[Welcome back to ✨ Newer, Better Month ✨ on Smitten Kitchen, when I update a few SK classics with new knowledge, new techniques, and with real-life time constraints in mind. Previously.]
The concept of “newer better” is always going to be relative, and no more so than in this recipe. For all of the years I’ve been cooking, I’ve made pie dough one way. I shared the recipe with you in 2008, have referenced it in every recipe for pie since, and, until a couple years ago, never veered from it. My recipe is not an outlier; it contains the same ingredient ratios as 99% of American-style pie crust recipes out there. There might be variations in types of fats, preferred flours, sometimes there’s a little buttermilk or apple cider vinegar instead of some of the water or a little more or less sugar and salt, but they’re almost all the same ratio of fat to flour to water. It makes a great pie crust. Here’s where the relativity comes in: If you make pie crusts the way I’ve long made pie crusts and you’re happy with these pies, stop reading now. There’s nothing to see here! This isn’t for you! This is for people who have tried that fairly standard formula and found it lacking. A little tough. Not flaky enough. It comes up! I’m listening.
So let’s talk about what that last one percent of pie doughs do differently. It’s not the butter or the liquid; by and large, these recipes use the same amount. It’s the flour — they use less. If you’re thinking, “but if you use less flour and the same amount of butter and water, the dough might be stickier and harder to work with?” — you are correct. I began auditioning these lighter-on-the-flour doughs a few years ago and found them a little pesky and if you’re wondering if “pesky” is smiled through gritted teeth, well, you are correct again. And I feel pretty comfortable with butter-flour doughs! What does this mean for people who do not? Given that making pie dough at all from scratch is even for some of the most skilled home cooks a hurdle they do not wish to surmount (hi mom!), why suggest a trickier recipe? Why raise the hurdle? (Why download DuoLingo and start with Russian, Deb? Ahem, I digress.)
It’s because it’s worth it. This is the croissant-flaky pie dough of dreams. If my eyes were closed, I would not know that I wasn’t biting into puff pastry, which shatters into thousands of featherweight-but-crisp shards on impact. It’s undeniably flakier, but also of course it is: less flour means less weight, less density. And yes, it softens up a little faster. You’ll need more flour to keep it loose from the counter when rolling it out. A little folding improves structure and increases the expansion of flaky layers. These were small adjustments I had to make to get the hang of it but it’s absolutely worth it because you get this when you’re done:
And this.
Also this.
And you made this with your hands! It took 5 minutes to assemble and 5 minutes to roll out. You did this. You’re amazing. Honestly, I always knew you had it in you.
Previously
One year ago: Sweet Potato Tacos
Two years ago: Punjabi-Style Black Lentils
Three years ago: Churros
Four years ago: Red Bean and Green Grain Taco Bowl
Five years ago: Broccoli, Cheddar and Wild Rice Casserole
Six years ago: My Favorite Buttermilk Biscuits
Seven years ago: Potato Knish, Two Ways
Eight years ago: The Best Baked Spinach
Nine years ago: Thick, Chewy Granola Bars and Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding)
Ten years ago: Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Key Lime Coconut Cake, and Steak Sandwiches
Eleven years ago: Alex’s Chicken and Mushroom Marsala, Almond Biscotti
Twelve years ago: Mediterranean Eggplant and Barley Salad
And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Flapjacks
1.5 Years Ago: Marbled Banana Bread
2.5 Years Ago: Even More Perfect Blueberry Muffins and Plum Squares with Marzipan Crumble
3.5 Years Ago: Caponata and Zucchini Rice and Cheese Gratin
4.5 Years Ago: Corn Cheddar and Scallion Strata and Chocolate and Toasted Hazelnut Milk
Extra-Flaky Pie Crust
Many thanks to Stella Park’s No-Stress, Super-Flaky Pie Crust technique for helping me overcome my stubborness/showing me the light about wetter doughs and folded roll-outs.
- 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
- 1 cup (230 grams, 8 ounces, or 16 tablespoons) cold, unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) very cold water
[You could also use a pastry blender, stand mixer, or a food processor, but go very easy on it, especially the food processor — you want flat-ish, lima bean-sized pieces of butter, not the usual “coarse meal” or “small pea-sized” mixture. If using a food processor, when you’re done, dump this butter-flour mixture into a large bowl before continuing.]
Pour water over butter-flour mixture and use a flexible silicone spatula or scraper to bring it together into a dough that will seem too wet and sticky, but will be just fine. Divide dough into two parts, and wrap each half into flat-ish packets wrapped in plastic, waxed or parchment paper.
Chill in the fridge until firm — one to two hours.
Unwrap first packet of dough, place on a well-floured counter, sprinkle the top generously with flour, and roll it out into a thick-ish long rectangle. Brush off excess flour off dough with your hands and fold it as you would a business letter, into thirds. Continue to roll this packet into the shape needed for your final pie — shown here 10×15-inch, but a 14-inch round is the usual size for a standard pie crust.
From here, you’ll want to follow the instructions for the pie you’re making. Looking for ideas? Start here!
A fun breakfast pastry I only made to showcase this awesome pie crust but actually ended up abundantly flaky and just a little sweet: Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix 4 cups sliced rhubarb (here about 1/4-inch thick), 3 tablespoons tapioca starch, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, a pinch of salt, a pinch of ginger, and the juice of half a lemon. Roll both pie dough halves into 10×15-inch rectangles; keep them firm and cool in the fridge while not using them, especially if they’ve gotten soft or your kitchen is hot. Place first half on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spoon filling on, leaving a 1.5-inch border. Cut second dough into on the diagonal into strips, whatever width you’d like. Lay every other strip over rhubarb filling in one angled direction. Form a lattice with remaining strips in the opposite direction. Trim strips so that they’re flush with bottom crust area. Fold crust over the lattice top and filling all around the pie, crimping to tighten the seal. Brush with an egg wash (1 egg, beaten lightly with 1 teaspoon water) and sprinkle with coarse or raw sugar. Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden all over. Let cool to warm before cutting into squares.
Am I first?! That never happens! It’s a sign I’m meant to make this. :-D
Yeah! I knew there would be a pie post on pi day!
Me too!!
Happy Pi Day, Deb!
Haha. Hilarious My husband said to me a few times: “I don’t get why recipe-blogs have these really long-winded stories at the start, I don’t want to hear about their day. I just skip straight to the recipe.” And it made me think of your posts immediately. Sure, I’ve made some really tasty food following your recipes ( thanks!), mostly I really look forward to reading your stories. Am never disappointed!
Yes, the stories are the charm, although the recipes have been such an inspiration! So many are my go-to, and now I cannot wait to try the pie dough improvement!
Here Here! Even when I come back for a recipe, I still reread the narrative because I enjoy it that much. As I am today… but now off to the kitchen for quiche.
This looks amazing!! I have J. Kenzi-Lopez’ processor dough blind-baking in the oven now filled to the brim with Stella’s sugar trick for a banana cream pie. I do not have a glass or aluminum pie plate but fingers crossed my ceramic one works acceptably. But this giant pop tart of yours is going to happen very soon!!!
This has to be the flakiest pie dough ever. After this weekend, when I have stored all the leftovers from Saturday night’s party, I am going to find an excuse to make a pie.
Thanks for the inspiration.
If I were to leave the dough in the fridge overnight in order to roll it out in the morning, would I need to let it warm up a bit, or is it rollable straight out of the fridge? Just so I can plan ahead. I’ve always loved your all-butter pie crust, but I feel like I need this sort of flakiness in my life.
It’s actually rollable straight from the fridge because of that higher % of water (which, of course, will not get hard in the fridge).
Deb, I have been wondering this for years. What does “the other side of the world” mean? Do you somehow have a different website for Europe? Please enlighten me!
It’s for the southern hemisphere–since our winter is their summer, and vice versa, they would probably prefer a popsicle recipe to a roast in January!
I will be interested to see if this works for me; it is often to hit and humid in my kitchen to suit butter doughs, unless I want to roll them out standing in the refrigerator. (I downloaded Duolingo for Russian, too. It helps, apparently, to learn the alphabet beforehand. I’ve backed off in favor of German, which has a million and 5 lessons. Some of us never learn.)
Re, humidity, of interest, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt says humidity shouldn’t affect pie dough because it doesn’t absorb much atmospheric moisture. Warmth can, though. Mostly just make it very difficult.
I decided to backtrack and work on Spanish, heheh.
BUT altitude will affect pie dough. Flour is drier at altitude than it is at sea level.
So you need extra liquid for pie crust at higher altitudes.
Does it need a refrigerated rest between being rolled out and being baked? Some rich and flaky doughs weep butter if you don’t bake them from 1. cold and 2. rested, and that is a *mess* (did I once bake a rough puff paste pie dough without resting it first? yes, yes I did).
It does not necessarily but if it’s warmed up (i.e. it’s not cool to the touch at all, has gotten mushy), it will definitely help.
Ahh, really wish I’d know about this. I’ve got an oily puddle around the edges of my tarte tatin :,(
I’m one of those reasonably good cooks who just never made pie crust until a few years ago – I used those roll-up Betty Crocker crusts. I forget what the catalyst was, but mostly it was that I always have flour and butter and water in the house. When I finally figured it out, these were the same proportions I used. I found this crust easier than those with a higher proportion of flour, and it’s also easier to remember. One cup flour (with a pinch of salt), one stick butter, ice water to moisten. I normally do it all in the food processor – will need to try leaving the butter lumps larger and folding.
I’ve found that slicing the butter rather than cutting it into cubes also lends itself to lots of flaky goodness. I love your classic recipe – looking forward to giving this a go as well!
I have my little cold cubes of butter, I turn them into little floured peas, and yet my dough always looks like it has striations of butter in it like a deep dish pizza when I roll it out — it looks clumpy. Yours and everyone else’s looks like a pale, smooth dough that you can neatly fold like a letter. The butter is somehow soft enough to disappear and cold enough to not become a sticky glob: How is this possible?? Any clues?
