Listen, I know calling a recipe the World’s Best Pie Crust – or the world’s best anything – is pretty bold. But honestly, there just wasn’t another title that would do it justice. It’s really the best pie crust I’ve ever had. And I’ve eaten a lot of pie. This is the Real Deal.
I love making pie. It’s fun to work with and so visually pleasing, with its little flourishes and golden brown edges. People are often intimidated by making homemade pie crust, but once you get the technique down, it’s actually pretty simple. And it’s SO much better than store-bought crust.
Pie crust is traditionally made with flour, salt, liquid, and fat. The fat typically comes in one of two forms: 1) shortening/lard, which produces a tender, flaky but somewhat bland dough, or 2) butter, which provides lots of flavor but can result in a drier dough that requires more water and therefore more manipulation, making it harder to roll out and potentially tougher in texture. Some people combine the two fats to get the best of both worlds, or use other tricks to get the perfect flavor-texture balance. For years, I used a recipe I found in the newspaper that used shortening for flakiness and brought in flavor with vinegar and brown sugar mixed with water. And it was great. It got raves. But in general, I really prefer butter over shortening, so I kept seeking.
I stumbled across this recipe in the Serious Eats archives. The ingredients, as compared to a traditional pie crust recipe, are unremarkable – flour, butter, salt, water, a little sugar. The key is in the way they’re combined. As the author notes, when you completely blend two-thirds of the flour with all the butter to create a paste, and then add the remaining flour, you are essential creating an environment in which the formation of gluten is controlled (which is key to the texture of the crust). Additionally, the fat is evenly distributed, and you end up with a consistent, easy-to-roll-out dough every time. If, like me, you enjoy geeking out on the science behind this technique, check out the original article. But the beauty of this recipe is that you really don’t need to understand the how or why. The technique takes care of the details such as how much to work in the flour and how much water to add – all the fretting is already handled for you. Just follow the recipe and let the flaky gorgeousness happen.
To fully combine the ingredients, I find it’s easiest to start this dough in a food processor (you’ll transfer it to a bowl later to add the water). Alternatively, a stand or hand mixer will work. You can use a pastry cutter or other manual method to make the butter/flour paste, of course – just expect a good arm workout. You really have to work the butter in completely.
The result is the lightest, flakiest, buttery-est crust I’ve ever had. World’s Best Pie Crust! I’m telling you. I think it’s recipe magic and I actually kind of can’t believe it came out of my kitchen. I hope it’s the best in your world, too.
World’s Best Pie Crust
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 single crusts 1x
- Category: sweets, entrees, breakfast & brunch
Description
This buttery, flaky, easy-as-playdough to roll out pie crust recipe will eradicate all of your pie-related angst and make you look like a pastry expert.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (11 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces; 20 TB) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
6 TB cold water
Instructions
Add 1.5 cups (6.5 oz) of the flour (reserving the other cup), along with salt and sugar to food processor and pulse briefly to combine. Scatter butter pieces evenly over the flour and pulse until the flour is completely incorporated and the paste-y mixture begins to clump together (this can take a minute or two). Use a spoon to even out the paste in the bowl of the food processor and add the remaining cup of flour. Pulse until incorporated, then transfer the dough to a medium bowl.
Sprinkle the 6 TB of water over the dough and slowly work it in with a spoon (or better, your hands) until it’s absorbed. The dough will be sticky! Remove dough from bowl, divide evenly into two parts, and shape into disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or two (can be chilled longer, or, if double-wrapped, frozen for up to 3 months). Remove the dough from the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes, then roll out to 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface, using as little flour as possible to avoid toughening the dough.
To pre-bake the crust (as for a cold filling), place rolled out dough in pie plate, then trim to fit with scissors and crimp edges with fingers or a fork. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork (to prevent bubbling), place a layer of parchment paper on top of it, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake @ 375° for 20 minutes, then remove weights and parchment and return to oven for an additional 15-20 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
Notes
… Use cold butter and water. It keeps the dough from getting greasy.
