Grandma's Secret Pie Crust Recipe with Tips for the Perfect Pie Crust (2024)

FAQs

What are some tips for achieving a perfect pie crust? ›

I like to use pastry flour because it contains less gluten than all-purpose flour and therefore creates a more tender crust, but all-purpose flour will work just fine if that's what you have on hand. The “2” is fat. Butter is the most common type of fat used, but other solid fats will work as well.

In pie crust, you don't want gluten to form so you don't want to mix too much and overwork the dough. For a flaky crust, cut the butter so that chunks of butter about the size of walnut halves remain.

“My preferred fat for pie crusts will always be butter. To me, it is all about flavor, and no other fat gives flavor to a crust like butter does. Other fats, even though they have great pros, lack flavor,” De Sa Martins said. “The more flavorful the butter, the more flavor your pie crust will have,” Huntsberger added.

Keep the Butter Cold

With this goal in mind, the cardinal rule of pie crusts is to keep things as cold as possible.

The cardinal rules of pie dough: Keep it cold, work fast, and don't overwork your dough.

Some recipes will instruct you to bake it right away. But I like to freeze the crust before pre baking. The chilling time allows the gluten in the dough to relax and prevent shrinking when baking. So I recommend freezing the pie crust for at least 1 hour before pre baking.

Water, however, is absorbed much less easily into flour proteins when the temperature is colder. That's why purists recommend cold ingredients, cold equipment and marble boards. Keeping the butter cold also helps when making short crust pastry because it doesn't melt into the flour when you are working it in.

Why should you cut slits in the pie crust? ›

With docking, the holes allow steam to escape, so the crust should stay flat against the baking dish when it isn't held down by pie weights or a filling. Otherwise the crust can puff up, not only impacting appearance but also leaving you with less space for whatever filling you have planned.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Tip: Chilling hardens the fat in the dough, which will help the crust maintain its structure as it bakes. And the short rest before rolling relaxes the dough's gluten, helping prevent a tough crust.

This is really the game changing tip: a really cold pie dough is so much easier to roll than a slightly chilled pie dough. Almost every pie dough recipe I have ever seen says to chill your pie dough for two hours.

We want to keep the dough cool but warm it up enough to make rolling it out easier. You can let it rest on the counter for a few minutes but the best method is to use your rolling pin to give it a few thumps. Kate McDermott of Art of the Pie perfectly explains this process as, “waking up the dough.”

The general rule of thumb is that smaller pieces of butter will result in a more mealy textured crust that holds up better to custard fillings. Larger chunks of butter will yield a flakier crust better suited for fruit fillings. Larger chunks also run the risk of creating pools of butter as your pie dough bakes.

After dough has rested, crimp the edges of the dough, and prick the bottom and the sides of your pie shell at least 15 times. Line a piece of aluminum foil around your crust and fill with pie weights. Place your pie crust on the pre-heated sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Cold Butter: You want to use very cold butter when making pie crust. Salt: Use salt, even when making pie crust for sweet pies. It makes the crust taste amazing. Sugar: Is optional, but if I'm making sweet pies or even a quiche, I use it.