That’s totally fine! Absolutely fine if you can see the butter; it’s a good sign.
Huh. Okay, thank you!!
I guess when you consider that Rugelach dough has even more fat than this recipe, just reducing the flour in regular pie dough is likely going to make a workable dough. It’s the folding that makes it so much flakier. I use a fraisage method for making pie dough now and when you smear out the dough to flatten the butter to sheets, then gather it together by scraping it into a pile in order to form you disks, it has a similar effect; it makes for a very flakey crust.
My grandma taught me not to fear piecrust when I was very small. We used hands then, so maybe it’s time to go back in time before food processors.
Also, she never measured, and I have yet to figure out how she did that.
She never letter folded it either, so It’s time to try yours. If that rhubarb is from West Side Market, tell them it’s time to come back to 75th St.
Lol; Alex grabbed the rhubarb at Whole Foods. Not bad (for WF)!
Ahhhhh… the west side market. I miss the ‘land. No good markets like that in Charleston.
Great post as i prefer this type of crust above all others! I like to compare the look during the prep to drywall in a bowl.
Forgive me if someone has already asked/answered this but how well does this survive freezing?
Also how would you make it savoury? I am dreaming of an onion tart, tomato tart or quiche.
Yes it could be savory and yes it freezes great. You’ll probably need it to defrost in the fridge for a full day before you could roll it out.
Thank you for this recipe! I’m hoping to make this, roll it out, and freeze it here in New York, and then bring it to California with me for the holidays. How do you think it will handle thawing in transit, and could I pop it back in the fridge/freezer again for a couple more days before using it? Any advice is helpful here :)
I made this crust to be the base of your sweet potato pie recipe. It did not blind bake very well. The butter melted and the crust shrank. Too much butter in this recipe or did I do something wrong?? I have a 2nd crust shaped in the pie dish and ready to use but wondering if I should somehow add more flour to it? I have followed your recipes for years, and hope you can help me with this situation. Thank you!
Yes, please: how do you make it savoury? I have used the crust successfully for sweet pies, but find even that one tablespoon of sugar excessively sweet for savoury dishes (there is always more than I need and this limits the ways I can use up the leftovers). I leave the sugar out now, but any other suggestions, please?
I will be finding a way to try this this weekend, but my rhubarb is only two inches high.
Simply skip the sugar and it will be perfect for savory.
I’ve followed Stella’s recipe and it’s great. My only caution is to use Gold Medal flour and not King Arthur, especially if you’re blind baking the crust. King Arthur has 30% more protein and will sink down the sides no matter what you do. I had an epic Thanksgiving fail and Stella gave me that tidbit of info via her helpful twitter account. Luckily it was a pie #3 failure so all was still well but I won’t make that mistake again.
Best advice ever. I keep wondering what I’ve done wrong. Thank you!
I’m actually really curious what kind of flour Deb typically uses. I typically buy King Arthur AP because it’s so consistent, but I wish there was easier access to their pastry blend which does have a lower protein content.
I used King Arthur for years, but recently, also upon Stella Park’s advice, have been using Gold Medal. I’m happy with both. I am obviously not a baking scientist and I know Stella knows what she’s talking about but I just don’t find that using one or the other will make or ruin a pie dough, as I’ve used both successfully for years without trouble. King Arthur has more protein, it’s possible that if you baked two cakes side-by-side with the different flours you could tell which one was KA, but I hardly think if the recipe was a good one, that you’d think either is bad. Hope that helps.
What were you using as a weight to blind bake when it slumped?
What kind of rolling pin do you use? I’d like to put one on my wedding registry! :)
I have a very basic large one (no tapering, no handles) that is probably closest to this.
Love mine, the same. Don’t understand the tapered ones. Best rolling pin Ive ever used!
Hi! I was wondering if this technique of folding would work with the standard pie crust recipe? The more flour, less butter variety that is. Thank you!
It will but it’s less forgiving of extra flour, because it already has enough. It’s better to, say, split the difference a little and use a little less flour in it so you can freely sprinkle it to create layers.
OMG these are the ratios I use to great results and I’m thrilled to see them here! I haven’t tried folding yet, so thank you for the hot tip!
Deb, any thoughts on the flour itself? In trying to achieve the perfect biscuit I started using White Lily flour which was available in the south, and brought to me by a friend from SC. I set aside for biscuit use only. Recently it became available in a local store so I started using it for everything. The scones I made were fine but my popovers didn’t pop and I wonder if the lighter flour has anything to do with it.
I chat about it in this comment. White Lily is wonderful; it wouldn’t be my first choice here but also it’s harder for me to get and I don’t use it often enough to consider myself an expert.
Being a Sotherner, I’ve baked with White Lily all my life —it’s great for biscuits and cookies and even pastry (too low-protein for bread, but just noticed today a White Lily bread flour on the grocer’s shelf, so may have to try)—but do weigh the flour, because White Lily is lighter, you can’t use cup for cup.
Yummy! Looks delicious!
I’m going to try this Deb but I am going to experiment with using half vodka half water to see what happens!! I’m scared!
Um, I’m not a cook so I have no business even talking. Maybe that even works, but from a science perspective, I doubt it. Alcohol dissolves fats, unlike water, so I would expect things to turn into a gooey mass.
Don’t do it! Unless of course somebody who actually knows says it’s fine.
I use half icy vodka half water every time I make a batch of 8—have lots of pie experience and vodka makes it flakey. :)
My go to is the Cooks Illustrated vodka pie crust. It’s half water half vodka (both chilled) and a combination of shortening and butter. It turns out a flaky crust every time and is easy to work. The vodka allows you to wet the dough enough to handle it easily, but does not encourage gluten to form, which makes crusts tough. The alcohol evaporates during baking.
Can’t wait to try this recipe and compare!
The recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Food Lab guy, back when he worked for Cook’s Illustrated so the science of it should be pretty sound. However, even he says he doesn’t bother with it anymore. He uses the recipe of his on Serious Eats; thinks that with the right technique (his is untraditional), the vodka isn’t necessary. But of course this doesn’t mean anyone needs to stop using it if it works for them. I wrote about it when it was published in 2007, but I, too, have moved on.
I have folded my very ordinary pastry crust envelope- style for many years, usually twice, which gives 9 layers and beautiful flakes. Folding thrice makes 27 layers, almost like puff pastry. But i learned NOT to use this for small mince tarts since the dough ejected most of the mincemeat right out of the mini muffin tins.
i sometimes substitute hormone-free lard for up to 1/4 of the butter– or saved bacon fat for a savoury pie.
How about embedding a print function in your recipes similar to the NYT Cooking app.? It would save cutting and pasting time.
Thanks
There is a print icon that leads to a print template at the bottom of each recipe, where it says “DO MORE:” You can also click CTRL + P from any recipe post and it will take you to a streamlined print template.
For those with dryness, I’ve found that if I leave the butter chunks in too large pieces they don’t integrate fully into the dough and the dough stays dry and needs more water to come together. Maybe that’s an issue? I’ve had the butter pool out once too, but when I had the insight that I needed to incorporate the butter just a tad more it all worked better. I’ve now made this dough several times to fantastic results. I even wasn’t paying attention and added waay too much water once, but was making a pie for friends and decided I didn’t care, and it still turned out great.
What kind of butter do you use? Like flour, there are different fat/water compositions. Thank you!
I have a very precise system of… whatever is on sale. ;) I usually use storebrand butters (shown here: Trader Joes) or land-o-lakes or the like for recipe testing because I figure it’s closest to what most people can get. I of course love the higher fat European-style butters and they’re delicious here, too.
They just tested 6 butters and Trader Joe’s won 1st place all around, for taste, texture, & price.
Hey Deb, I love that you’re looking back at older recipes and I always read pie crust recipes. I decided years ago to successfully make pie crusts before I died.
My mom and aunts turned them out at the drop of a hat. Kenji’s recipe was the first that worked for me. The ratio is the same 1 stick butter per cup of flour.
I have tried Stellas but it didn’t work. I refrigerated it overnight in the pie dish before baking but the butter melted out and it was very hard. I had never heard of blind baking a crust for an hour at 350.
Have you blind baked this and if so at what temperature? Any other advice?
So… I came to this technique honestly, when at someone’s home and trying to make a quick dessert and ended up usimg less flour, and most importantly using my fingers!!! I have struggled with my pie crust for my whole life and this one thing made it utterly better and consistent!!
Thanks for validating and giving more structure to this!!
Just made this. Have tried all your pie doughs and this is the best! Really easy to handle and roll. Super flaky. My sweater looks like I at a croissant! Always love your recipes and write up. I teach cooking through snap ed in Maine and often use your whole grain and veggie salads/bowls. My classes love them!
I blind bake it the same way I do tart doughs (outlined here) — frozen crust, foil, no weights. 350 works just fine for me. It works just fine for this crust, too.
All the way through this post I was thinking “I wonder how this will compare to Stella Parks’s pie dough?” and then at the end, boom, there it is! Definitely going to give this a try next time I’m in a pie-making mood.
Am I the only one who finds the dough to be dry (not wet/sticky) like the recipe suggests? I weighed the flour carefully, added correct amounts of everything else. What might I have not considered?
Dry … when cold? When first mix, mine is definitely really soft.
Yes, this is happening to me as well! Exactly 120g of ice cold water left dry flour that wasn’t combining. I ended up adding another 25g of water with just brought it together. I’m hoping it’s not too tough now from the extra liquid and would love your input Deb!
Somehow this happened to me too! I had watched the video on Instagram so I knew what the consistency was supposed to look like; so I just added a tiny bit more water!
Yes, mine was super dry too so I added more water. Mine was unfortunately a fail but I will try it again!