… If using a food processor, don’t add the water to the mixture there. It gets unpleasantly goopy and can result in over-worked dough (experience talking here). It’s worth the extra step of blending it in slowly by hand.
… If you end up with lots of scraps after rolling out and trimming your dough, don’t throw them away! You can use cookie cutters to add decorative shapes on top of your pie, or brush them with melted butter and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top (delicious crumbled on ice cream or eaten like cookies).
Okay, I surrender, after reading THAT, how can I NOT make this crust! I don’t even want pie, only that crust! BTW, your nails look amazing!
OK I agree with Patty saying she can’t make this recipe work! When you say process for 2 minutes to get the dough staying together – that does NOT happen with me. I went ahead and poured the cornmeal consisitency into a bowl and instead of using 6 T of ice cold water finally got so upset poured in about 1/2 c maybe more!!!!!!!! Whats wrong with me – Im a good cook but pie crusts are a DISASTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi! If I want to bake an apple pie, do you have a recommendation for temperature and time? Do I need to pre-bake? I’m at about 5300 feet (Denver).
Hi Emily! For a standard double crust apple pie, I bake at 375 degrees for about an hour, or until the filling is starting to bubble out of the slit in the top crust and the top is golden brown. Check out my Honeycrisp Apple Pie recipe for more specifics!
Deeeliscious Thank You!
You are welcome! 🙂
well i was thinking about making a lemon meringue pie would this pie crust be good with that taste?
Yes, it would be great! I’ve done it myself several times.
Is this recipe intended for high altitudes? I live at 5,640 feet. TIA!
Jaclyn, happily, this recipe will work at any altitude!
I have turned into the pie crust queen with this recipe…thanks!
As it should be. Yay!
Hi! Im making a cherry pie but want to use this crust recipe since I’m in Denver. Do you have any suggestions for cook time and heat? Do I have to prebake? Thanks! So excited for this crust!
Hi Nancy, for a cherry pie I would parbake it. Line the raw crust with foil and fill it with pie weights, dry beans, or pennies to weigh it down, then bake at 350 for 20 mins. Take the foil off, poke bottom all over with a fork, and bake (unweighted) for another 8-10 mins until it no longer looks raw. Then add your filling and top crust and bake until bubbly.
Sounds so delicious – good luck!
How do you prebake a crust for cherry pie, if necessary? How long do you think it will take to bake a pie if crust is pre baked?
Line the raw bottom crust with foil and fill it with pie weights, dry beans, or pennies to weigh it down, then bake at 350 for 20 mins. Take the foil off, poke bottom all over with a fork, and bake (unweighted) for another 8-10 mins until it no longer looks raw. Then add your filling and top crust and bake – check at 10 mins and then keep going as needed until filling is bubbly and top crust is golden.
I am trying this amazing recipe for thanksgiving…today…what do you do when you left the dough in the fridge over night? It looks and feels like hockey pucks?
Hi Becky, hope I’m not too late! I just let it soften for a while before rolling – it will roll out beautifully around room temp!
I used this recipe last year and it was great! However, this year it seemed overly greasy when I blind baked it. One question I do have, though. Do you find that living in a drier climate (I live in Littleton) you need to add more water? I always feel like the 6T is t enough so I end up adding more. Maybe I shouldn’t?
Hi Ann,
You may need more or less water depending on a variety of factors (humidity, brand of flour, etc) so go with your gut and adjust based on how it looks and feels.
Sounds Great we live in Salida trying this week for dinner guest
Enjoy!
Hi there,
Making a pumpkin pie from fresh pumpkin. Would you do anything differently with the pie crust for that particular pie?
Hi Tonia,
I use this exact crust for my Extra Spicy Pumpkin Pie. I typically don’t pre-bake my crust for pumpkin pie (unless you’re doing a chilled filling, like a pumpkin chiffon) and you shouldn’t need to make any other adjustments.
Can I substitute pastry flour for the all purpose flour?
You can, but because pastry flour has a lower protein content, it won’t develop gluten the same way as AP, and therefore may be a bit more fragile to work with (i.e. it’ll be a little more crumbly).
