How to Make the Perfect All Butter Pie Crust
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How to Make the Perfect All Butter Pie Crust
Description
How to Make the Perfect All Butter Pie Crust starts with chilling small cubes of butter to ensure a flaky texture. The dry ingredients are combined and cold butter is pulsed until the mixture looks like coarse peas. Adding vodka—unique to this recipe—or cold water gently binds the dough without excess gluten formation, helping keep the crust tender. The dough remains slightly crumbly, making it easier to handle and roll out without toughness.
Using vodka or buttermilk contributes moisture without activating gluten, which helps create a delicate, flaky crust once baked. The crust is suitable for sweet or savory pies with its balanced salt and sugar. Chilling the dough before rolling helps maintain the butter's coldness for the best texture and prevents shrinkage during baking.
For freezing, the dough can be wrapped tightly for up to three months and thawed before use, or frozen rolled in a pie pan for quicker preparation. When baking from frozen, add extra time to ensure thorough cooking. Following this method carefully produces a crisp, tender, and buttery pie crust that supports many fillings.
Ingredients
- For the crust:
- ½ cup unsalted butter 113 g, 1 stick
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour 150 g plus additional for dusting
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon vodka or substitute buttermilk
- 2-3 tablespoons water ice cold, plus more if necessary
Instructions
- Before you make the crust, cut the butter for the crust into small cubes and set on a plate. Place in the freezer for 15-30 minutes so it gets VERY COLD. While you do this, you can get all of your other ingredients out and ready to go.
- To make the crust: Add the flour, sugar and salt to a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the VERY COLD butter cubes and pulse again for 20-30 seconds until pie dough starts to resemble tiny peas.
- Next, add 1 tablespoon of vodka, then add in 2-3 tablespoons ICE COLD water to the dough. Pulse until dough comes together just a bit, resembling small beads. The dough should still be somewhat crumbly; I recommend squeezing a small amount of dough between your fingers; it should stick together well, but if it doesn’t and is very crumbly, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, until it just comes together. If your dough is too wet, add 1/2 tablespoon flour until it comes together. I usually don’t mess with ratios too much because this is what works for me. Do not overwork the dough.
- Place dough onto a well-floured surface and form into a disk shape, then wrap with plastic wrap or in a reusable bag. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes-1 hour or up to 2 days. Dough can also be frozen for up to 2-3 months if well wrapped in both plastic and then foil.
- Once dough has been chilled for at least 30 minutes, place dough on a VERY well-floured clean surface and use a well floured-rolling pin to roll the dough into a round shape about 1 inch larger than an upside-down 9-inch pie plate. Fold dough in half to help transfer to place in pie plate. Unfold and ease the dough into the pan. (If you mess up, that’s completely okay — just reshape the dough into a disk and roll out again.) Trim the extra crust around the edges of the pie plate and discard excess dough. Flute the edges of the crust however you’d like (I normally use my finger and thumb to pinch the dough or you can use a fork!). Cover the pie crust tightly with plastic wrap and place pie pan in the refrigerator while you prepare your pie filling. Makes 1 pie crust. Feel free to double the recipe to make a double pie crust.
Notes
- To achieve the signature texture, use vodka as specified; substitutions like cider vinegar, buttermilk, or milk can be tried but yield different results.
- Freeze the dough wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and foil, then in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
- For convenience, freeze the crust rolled out in a pie pan; add 5-10 minutes extra baking time when baking from frozen.
- Chill the dough thoroughly before rolling to keep the butter cold for a flakier crust.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 1pie crust
Amount Per Serving
Calories 139 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1slice (based on 9) | |
| Calories | 139cal | 7% |
| Carbohydrates | 10g | 3% |
| Protein | 1.4g | 3% |
| Fat | 10.2g | 16% |
| Saturated Fat | 6.4g | 32% |
| Fiber | 0.4g | 2% |
| Sugar | 0.2g | 0% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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