I love your original pie crust (somewhere along the way, I learned to use walnut sized pieces of butter for flakier crusts for fruit filled pies, use the pea sized for a shorter crumb for custard pies), it’s slways flakey for me, but wanted to try this. And I wanted to make your sour cherry slab pie (with Trader Joe’s Morello cherries—trust me, they are a fabulous substitute for fresh the other 50 weeks of the year!), but I didn’t need a large one. I used half this dough for a 1/4 sheet pan and because the filling I made seemed a little thin, I decided to use your almond crumble topping. My word, was this cherry-slab-crumble delicious! Kind of a like bar but tasting like a pie—and the crust was perfect. So cheers to new and better month!
Mine was dry too! I noticed this and meant to add water to get a similar consistency to Deb’s but had an unexpected visitor and forgot. My dough is in the freezer now…any chance you made yours yet?
Mine was dry too, but I think it was the butter was really cold. So it dispersed through the flour but didn’t really mix with it. I turned it three or four times with my hand until it came together and carried on from.
Beautiful party: light and flaky but not at all greasy. And the scent of butter while it was cooking…
Predictive texting! I typed PASTRY. I wouldn’t add more water: that could make it tough.
Yes I have made it twice and it super dry each time, added almost three tablespoons of water and still wasn’t as sticky as I would expect from Deb’s description.
Yes me too! I’ve tried it both by weight and by cup measure and it’s always too dry- I’ve made it 5 times and just hoped it would be different every time which probably just means I’m insane. Any insights? Do y’all just add more water? I’ve been trying not to overmix so it doesn’t get too tough, but I’d love any other insights
I’ll have to try this. I’ve tried Stella’s with disastrous results and was scared back to Kenji’s, but I really want more flakiness! I bought a bag of Gold Medal flour and am hoping that does the trick…
What happened with Stella’s? Just curious. I’ve made it too and it’s very scary rolling it out still soft. I felt like I used a cloud of flour; it was everywhere. But the crust is of course delicious. It uses about 3T less flour than this. I found this level + chilling made it really easy/not too scary but still really flaky.
Hi, I made this because I really don’t love pie crust, but I love flaky pastries. Unfortunately mine slumped – washing out the edges completely. I rolled it super chilled, chilled again before I put on the cute edges, then chilled again before I put in the filling to bake. The edges completely fell out in the first minutes in the oven. Is there any other mistake I might have made with this crust? My normal is either Mark Bittman or Kenji, and that hasn’t happened.
How to make a fresh blueberry or fresh raspberry filling?
Do the same! 4 cups or so.
I tried Stella’s recipe, once with King Arthur flour, and once with Pillsbury. Both times it came out flaky– but tough. On reading your version, I just realized why– I tried to knead the dough together when I shouldn’t have. Going to give it another chance .
Coincidentally I made your sour cherry slab pie for Pi Day, except it was mixed berries for lack of sour cherries, and I used Bravetart’s pie crust. :). I watched her make that dough in an open sided tent in Atlanta’s August heat and humidity, and decided even I with my hot hands could squash the butter cubes and pull it all together fast enough to get a flaky crust. And indeed it was!
I always have to use more water than any recipe calls for to get all my dough wet… Is it advisable to go one tablespoon at a time (like with a lard dough) or is that too much mixing? Will butter pastry get tough the same way with over mixing? Recently made the butter pastry from your cookbook, and made my first successful all butter pastry!
It looks to me like you have an 8 cup Pyrex measuring cup. That is one of the things I use the very most in my kitchen for so many uses. Very inexpensive and easy to clean up. I didn’t have one for years (only a one cup and than later a two cup) but I married into an 8 cup and that was the best thing that came from a divorce (besides my second husband who is a gem!).
I got it from a friend in college! He was heading west for grad school, didn’t need to take all of his kitchen stuff. I can’t believe how old that makes it.
I’ve been looking for this recipe for over 40 years. Back in the early 70s, the Chicago Tribune wrote an article on Jean Banchet, a French chef who ran a famous restaurant (Le Francais) in the northern suburbs. The article briefly described Banchet discussing a quick recipe for puff pastry that used small chunks of butter at the beginning state rather than a single block. Banchet had mastered it, but his pastry chef could not. Thank you for giving us this. All things come to those who wait, it would seem.
I can only imagine how satisfying it must have been to make this connection! Have you tried Deb’s recipe yet? Am so curious to hear your thoughts.
have you tried Paul Hollywood’s rough puff? I made it a couple of weeks ago and it was incredible.
In your other pie dough recipes, I am able to speed the chilling by throwing it in the freezer for 20 min while making the filling. Does this work for this recipe as well? Or does it need time and cold to work?
It should work here too.
Thank you so much for the recipe. I tried it and it is so delicious. It remind my a dish I used to eat back in the days when I way living in Europe. I used to hang out in the “café” in Rome Italy and they used to served something similar. I speak about it on my rome travel blog where I also share some of own recipes.
My Sunday dinner and My brother Birthday :)
I should have stopped reading I guess after first paragraph. But I have years of pie crust experimenting under my belt and always use lard. HAVE used bacon fat. Crisco. Parts of each. Going to do the butter with less flour soon…..Some of the doughs are harder to handle…but I don’t let them rattle me :)
I made this into an apple pie today. It looked gorgeous, you could see all the flaky layers. But it was oh so tough.
I hate pastry. I’ve never had a pie crust turn out well. I’m a good baker, but pastry eludes me and makes me cry.
I hate pastry too! I get frustrated, roll it in a ball and throw it on the floor. Cakes, cookies, brownies turn out perfectly. (I used to trade a friend — her pie crusts for my popcorn for her kids.) Finally decided that I can’t be good at everything. ;)
What happened? Did it just warm up too fast?
I’m not sure what happened. It rolled easily, it looked great. Pastry is such a mystery!
I wonder if you overworked it when you rolled it? That can make it tough. The best way I have found is to flatten the round to about 2 inches before I chill it and then to roll it out once and take when I get (sometimes it rips, but Bette to just press the rip together to patch it then to re-roll and make it tough!). My favorite method is in Deb’s first cookbook with a pastry blender (I leave large chunks – the dough should have visible chunks of butter), spatula and ice water. That one always works for me!
This is on my to make list for next weekend. Looks amazing. Hopefully it turns out great as yours!
Do you this this pie crust could be made with Cup4Cup gluten free flour?
I haven’t tested it, but that seems to be the favored one for gluten-free baking.
With the exception of the sugar, this is the piecrust I grew up with. My mom taught me to add the ice water in tbsp increments, and stir with a fork, instead of dumping it in all at once, but it’s basically the same recipe. It’s delicious – flaky, tender, top of the pie browns nicely, leftovers make great cinnamon sugar cookies for kids….
Hi Deb, will you be including this recipe in all your future pie recipe posts? I’m a little nervous about a wetter dough, and really don’t want to have a pie making disaster at the last minute. Also I think you are missing an “f” in “Brush of excess flour.”
Now fixed, thanks. And I can definitely link to both of them.
Yes! I swear by Stella Parks’ cube-squashing, book-folding method for pie crust. Another tip: I’m lazy about blind-baking — baking at a high temp (425 is good) on the lowest oven rack setting will get you a crisp bottom crust with no blind-baking required. No soggy bottoms!
I’m really loving the look of the rhubarb tart-in the interest of speed could I just use frozen puff pastry? (Crust makers do not judge!)
If so, do you think the baking times/temps are similar and could a single sheet be stretched that big?
Thanks!
I think it will work fine. Many frozen puffed pastries suggest an ideal baking temperature on the box; I’d use that just to be safe.
Oh my god, this is FABULOUS. I am also butter-crust certified: I get why beginners use Crisco, but it’s not a favorite ingredient of mine. I’m a King Arthur flour girl, because I make fresh pasta a lot: this recipe did fine with KA. The recipe works by laminating tiny sheets of butter, so do keep the butter chunks Lima bean size… Thanks, Deb!!
I often use half lard and half butter and I love that result. Shortening is tough, although I have made vegan crust with smart balance, It’s just very soft and much harder to work with.
That’s really cool. I’m sure I’ll try it out soon, but – it’s important to note for your international readers that this is an American-style pie crust. I mean, you already did it – but I’m not sure that most people outside America (myself included) understand that this kind of crust isn’t good for every application.
Anyway, thanks for the improved recipes!
Ahhhh, interesting. It incorporates the laminating techniques for pastry. It’s a bit like a rough puff pastry!
This was the best pie crust I’ve ever made! Followed the recipe exactly, but did the folding twice so it was extra flaky, made the night before & kept in the fridge overnight. Filling was strawberry/rhubarb from an old Stonewall Kitchen cookbook and 6 people polished all but a slice of this pie last night. When I was younger, my family had a cook who made an apple pie from scratch every Monday night. Usually just a bottom crust, but sometimes she’d do a lattice-top just to show off. She never measured anything – the crust was flour, Crisco & tap water and always always came out PERFECT. What I learned from her was not a recipe (there being none!) but an attitude about making pie: it’s not hard & just not that big a deal. My friends think that homemade pie is something difficult & miraculous, but I know better.
Is a 1/3 cup sugar enough to sweeten 4 cups of rhubarb? My pie calls for 1 1/2 cup sugar for 4 cups of rhubarb?
No, it’s really not. It’s more of tart breakfast pastry. I wouldn’t go to 1.5 cups, but I might go up to 1/2 to 2/3 cup for a more standard sweetness.
Simply put: the easiest, most successful pie crust I’ve ever made. I baked it this evening with Deb’s “even more perfect apple pie,” and I can’t wait until what it tastes like tomorrow, because it’s dang delicious tonight!
And flaky, by George this thing is flaky! On-its-way-to-croissant flaky!
Ok, I’m going to give this a try! My pie crust recipe seems to always take forever and never really live up to my expectations.
I finally learned to make a pie by following your previous instructions almost to the letter (I never was able to get my 1/4” diced butter down to pea-sized bits in the dough), and in particular by following your direction to turning the dough frequently as you roll it out. That recipe makes a gorgeous flaky crust. So it will be a major trauma to do it a different way, but I might just have to give it a try.
