe I’ve been using for my crust!!! Although, lately I’ve been doing 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil for the crust. I love using coconut oil, but it does have the toughness factor as if you refidgerate your pie and don’t let it warm back up to room temp before serving. The coconut oil gets ROCK HARD if refridgerated! For a more neutral flavor and less toughness, halving in some (homemade grassfed!) butter seems to do the trick. I am wondering if you have ever used lard for crust? It seems like overall that is the best stuff from what I’ve read, just hard to get your hands on quality lard. I haven’t, but I’ve been saving our (pasture raised & uncured) bacon drippings and have a link on how to render bacon fat into lard. Apparently it just has a slightly smoky flavor leftover afterward, so I was thinking it would be tasty in crusts used for savory purposes, like quiches and chicken pots pies. Would love to hear your thoughts!
Hmmm… GREAT idea on adding the butter to help soften it. I never though about the coconut oil making it tougher when it’s cold, but that’s a very good point. I haven’t used lard yet, but I would LOVE to. Hopefully we will get a couple hogs next year!
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Jill, this is the link to the site that talks about using bacon fat in savory pie crusts. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s on my to do list this winter!
Oh. Yum. Bacon fat makes everything better!
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I have just started cooking American style pies and my hubby and kids just love them. Pecan Pie is a favourite! In Australia we don’t typically make many sweet pies; caramel tart and the occasional apple pie is about as far as my family have ever gone so I am enjoying making pies we’ve never tried. Shortening is limited and most crust recipes I have come across call for it. I am glad I found this one and I’m going to use it for my next pecan pie as the dutch crust recipe I usually use is just too thick and biscuity. Thanks for posting this!