Oh. My. Actual. Goodness! This crust is easy, flaky, crunchy deliciousness. I used it to make a tart for my book club last night. I scattered shredded gruyere on the bottom crust, topped it with caramelized leeks (from your toasts recipe) and finished with a lattice on top. I brushed on an egg/cream wash (just how it sounds – swirled an egg with a splash of cream) on the lattice gorgeousness.
*It was a hit!* This is my new “Welcome to Spring” thing.
I will use this crust forevermore. I can’t wait to try it with rhubarb (which is sadly, not yet in season where I live…)
I love this idea!
Well my mom, who is 93, always used her fingers and just pooh poohed all this fancy stuff. Turns out she was on to something.
I’m glad I made this, but it was a bit of a miss for me. I’ve been making pie crust for years and usually use a recipe similar to the old all-butter crust on this site.
I didn’t have any trouble making or handling this crust and I prepared turnovers filled with a ginger-plum mix. I don’t think the pastry is noticeably more difficult if you have made a butter crust before and use the tips. However, quite a bit of butter leaked out when I baked the crust (425F, ~25 minutes) to the point where I had a puddle of butter on the pan and it was starting to brown. The turnovers themselves were delicious and the pastry was very flaky, but also kind of tough.
I thought I followed the instructions closely. However, when I look at the photo above the size of the larger butter chunks are the same, but there are more small pieces in the recipe photo. I suspect this caused the butter leaks. I’ll probably stick with the old recipe, which is very good, v. more tries on this one.
I made this right away when you posted it ! I couldn’t get my hands on rhubarb so I used strawberries instead, it was delicious! My wife declared it to be like breakfast toaster strudel so we made a royal icing and with just powdered sugar and milky and drizzled it on top and then ate it for breakfast 3 days in a row. ( I used the recipe for your rhubarb filming but omitted most of the sugar and added extra berries. So the frosting was perfect on top.) I loved the crust!!!!
sorry if this is a repost but my question of a couple of hours ago didn’t post. We have made this twice now and the dough it is so dry and nowhere near sticky. I checked Stella’s recipe which calls for 225 grams of flour, not 260. Did you modify this amount or is this an error?
This is not an adaptation of Stella Park’s is recipe; I merely like her folding suggestion (although I do it differently). Are you at an altitude? This is a very wet dough for me, almost like a soft cookie dough.
I feel like I’ve just met Elvis! thanks so much for replying Deb, and I’m sorry for misunderstanding the Stella association.
I’m in Boston so no elevation issue. Looking through the comments I see several others who have the same problem. We’re not new to baking or pie dough. There is no way our dough is anything like cookie dough. Strange.
Reading your blog is like getting and unwrapping a birthday present every week. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got inside for us.
I wish I could figure it out. I’ve used the formula of 1 cup butter to 2.5 cups flour to .5 cup water for pie doughs forever (and don’t remember any collection of concerns about dryness, except when elevation was an issue). Here, with this update, we’re using the same amount of liquid (.5 cup) and butter (1 cup) but less (less!) flour (2 cups) so it should absolutely be softer and stickier, as it always is for me. I don’t question the reality of anyone else experiencing this; it’s apparently happening. But it makes absolutely no sense to me.
I live in Seattle and am experiencing the same problem. I put my detective hat on and compared different measuring cups and also weighed the flour. The weird thing is that when I weighed two cups of flour it came out to 270g, which is 10g more than Deb recommends here. And even when I make this recipe with 260g it’s still too dry. Maybe we’re just not mixing it enough? But then I don’t want to over mix it. Or should it be slightly dry before going in to chill? Argh!
I’m having the same issue as some others: it’s dry, neither soft nor sticky at all. I added a bit of extra iced water and it’s chilling in the fridge, awaiting it’s roll out. The pastry making gene eluded me – I ‘ve always made excellent shrunken concrete to date – so I’m a bit nervous but determined to press on and try, even the lattice.
For those others who found it dry, could it be the flour? I’ve tried a low protein flour specifically for pastry, cakes and biscuits (aka cookies)
sorry I mean awaiting its roll-out. Errant apostrophe there.
i’m using King Arthur and weigh out the ingredients if that helps with figuring this out.
Well I made it and it tasted ok but oh dear it was tough. I had to pour off about 1/4 cup melted butter that was pooled around the base, and it really wasn’t flaky.
Undaunted I plan to try again this time with my oven thermometer in use, and measuring extra carefully, and chilling after rolling. But mostly I think I just can’t do pastry. I seem to struggle to roll it without stretching it and I always feel I just have a heavy hand.
I am wondering what kind of butter is being used? Some, like Kerry Gold, have a lower melting temp which means they they melt before they can work to laminated the layers. I figured this out after making an all butter crust like this for years and then tried it with Kerry. The butter over cooked and then the remaining dough over baked. It was all a lovely golden brown though!
I haven’t tried this recipe, but I find Deb’s other recipe to look gorgeous but be a little tough (which I had heretofore thought was me working the dough too much). I started wondering – does anyone else with the dryness problem store their flour in the fridge or freezer? I know that Kenji says that the dough doesn’t pull moisture from the air, but maybe the flour sitting in a fridge is losing moisture to the air?
I don’t store my flour in the fridge because I feel like it dries flours out a bit. Also, the flour can be made up of different types of wheat that absorb liquid differently. That’s why King Arthur is frequently so loved – it is very consistent. I’m in Oregon and we have Bob’s Red Mill, so I’m used to their all purpose flour now, and it does perform differently than KAF. You might try just s little less flour at first – you can always add some back in during the rolling process – or even when patting your round to chill before rolling.
Dryness over here; flour stored at room temp :)
Wow thanks so much for the recipe. I ALWAYS buy store bought pastry and put making my own in the “too hard” category!! Now I’ve printed this and bookmarked it to actually have a go at making my own though :) I actually think I could make this work!
I’ll keep you posted how I get on after the weekend – cross your fingers!
For those who can find it (I render my own) leaf lard makes the best piecrust and is very forgiving. The lard is slightly crumbly and the grains make beautiful flakes. If everything is not cold it is fine. This is probably too fussy an ingredient for most people, but if you can get it the results are amazing. My grandfather told me his mother made the best piecrust and only used lard. Originally I tried the highly processed white blocks from the store which tasted awful and I wondered what he was talking about. Later I owned a copy of Joy of Cooking from the 30’s and they explained about leaf lard. It also makes the best biscuits.
If you are lucky you can get it cheap like I do from a wholesale butcher.
That sounds amazing!
I’m having trouble getting 2x 14″ crusts out of this recipe. What am I doing wrong?
I can just do a top crust, but am wondering where I went wrong.
I heard about using leaf lard too but I’m wondering if the flavor is bland like shortening? I do love the flavor of a butter crust but find it too fickle to work with. I love the flakiness of a shortening crust but it lacks the flavor of the butter crust.
I did a double batch of this recipe and it did not disappoint!
Although I noticed that I did my lattice at 90 Degrees :- )Nummers!
IMG_7473.JPG
I keep seeing the word “croissant” mentioned here and am fighting the urge to make this pastry with chocolate instead of fruit. I mean we’ll have a fruit one soon, but nothing is good at the market just now. Would chocolate be terrible? I’m thinking it should be less due to richness, like maybe 1/2 as much filling?
Oh I love this idea. There’s only a little filling to begin with, so I wouldn’t skimp too much.
This is AMAZING. SO flaky and so easy to make- I managed to do it with my 10-month-old crawling around at my feet (and, full disclosure, my 3-year-old in a Paw Patrol black hole). My husband declared it the best pie crust he’s ever had, and I have to agree. Thank you, Deb!
I can’t wait to get home and try these!!!
Wow, so much designs for a pie crust to learn from you! Amazing recipe… I really liked it.
Uh-oh – now I have to see how this compares to the one in your first book. Thanks to your tutorials, my pie crust has never been simpler! Of course, that made me brag about how easy Poe was to make, only to have my mother-in-law break out a timer to see if it was true! Yep, 5 min is all it takes!
Just for reference, the one in my first book is the same as the previous one here: All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough, i.e. what I compare this one to.
I love how flaky this crust looks!
I scaled up to 250g butter and flour, 130ml water because of French butter stick sizes, used wholemeal flour because that’s what I had to hand, and left out the sugar to top a chicken pie, retrospectively should have scaled up the salt too. I needed half for a 12″ pie dish. I was pressed for time but half an hour in te fridge in a metal bowl was enough chilling time and the pastry was easy to handle. It cooked up buttery but light and incredibly flaky. Delicious, and hardly more work than a pre-made crust.
What a wonderfully well written guide. I don’t make my own pie crust but now with your guide I think my next pie recipe its time to get making my self. Thank you for sharing.
I’m so glad I stumbled onto this before easter! I’ve been so inspired with the great British baking show, but like you mentioned in the beginning, I’ve tried a few recipes and they aren’t like I want them. I’m very excited to try this, especially with the thorough directions- I feel like you are talking specifically to me! I need lots of detail.
I just used this today to make a loquat pie, and it turned out awesome! It felt really wet and sticky, but I trusted the process and it turned out super flaky and browned nicely! I used Kerry gold salted butter and omitted any extra salt. It was enough for me to do a double crust deep dish pie. Definitely will be using this recipe again!
I just made the flat-pie rhubarb version of this and it’s wonderful, however: the pie was surrounded by a sea of sizzling butter on the pan once done to the extent that I cooled it on a rack just so it wouldn’t soak up the butter and get soggy.
Did anyone else have this issue? Any thoughts on this?
Thanks for inspiration, as always!
It happens all of the time. Not all butter will be under a layer of flour — some will seep. It shouldn’t affect the final pie.
omg Pie crust looks very tasty. its a perfect treat for kitty party. Thanks, dear for sharing this mouthwatering pie crust.
I had never made a pie crust before, so I figured I might as well go for broke and make the best one…since I wouldn’t know that it was more or less fussy than any other pie crust. It was so good! I needed more water than the recipe said to make it come together, and it looked nothing like pie crust when I wrapped it up to chill, but I trust you. In the morning I rolled them out with lots of flour and a few folds and it turned out so beautiful. Big puffy flaky layers! I used it to make your sweet cherry pie and that turned out great, but then I made savory hand pies with the leftover dough and those are phenomenal. I did use half lard and half butter though, because I’m from the South and I like the mouthfeel of some lard. Next time less lard – I think 1/4 lard would give me the effect I wanted without being too much. Thanks!
My new favorite pie crust recipe. Had to make it twice already. Delicious and so flaky! Thanks so much!!!
Yeah… That also looks absolutely amazing. Good job! :-) Gotta stop commenting on everything that looks nice, or I’ll be stuck doing it all day it seems..
Would cornstarch work rather than tapioca starch?
Deb, do you find that you get a lot of butter leakage with this crust? My crust was not as moist looking as yours now that I look at your pictures again, and I definitely had big streaks of butter in my rolled out dough. I was sad to have a tray full of burning/browning butter when baking up an apple pie yesterday (your Even More Perfect Apple Pie) but maybe it’s to be expected. Or am I doing something wrong? It still tasted good and had some distinct, flaky layers so I can’t complain too much, but if I can learn from this – I’m all ears (eyes). :)
Just back to say that I made a broccoli quiche with this as the crust and it was superb! Like others, mine dough was dry not wet/moist but I just gathered it up in plastic wrap and went on about my day. When I went to roll it, it was divine, rolled easily altho I did flour the surface well. I didn’t do the folding, I stopped reading the recipe (oops, look squirrel-) it was still flaky and delicious. Thanks Deb!
Going to hafta give this a go. My pastry is always an epic fail.
I love this!!! I have some stewed mango. I am going to try this with your crust and see how it turns out. I will keep you posted!
Also in the “very dry, did not come together” camp. I weighed my flour (Gold Medal) and measured water in liquid measuring cup. It wasn’t just dry, there was just no way it was going to come together. I added more water and proceeded as normal.
Dough was definitely flakey, but cannot comment on tenderness. I made it (the rhubarb slab-ish pie) and gave it away. :)
The crust was lovely, but the filling was too runny. I suspect it is because the rhubarb picked fresh from my garden has a higher water content than that of store-bought rhubarb.
Would draining the liquid from the fruit before assembling the pie work, or would that pour off too much of the thickening agent and sugar?
What kind of thickener did you use? Did it not set when it cooled?
I made this twice with King Arthur All purpose flour. The first time I wasn’t very careful and had problems: I had butter flakes more like huge grapes vs lima-beans, I didn’t weigh the flour and probably added too much by measuring, had to add waaay more water, and thus over mixed the dough to get the water in. The result was flakey and delicious but tough from over mixing and like others I had puddles butter leaking out of the dough–which didn’t look so good but of course still tasty.
The second time I solved the problems: Weighed the flour! butter chucks not too big! I added the recommended amount of water and while it was fairly dry (not even close to a soft cookie dough) it came together but a bit crumbly. This time the dough was tender, and there was no pool of leaking butter. This one even looked prettier for me as the dough was more uniform and easier to work with.
I’ve made many pies, but this was the flakiest! horray! Butter is the best answer.
Hey! This really works! I used it with a spinach feta galette. I left out the sugar, added about a tablespoon of fresh rosemary, and a couple of tablespoons of chopped walnuts. It came together so easily! I did put it in the freezer between rolling it out and transferring it to the baking sheet. But really easy peasy. And so, so good! Rave reviews from all. Thanks, Deb! Another winner!
And the next day, the bottom crust isn’t soggy at all, even after spending a night covered in the fridge, even cold (!), even though the spinach is still moist! ❤️
I’ve been struggling with pie dough for months and BOY OH BOY did this one deliver!!! Easy to roll, crazy layers, and forgiving as heck. I think I added more water than the recipe called for since the dough was still kind of dry and it was fiiiiine. I think this is the best pie dough I’ve A) ever made, and B) ever tasted- I’m isually put off by too firm or crumbly pie dough, and this one is the very opposite. I made a pear galette with brown sugar, nutmeg and vanilla and it was heavenly (esp with some yogurt and maple syrup on top :) THANK YOU DEB!!!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I avoid making dough-anything because it’s so frustrating and it never turns out well for me. However, I have to make an apple pie for an event, so I decided to use this crust. I was SO nervous, I chose to make a practice pie several weeks early. Amazingly, this crust was really easy to work with, which confused me. The crust turned out beautifully, and the filling needs just a little tweaking for the main event. Thanks again!
This was a huge success! I made an old fashion rhubarb pie with a lattice top. Comments from the tasters were “this is the BEST PIE CRUST I have ever tasted” which is HUGE because I consider myself well versed in pie making. Oh Deb! You have helped me make so many delicious recipes! I have always wanted to go to a book signing but live in a smaller town. Some Day I hope to cross paths. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! Make this crust!!!
I tried this dough twice, each time blind-baked for a pie, and each time the tinfoil baked right into it, something that has never happened to me before. The first time I was able to salvage it by carefully prying at it (there were a few thin spots) but the second time I had to throw the whole crust away. Any ideas? I followed all the directions, as far as I can tell.
Can this be made ahead of time? The day before? A few days?
Absolutely. Keeps for I’d say 3 to 4 days in the fridge, months in the freezer. Wrap it well.
I accidentally made the whole recipe and only need a bottom crust. If freezing, should I roll it out first? Partially bake it? Thanks.
Hi Deb: A couple of years ago I decided to make and give aways 60 pies for my birthday and used Stella’s (this) recipe. I agree, the flakiness it out of this world, but I find that I have to make sure to place my pie plate on a parchment covered baking sheet because the melting butter seems to go everywhere! Even the next day, putting the leftover pie in the dish on the counter leaves butter all over. My fave pie recipe after 60 pies (about 1/3 sweet, 1/3 savory) is still your All Butter Crust, hands down. I used regular flour, several GF crust recipes (Stell’s is great but anxiety provoking) and even took some of my hand pies on a canoe trip and camplingi in the desert? I also did several shepherds’ pies and Moon Pies for fun.
Good to know — but just for reference, this isn’t Stella’s recipe. It does have the higher butter proportion (but less so than Parks) but I don’t have you roll it out before you chill it (I had to make a floury mess of my kitchen to pull that off, and there was a lot of waste) or anything. And we’re working the pieces a little smaller. So, don’t rule it out because you had trouble with the other one. I mostly felt encouraged by the wetter dough, got me to rethink what could be improved in mine.
A-mazing! Made it tonight with the sour cherry slab pie recipe. Can’t stop eating it because the crust is THAT good. Honestly. I thought I was rushing and it wouldn’t be great. It was perfect.
Thank you for the recipe ! I just discovered your blog and I saw a lot of things that I want to try. I am not a great cook (yet) so I will try the easy ones first.
OMG this pie crust recipe was the best! So flakey, and easier than I thought to work with. I will use it again and again! Thanks!
This was indeed delicious and well laminated. But it was also a danish dough and not a pie crust IMO. It was very like puff pastry from the freezer section. My kids made all kinds of suggestions for turning out danish using this in the future, so it’s going to be part of the rotation—just not for pie.
Agreed!
This recipe was a complete disaster for me. I was so disappointed in how this came out. The dough was way too wet. When I baked the first crust the ‘Lima bean’ sized pieces of butter in the crust simply melted and left holes in the crust. Consequently, the crust filled with puddles of butter. Since I had another portion of dough I added more flower to it and it was only slightly better. This may be your new go to crust but I am NOT convinced.
I’m sorry it gave you trouble. What’s supposed to happen is that those larger pieces are rolled and folded in a few more times — they stretch and get smaller, too. Butter leakage will always happen (not every bit of butter will be fully embedded) but it’s the crust that’s left that matters. Was it flakier? Lighter? Re, seeming too wet — it might have needed to be colder.
I made this yesterday and filled with your Sweet Cherry Pie filling for my husband’s birthday (he’s weird and doesn’t really like cake)- omg it was so good! Buttery, flaky, tender. Probably the best crust I’ve ever made. This will replace your previous recipe as my go-to. Just one minor issue- the dough was actually really dry, so I just added more water a little splash at a time until it turned into a wet, sticky dough like you describe. Perfect.
I should add that I measured the flour in cups instead of weighing like I usually do (I’m at my mom’s and didn’t have a scale), so I’m guessing that’s why the proportions were off.
I made a Huckleberry pie for my friends yesterday using this crust recipe. What a game changer. This is the best pie crust I’ve ever made. Thank you for this!
I always fail at pie crusts and yet I keep trying. Finally, I met success. This pie crust was absolutely perfect. Thank you!
This is the pie crust I’ve been working to get my whole life. Finally. And it was forgiving in that I made it *last* Saturday and it sat in fridge in 2 parchment paper packages ALL week – taunting me – until I had time this Saturday to finally cut the apples to fill the pie. Delish. Best pie ever. We ate over half last night! And I did not egg wash and sugar it either – totally awesome. Thank You!
Wow thank you so much for this recipe !
I actually tried it and I can say now that I know how to make pie crust.
All the familly liked it :)
Could the dry ingredients and butter be pulsed in a food processor, then moved to a bowl, adding water then?
I find that it’s very easy for the pieces to get too small in a food processor, so it’s risky, but it can be pulled off. I’m not sure it saves more than a couple minutes — but that’s not what you asked. ;)
No worries! I’m just being lazy ;)
I’m starting to think about Thanksgiving pies — can this be frozen if I were to make it the week before Thanksgiving? At what stage would I freeze it? Thanks so much!
Absolutely. Freeze it when you’d chill it for a couple hours.
Thank you! I’m already planning to make your perfect apple pie and pecan chocolate slab pie! And of course something pumpkin :)
I just tried this recipe and I really liked it ! After several weeks on a strict diet with my mass gainers stuff it is really a pleasure to eat something tasty and sweat :)
I made this spur of the moment as the crust of a pear pie with home-grown pears for a dinner last night. I live at altitude (Denver) so thank you very much for the note that the dough should look too wet. Having made your other crusts with great success, I added almost another 1/4 cup of cold water before I felt the dough looked like your picture, and then just heavily floured my board (and myself) to roll out the chilled but still sticky dough. It worked great and the crust was fantastically flaky. Wonderful recipe!
How long can the dough be kept in the fridge?
Probably 5 days is best, but you can keep it for months in a freezer if well-wrapped.
Would this be enough for a single crust slab pie in a 10×15 jelly roll pan (like your cheesecake-marbled pumpkin slab pie)? I’ve had so much success with your previous pie crust that I’m nervous to try this one, but I do want to try it!
How do you get it from the folded shape to a circle? Roll outs are always the worst part of pie making for me, I can barely do it even when I start with a disk. Any tips here?
I have used this same recipe for years with good success. I recently learned to add 1 T ice cold vodka in addition to the water. It makes the flakiest crust ever!
I don’t see anything in the comments or any reason why not– but this can be substituted for crust on all pies? I’m planning on the apple slab and pumpkin slab pies from back in the archives…. with less flour does this dough hold up to all pie fillings? Thanks!
Yes it can. It holds up very well and is more flaky.
well I made it with gold medal all purpose flour and it came together beautifully and I was excited. Refrigerated overnight. I rolled out and folded once into a business envelope shape and then rolled into a circle so definitely didn’t overwork it. It looked beautiful in the oven and I was excited but I found it to be a little on the Chewy/tough side. When eating yesterday. Not sure why
I made an apple pie using this fabulous crust (Bob’s Red Mill Flour) that I took out from the freezer and the 1/2 cup of water left the dough very dry. No worries though, I just added more water until it looked right and the pie came out incredibly flaky and crispy.
Today I made a slab using the same butter and flour but let the flour come to room temperature before weighing. Still slightly on the dry side but I added water like before. This time the crust wasn’t as crispy or flaky or even as beautiful? I’m so totally stumped. I’m thinking if you roll out the dough too thin does that take away some of the layer effect? I tried doing as much as the same thing as before.
Well, Here I am before Thanksgiving trying to decide if I’m brave enough to try a new pie crust. My go-to has been Pioneer Woman but it uses shortening and I was thinking of trying (again) a butter crust. I think I may go with the previous version rather than straight to the more fiddly (risky?) one, but this post made me wonder why we don’t just use puff pastry for pies. I may have to do some pie crust history research, but after Thursday, if I still care then! Happiest Thanksgiving to you, Deb!
I don’t like puffed pastry for pies because I find it too fragile for the weight of the fruit or other fillings, it mostly collapses.
Ahh, I just finished the first step and popped it in the fridge, but it’s sooo dry. I measured everything out. I’m wondering if I should take it out and add more water? Or should I scrap it and try again. This always seems to happen to me with pie crust. Gawh! Help!
It’s going to come together! Promise.
OMG, I did it!! My pumpkin pie is in the oven. I’m just ecstatic that the crust-making went so smoothly. I rolled it out right on my well-floured butcher block table. It didn’t even stick!!! It’s even easier than my go-to all oil crust which I roll out between sheets of wax paper. I can’t wait to experience some flakiness.
After I rolled out the crust for the pumpkin pie, I had enough dough left over to make an apple turnover. Flakiness heaven! Regarding the pie, my family said this was the tastiest pie crust I ever made. I did have a little issue with the crust shrinking away from the sides of the plate as it baked. Also, the bottom crust was brown and crispy on the outside and a bit under cooked on the pumpkin custard side. My recipe calls for putting the filling in an unbaked crust. I used a pyrex glass pie plate. How do I avoid the shrinkage?.
Great and fab crust…
Because I am so lazy and hate cutting butter into cubes I thought I would try my grandmother’s HUGE grater to make those ‘flattened lima’ size bits of butter in the flour. Success – this grater produced the perfect size….also kept the whole mass cooler as I didn’t have to smush the cubes of butter into the flour.
Just a bit of mixing with the water and the refrigeration and voila, perfect crust. Totally easy to roll, too!
I must admit to being mystified by the pools of butter that some readers are experiencing. They must have forgotten the letter fold, which I think is crucially important to thin out the butter and layer it properly.
Pie beans – put aside two or three pints of dried beans, and fill the piecrust with them when you bake it. Then put the beans back in storage for another day.
Thanks but I can’t use the bean trick because UNBAKED pie crust is used for pumpkin pie! Other ideas?
I have tried and failed so many times with all butter pie crust. But I keep trying, and thank goodness because this recipe was a winner for me! I used it for all of my thanksgiving pies, plus some little ham and swiss pockets for thanksgiving breakfast.
I was dubious until I started rolling it out, and then I was convinced. It almost rolled itself. The end result was so flaky and delicate, really the best pie crust I’ve ever made. And I’ve tried an embarrassing amount of recipes.
This one is a keeper for me. Thanks Deb for helping me finally achieve the all butter crust club!
Dear Deb,
I made this crust for my Thanksgiving pies: pumpkin, cranberry, and apple. The outside bottoms of the plates got very greasy, which I figured was from butter everywhere, but I was surprised because on all three pies, the crust stuck to the bottom. What happened there? With so much butter, I didn’t think sticking would be a problem.
Will this crust work for your Breakfast Slab Pie? I want to make that for a brunch, but am wondering if this crust is substantial enough for a runny egg filling. Thanks!
Deb, I love you for this . I am 61 and have never been able to roll out pastry. If I did it was like lead. This pastry is Devine and easy to work. Thank you for making me a complete baker!
Hi, how do you think this would work with Bob’s Red Mill 1for1 gluten-free flour?
My family loved the taste and flakiness. This is the first time I’ve made such a delicious crust. I usually use a recipe my mother taught me – oil crust. I did have a problem with butter sizzling up out of the pie plate both times I made this, once with my Thanksgiving pumpkin pie and then as a quiche crust. Also, the bottom crust on the side that was touching the custard did not get cooked enough even though the outside was brown and crispy. Should I have prebaked them unfilled first?
I had very dry dough as well. It seemed impossible, since this is the same as your usual all-butter-really-flaky-pie-dough but with less flour, and I’ve made that with no problems for years now. I think I understand the issue now.
If you cut up your butter (I did by thirds/thirds/eigths) and then finger-squish each piece, you end up with fairly large flat rigid pieces of cold butter. (Which are actually much larger than what’s show in your photos, around quarter to silver dollar size) When you pour the water in, those butter pieces act as walls to prevent the moisture from being distributed throughout the dough. And if you’re just tossing the flour around with a spatula, you aren’t doing anything to spread the wet doughblobs, especially if you’re being careful not to break up your butter chunks.
My solution was to just mash the pile with a pastry blender a few times. It broke up the doughblobs and also pressed everything together so it turned into a dough rather than a bunch of loose flour. It also chopped up my nice butter chunks, but the baked crust came out excellently flaky anyway.
All that being said, I do wonder about the photos on this article. In photo 1 of the building process, there’s a bowl full of dry ingredients. They look dry.
In photo 3, where you’re mashing butter before adding any water, the flour is already wet and crumbly looking. The same in picture 4. How is this possible? Why doesn’t your flour look like normal dry flour? Is this the real explanation for why your dough is so wet, that there’s some moisture pixie making water over your mixing bowl?
Best crust ever!!!! Used this with Sally’s Baking Addiction cranberry apple pie for christmas and… omg. delicious!! everyone loved it. my mom said she would eat just the crust. i would too. never using another recipe for crust.. this is all i need. Thanks deb!!!!
Trying this for the first time, I decided to try the fraisage step (learned years ago from Julia Child) before wrapping and chilling. I may skip the letter folding step. Hoping this works!
I loved squishing the butter between my fingers, and the dough seemed pretty much the same as your other all-butter recipe that I have long used. But when I rolled it and folded it, for the life of me I could not get it to go from a rectangle to a circle. I ended up with a thin crust and lots of extra dough around the edges. Any suggestions?
Just fold in the corners and keep rolling if it won’t find its way to a circle.
I have not made a pie in ages but have used your previous pie crust recipe for years. (I bought your first book and enjoyed it immensely) I look forward to trying this extra flaky pie crust recipe BUT…. it is rhubard season and this filling looks like rhubard. Did you make a recipe for this filling – it looks simple and delicious !!!!
okay – read more and found it – I read almost all of your post and then skipped to the recipe and did not see the filling recipe there. Maybe you have added to it to make it even better ?? :)
This crust is delicious BUT didn’t feel like a pie crust to me or my family. Didn’t know there was such a thing as too flaky lol! This felt similar to a puff pastry or phyllo dough situation — very airy, light, and flaky. I think it probably was awesome in the breakfast pastry shown here and would also probably be great in hand-pie-type offerings but I don’t think I’d use this recipe again for a classic pie.
The best pie crust I have ever made or eaten! This will be my go to from now on.
this crust has actually changed my life. You just won’t even believe the flakiness.
Just tried this with margarine but it didnt work:( do you think it’s the margarine and if so any way to make it vegetarian?
Thanks!
This recipe has brought me so much joy throughout quarantine! I made an impulse pie early during my time at home, and since then have made 3 more pies and used it to make a galette. Feeling like I finally have a go-to dough has freed me to branch out to new types of pies – stone fruit! Savory! I’ve made it successfully with dairy-full butter, and dairy-free butter (I’ve used both Miyokos and Earth Balance). Can’t wait to see what kind of pie I make next!!
I love ur recipes, I google “smitten + whatever I want to make” all the time. You are my go too, but I’ve never written to you here in your comments. Today however, I make your 102 pie crust for my husband birthday apple pie. 10 out of 10 the BEST pie crust ever. So flavorful, so flaky, so perfect. I’ve been making your 101 version for years and never bothered to try this one. Oh the years and pies I’ve wasted! Your the best, this pie crust of the best.
This is the same fat to flour to water ratio that my family recipe uses, except with shortening. This is spectacular, totally worth the extra time butter requires. I do find that it is still a bit dry when I wrap it up but the chill time remedies that. I used it to make a tomato galette this week to exclamations from my family, and the nornally picky 8 year old said he would need the recipe for when he went away to college. The flakiness really shows up on the topside crusts, it’s just totally awesome.
I think I’ve tried every one of your pie doughs and today I used it for a cherry pie. It is fabulous.I didn’t have any problem with the dough sliding down the pan sides, but then I laid it out and put it in the fridge for half an hour while I was making the filling. This recipe does make it look like puff pastry. Wahoo!
So good! My mom made amazing pie crust and this is just as good if not better. I read through some of the comments and just used my good ol King Arthur Flour and it turned out great. I’m approaching pie making season and so glad I found this great recipe.
Just finished canning applesauce for the year and saved out 4.5 pounds of a variety of apples to make your apple pie. The pastry dough is in the refrigerator. It was a little dry when I mixed it, so I added a bit more water. Here is a tip that I have not read in the hundreds on this pastry dough. When squishing the butter cubes into lima bean shapes, it helps to dip them in the flour mixture in the bowl so they don’t stick to your fingers. My butter was straight from the refrigerator cold, but still were sticking to my fingers so this really helped. There is a lot of butter to squish and by the time I was at the end it was getting sticky. Will report back on the pie after it is made. I only make apple pie once a year so I am very hopeful about this one. I am going to try the “fattice” for the first time ever. :)
I’m curious if you could use your “easier way to make cookies” (1/26/17) method here—roll the dough between two pieces of parchment just after mixing, then chill until ready to use?
What temperature do you bake it on? For how long? For a no bake pie.
Unfortunately this was a bit of a miss for me. Even after re-chilling the dough, it is slumping over the edges, butter pouring out and burning off the bottom of my oven. I’ve never had this issue before in years of pie making!
I have tried this recipe more times than I care to admit and have managed to fail each and every time and each every time I re-create the steps, am stickler for precise measurements and techniques and no matter what, my crusts come out *looking* really flakey but are rock hard. Like Stonehenge. Or Mt. Rushmore. Or….other very unappetizing things to be strangling an otherwise delicious fruit filling. Any ideas what I am doing wrong? I have tried a pastry cutter, my fingers and a food processor. I’ve used the same AP flour as well as trying other types. I’ve even tried it in two different houses in two different ovens. Each and every time I get rock hard crusts. The only consistent finding is that I always end up needing far more water than seems to be called for in order to achieve a wetter, stickier dough. If I use what was written (1/4 cup, always COLD COLD COLD) my dough would never collect into a ball. As I’m writing this it’s occurring to me maybe I should just cut my losses and quit :) But truly, if you have any idea what I could be doing wrong before I give up altogether I would be eternally grateful.
Oops! I mean 1/2 c cold water!
I’ve had the same problem!
I’ve tried this recipe a few times without great results. I find the crust to be too chewy. Going back to your other crust recipe which has worked much better for me.
I consider myself an experienced cook and baker but pie crust seems to be my nemesis.. I followed the directions to a tee to make the crust for your amazing pecan pie. When I parbaked the crust, the cookie sheet on the bottom was a puddle of butter. Undaunted, I made the pie and we simply could not cut through the bottom crust. Yes, the crimped edges were crispy and flaky and the filling was – of course – incredible, but damn that bottom was beyond tough! I’ve read the comments and so I know I’m definitely in the minority, but some others have had the same issue. What are we doing wrong???
Would this be a good recipe for Beef Wellington? Or, dare I say it, is it *too* flaky?
I suspect it would be fine. Speaking from the experience of having made beef Wellington for 12 people last New Year’s Eve, something I’ll never do again, I found puffed pastry too easily absorbed juices and got soggy. This is a bit stiffer. Just get a good bake on it.
I’ve looked through the comments and don’t see this one… I’m perplexed. I’ve made this twice now and each time, the second I put it into the oven it completely collapses! The first time, the nice high crimping I had fell both forwards into the pie and backwards into the oven and caught on fire. I figured it was because I put it into the oven right away instead of chilling after formed and before baking.
But the second time I rolled, lined the pie dish, put in the fridge, and then baked and it STILL collapsed! The crazy thing is it still tastes delicious, but is NOT what it is supposed to be. What am I doing wrong that it just collapses into itself the second it hits the hot oven? I want to figure it out because the crust itself is so good, but I’m very discouraged!
What kind of filling are you using? If the crimp falls off, it’s probably too tall or the rim of the pie dish too small.
I used the same pumpkin pie filling I’ve always used (yours), and then this most recent time I made a broccoli cheddar quiche.
The first time that is entirely possible that the crimp was too high (beautiful, but tall) and that’s the one that collapsed both inwards in places and outwards in places. The quiche I just made, I kept the crust only to the edge of the pie dish, but I also par baked it because it was for a quiche. As I say it out loud I wonder now if that was my mistake. The crust still tasted great both times, flaky, buttery, and amazing, but definitely did not look as good as your other pie crust that I usually make.
All my staples are from your collections!
I’ve said this a million times, even here, that the fraisage method of handling dough does just this..flakey, flakey layers! As you smear the dough, the butter stretches out in the flour. As you bring the dough together with your bench scraper, you scrape it up upon itself, layer after layer it builds until it’s all on top of each smear of dough. You mush it together and make a disk, let it rest, then roll it out. Almost like puff pastry, the layers are tender and beautiful once baked. Try it..
Rather than take the time to flatten the cubes of butter with my fingers – which warms the butter – I ran it through the food processor using my slicing attachment on a “4” setting. The butter came out in super thin pats, which was just perfect. All I had to do was toss it with the flour and add the water! It worked really well for biscuits, too.
Made this with great results for a galette des rois. I used the “rough puff” method I’d seen on GBBO, grating the cold butter instead of cutting it in pieces: very easy, and really delicious, golden, super flaky. Thank you!
Hi friends, On thanksgiving I tested butter crust vs. earth balance margarine and actually found that the margarine worked better! I found the butter crust to be a bit tough. The margarine crust was flaky and delicious, plus dairy free! I just cut up the margarine and put it in the freezer for a few minutes before blending it into the dough because it’s on the softer side. Doesn’t crimp as nicely because the dough is softer, but the end result is much tastier, so in my mind, margarine is the way to go.
Hello Ms Smitten! Was wondering if I followed your strawberry and rhubarb pie filling recipe (minus the rhubarb as the other members of my household aren’t keen – why I still live here is anyone’s guess) as a filling for this yummy looking treat?
Thanks!
Brenda
Absolutely.
Woo hoo! Yay! That is literally the best news I’ve had today. Time for some wine!
Tried this recipe repeatedly. It does not work.
What is happening that it’s not working?
Interesting! This did not work for me at all! It was still an ok pie (followed the recipe for SK peach pie filling; amazing), but this crust was really coarse and tough compared to my usual standard: the SK OG I’ve used for years.
I used to work in a bakery where my job was to make pie crust, and logically, the folding to layer like w pastry just seemed genius. Sadly, there wasn’t nearly enough liquid per the recipe to pull the Lima bean sized pieces and their kin together, though after adjusting it did roll out beautifully. The pie looked good, but we really had to saw at it to cut it, haha
YMMV – I highly recommend the original recipe. It’s v similar to the recipe I used professionally and it yields fantastic results – the phrase “visible butter = visible flakiness” has never left my head since the inaugural baking many years ago and has never steered me wrong!
I’ve read thru all the “I made this” comments and I have never had the problem w pooling butter making a pie before and I’ve made hundred of pies worth of crust! By all means have a go at this recipe, but the original is what I’ll be using/recommending 🥧✨🤍
I will try this recipe for a pot pie; what are your thoughts if I would still use the 1T of sugar in the recipe?
I would skip it for a pot pie, unless you like the crust a little sweet. It’s not essential here.
Thank you for this amazing recipe, Deb!
I’ve recently started working out and looking to gain weight (yes I’m ectomorph and find it difficult to put on weight) and was bored with usual boring chicken and rice. Definitely going to try this and see how I like it.
Just one question, do you know how many calories would this contain? If it’s calorie dense, I can include this in my weekly diet plan.
How does this need to be adapted for a deep dish pie crust? Thanks.
I think you’ll want to estimate needing 1.5x, to be safest. Maybe a little less.
Hi Deb! Could any of your pie crusts work just as well with vegan butter for those with dairy allergies, or do they need real butter? Thanks so much!
Shayna
Sorry; I haven’t tested them with any vegan butter but most pie recipes with shortening do use a formula like that in my All-Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough so that would be my choice if proceeding.
I have made the all-butter crust with earth balance and it actually works really well!
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I needed to halve this, so I used a scale for precision–it’s still in the oven, so I can’t say yet how it turns out or tastes, but it did not make anywhere near enough for a pie place – I had zero overhang, nothing to fold or crimp, and I rolled it as thin as I dared. Has anyone else had this problem??
Just made this exactly as written. It did not feel particularly wet/cookie dough-like but it came together fine, with just a little extra water. After chilling two hours, it rolled out and folded beautifully. I parbaked as directed and even added pie weights, and it still puffed and shrunk something awful, so I could only fit about 1/2 or 2/3 of the filling. I put the rest into two ramekins to bake sans crust. Everything is in the oven now so we’ll see how it turns out…
OK, I poured in my filling (maple-nutmeg pie) and only about a half of the filling fit because the crust shrunk so much. I also mistakenly baked it for the full time called for the whole filling so the filling bubbled up and the texture isn’t quite right. BUT the crust is a lovely texture. I do think it needs a tiny bit more salt/sugar for more flavor. But it was easy to make and I am impressed with the texture!
I made this crust, and after struggling with pie crusts for years, this one was finally a success! Thank you. It was flaky and delicious. The only problem I had–with a pumpkin pie–was that the crust stuck to my pan. I think that I overbaked the pie. Would that cause the sticking? Or something else?
As a young woman, I tried making pie crust. It was the most frustrating experience. My mother has always been renowned for her crust, but I spent decades using store bought crusts. In the last two years, I’ve tried using your crust recipes, with limited success. This year, I tried your extra flaky crust. I followed your recipe precisely, to the gram! What a success!! So flaky and tender. I would be proud to use this crust to serve to the most discerning guest! Rave reviews!!! Thank you!!!!
Okay. I need help. Like SERIOUSLY. I simply canNOT get pie crust to work for me. Ever. Pretty sure my problem stems from being an overthinker and a perfectionist, but that is certainly not the point. It’s pie crust. How stinkin’ hard can it be?!!! Somehow…I make it hard. Is it the flour I use?? (I use organic unbleached all-purpose.) Is it my severe lack of arm strength when working the butter in, whether with or without a pastry cutter? (I’m always so exhausted and stressed trying to get the butter into the flour.) Am I adding too much water?? Not enough???? I’ve read that too much water makes your dough tough (that’s been a problem for me), so I err on the side of not too much water…be careful…and then I can’t get the dough to come together. Like, at all. It’s so dry. I have watched your video. I have read the flaky pie dough post and the updated even flakier pie dough post. I have consulted many and sundry comments. I have listened to this expert and that expert. I am still stumped. I have made a total of six pie doughs in the past 48 hours. Not one of them turned out right. I’d get them out of the fridge in their little rounds and they’d be suuuuuper sticky, which makes me think somehow I still got too much water in them. (And by the way, I was over the top with trying to make sure everything was cold. I diced the butter and put it back in the fridge to wait while I mixed the dry ingredients. Then I put the bowl with the flour/salt/sugar mixture into the freezer for about five minutes before adding the butter, etc. I kept the measured water in a glass measuring cup in the freezer while I incorporated the butter. I also used a silicone spatula and mashed the water into the flour like you do in your video. My dough NEVER ever looks anything like yours. Seriously. What gives????
Today we were going to have homemade apple pie for dessert at Christmas Dinner. Ugh. I used this recipe: the extra flaky dough one. Again, I had trouble with the consistency. I refused to add more than the prescribed amount of water. I had all this dry crap at the bottom of the bowl, though. I continued to mash with the spatula–to no avail. I finally got my hands in there and just squeezed it in. (It felt wrong, but what was I supposed to do?) They sat in the fridge over night. But then when it was time to roll them out today, it seemed like there wasn’t enough dough. I rolled and rolled and had it quite thin before I had enough to cover the pan and the top. I put the apples into the bottom crust and popped it back in the fridge while I rolled out the top crust. I did the lattice top. I put it all back in the fridge again before baking. (And by the way, I could see lots of butter in the dough–flat, lima-bean-size hunks of butter–I really thought I had it this time, despite the troubles I had rolling it out.) I baked a beautiful pie. Double ugh. I mean, it LOOKED amazing. But it was thin SOUP…AND the apples weren’t soft…AND the crust was tough. Tough to cut through on top…and the bottom was stiff even with the soup all puddled inside it. Soooooooo disappointed.
I need help. Like the kind of help that requires you to drive over to my house and hold my hand while I try this thing again. A for real hands-on lesson. Clearly, I have a mental block. ?!?!?!
Okay. I realize I posted my original comment on Christmas Day, so I’m 100% sure you were busy and rightly so. But now that things have slowed down to the winter crawl, I really would LOVE some pointers. I’m TERRIFIED of pie at this point. And that’s just a sad thing to be. :(
I love this pie crust and have finally been successful at making one, so thank you! But today I blind baked it for the first time and although the sides were golden and it seemed done, there was a pool of melted butter on the bottom! How do I prevent this?
OMG. This crust is incredibly flaky and impressive. Good thing it was 60 degrees here overnight too. Thanks for a great new-to-me recipe.
Hello – I wanted to use this pastry recipe to make your apple pie, the deep one with the lattice, but I think this makes less pastry than the pastry recipe you recommend there. Would I need to make 1.5 this amount of pastry to make your deep apple pie? Thanks
I know I made this a few times with the flakier crust and it was fine, but it does cut it close. I think your hunch is correct and extra would not be unwelcome. If you end up with too much dough, make an extra mini-pie.
I once asked that and Deb suggested 1.5 of the recipe.
I made a plum pie with this pastry. Amazing! Thank you!
I’ve never botched pie dough before, but for some reason this was a total failure! As others mentioned, I had the pool of butter in the center. The whole thing ended up tasting really tough, not flaky, and I had to scrap the whole thing. The dough was definitely wetter than past pie doughs – maybe too much?
Wooo – this is still baking but the butter is literally dripping off the edges of my pie pan. I couldn’t figure out what was burning as the pie itself looks fine – and then noticed abundant drips off the rim. So – fair warning! A sheet pan underneath is helping with the smokey factor but wow – have never had this happen before. Butter pieces too big? That’s all I can figure. The pie itself looks great – we’ll see how it tastes!
It can be that the pieces are a bit large but it might also just be that you’re noticing it — this is my theory. All homemade pie crusts have bits of butter inside. Whichever bits are at the surface will melt off. What’s left will still be a delicious pie crust, so ignore!
The crust turned out great in the end, was very flakey, and received high marks from all the pie eaters! I just had never experienced/noticed the butter drip and burn. I think I just made the butter pieces too big and might just break up them up a tad smaller next time. All in all – every dessert recipe I’ve ever made of yours has always been a winner!
Can I freeze the dough for a few days? Thank you.
This recipe did not work for me… I weighed out the flour, but when I added the stated amount of water, the dough did not come together and was still dry and floury. So, I added 2 more tablespoons of water and it did come together. After refrigerating I rolled it out according to the recipe, and it seemed ok. But when I baked it the result was dare and crunchy and while layers did form it was very tough and chewy. What went wrong?
Really loved to see all these beautiful pie images in process and the end result.. Mouth watering.. Thnaks, SmittenKitchen!
I’ve made this a handful of times and haven’t had success. Every time I’ve ended up with a pool of liquid butter on top of the baked crust, for bottom crusts, and if I try to use it as a top crust, the butter drips down to the bottom of the oven and I end up with a smoky kitchen. The resulting pie crust, other than the mess, is flaky but not particularly tender. To avoid this excess of butter, I’ve had to return to a lower butter:flour ratio. Have others had this experience, or does anyone have any troubleshooting tips?
I love this crust recipe. I have made it multiple times. I especially love it when I make chicken pot pie. It is the absolute best.
I made this and froze the pastry. Should I thaw in the fridge first or just work with it straight from the freezer? Thank you!
It might be easier after an hour or two in the fridge, but as soon as you feel you can roll it out, give it a shot.
I used this recipe for a peach, tomato, and corn galette, substituting a half a cup of the flour with corn meal. I have never made such lovely pastry! Flakey and tender, melt in your mouth! Thank you.
I love the idea of this pie crust. No rhubarb now, so I was wondering how it would work with apples, since we are close to Thanksgiving…. And if yes, what amount and apples would you suggest?
My dough is chilling in the fridge and I really hope it works out. I measure all my ingredients with a scale (I’m French so we do by weight) and my dough did not come out as wet and sticky as suggested in the recipe. I also left the butter lima bean size, no pea size or corse meal.
Then I went and watch your video on the perfect apple pie, you mention pea size, like corse meal. I’m confused. I realized this dough recipe is revised, so I’m hoping it will be fine because I have larger chunks of butter and in the video, you say we don’t want too many of the larger.
Can this be used to make the small “hand pies”
Thanks!!
Mine was dry. Not nearly the result Deb described. I think I will go back to the even more perfect apple pie crust. Which is indeed, perfect.
Hi Deb,
How long before baking the pie can the dough stay in the fridge?
Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving,
O
In the online video from season 2 the recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of flour, not 2. Which is correct?
I love this recipe as far as taste and texture, but I’ve found that it doesn’t seem like enough dough for two single-crust pies (after dividing it into two discs and weighing to ensure they’re equal). I’m rolling them both quite thin and there’s not enough overhang to do any crimping or type of design—and after par-baking, they shrink down even more (dough is chilled, pie weights are used). This year, the crust for one of my pies in an Anchor Hocking glass dish is only about an inch deep, which is going to be more of a pecan pie tart I guess. The other crust in an Emile Henry ruffled pie dish is a bit deeper, though still no overhang. Am I missing something with rolling it out?
I was nervous making this for Thanksgiving for the first time after seeing some of the comments, but I’ll totally use it again! I made a lattice top apple pie and it came out super flaky on top and tasty and sturdy (if not quite so flaky because of the moisture) on bottom. I made pie crust cookies with the trimmings and they lifted like rough puff pastry.
I used regular supermarket butter and no-name flour (I usually use KA but I’m traveling).
Hallelujah! Between this recipe and watching a bunch of Youtube videos for technique, I finally managed to make a pie crust that didn’t look like it was made by a grumpy four-year-old! I didn’t defrost quite enough butter, so the last couple of tablespoons were coconut oil (which is what I had on hand and worked beautifully).
I tried this pie crust recipe for TG and didn’t care for it. It was dry and crumbly and tough to roll out compared to your previous all butter crust recipe. I’m going back to that one. I didn’t notice an appreciable increase in flakiness or lightness in the crust after it was cooked ( I am more into the filling) so it wasn’t worth the stress.
When I unwrapped it after spending a few hours in the fridge, it crumbled and split apart. With the earlier recipe. the dough would knit together beautifully at this point and be a cohesive unit ready to be rolled out.