Really great results! I have struggled with my pie crusts since moving to the NC mountains from Florida due to the altitude. No more problems as this recipe saved my pies! Easy too….thanks so much!
Love to hear that! ❤️
The crust has a beautiful consistency! Only trouble is that it shrank drastically in the oven. Should I leave more overhang on the edges? I’m at 9,494 feet in Colorado.
(I’m trying to make pecan pie, for the record)
Hi Arthur, yes, it can definitely shrink up. I usually try to crimp outside the edges of my pie plate. Also, quick chill (5-10 mins) can help.
Wow! This crust is amazing. I’m a gourmet cook but a novice baker and I cannot believe how easy, delicious and flaky this crust is. BRAVO!
Thanks, Barbara! 🙂
I’ve made my own pie crust for nearly 40 years. My recipe is my mother’s recipe and while hers was the best homemade pie crust recipe, this one has taken it’s place! (Don’t tell my mom!). This one is easier to work with and flakier! Thank you!
What an honor! My lips are sealed. 😉
I’ve had problems with baking since moving to the mountains. I tried this recipe & wow!!! Made marion berry pie with a lattice top & everyone says it’s the best ever. Had enough dough left to top a chicken pot pie – brushed the crust with beaten egg & sprinkle of sea salt – the flakiest crust ever. Thank you so much!
Marion berry pie sounds completely delightful and so summery. Glad the recipe worked so well for you!
As wonderful as the marion berries were, it was unanimous that the crust really pushed it over the top. Thanks again for the wonderful recipe.
This pie crust was delicious! Made it as the recipe called for at 10,600 ft (Alma) and it turned out wonderfully! We’ve recently moved here and I’ve printed off lots of your recipes to try. Thanks for doing the trial and error for us!
So glad you enjoyed it, Sandy!
Can you make this ahead and freeze before you rollout!? Also any recommendations for making apple pie at 7000 feet?! News to flagstaff Arizona!
Thanks
Yes! When you form the dough into rounds, just double-wrap tightly in plastic and freeze. Bring them back to room temp before rolling out – but don’t let them get too soft.
As for apple pie, fruit pies don’t tend to be dramatically different at altitude than sea level. But if you want one that’s been thoroughly tested at high altitude, check out my Honeycrisp Apple Pie recipe!
Thank you for this recipe! My mom was a phenomenal baker and cook. My sister inherited the baking gene, I did not. I’ve been in Colorado for 17 yrs. I blame the elevation for my baking failures but truly I can’t bake at sea level either. I made this crust for the first time 2 days ago. It was so simple and tasted fantastic. Flawless! I can’t thank you enough, Am so happy I found your site. 🙂
So glad you’re here, Jenni! 🙂
Hello Robyn. I came upon your recipe and was intrigued by the word best, as I’m always looking for the best pie crust. I live at 7,900 feet and we all know baking is a challenge. I went about making this but two things came up that perplexed me. One my dough seemed wet enough with only 5 tablespoons of water and 2) I hardly had to knead it much at all and it seemed ok. So did I knead it enough? Should I have added the 6th tablespoon? Worried. What do you think? Thank you so much.
Mary, the dough is meant to be quite sticky. It does not require any kneading (kneading will potentially overwork the dough and make it tough). I do recommend using all six TB of water as it helps the texture greatly when rolling out. Again, a sticky, wettish dough is fine – it will firm up during the chilling.
Oh my gosh! This is the best pie crust ever! I just finished making crusts for tomorrow’s chocolate pie and made cinnamon sticks out of the left over crust pieces. It is so flaky! Absolutely delicious.
Fabulous! Enjoy your chocolate pie!
Ok so made some little cookies with the leftover dough – brushed on some brown butter and sprinkled sugar and cinnamon and judging from those cookies the crust is MOST amazing, delicious and flaky. I’m thrilled I found this recipe. Best crust ever. Ever!!! Thank you Robyn. 😘. Happy and blessed Thanksgiving to all.
So glad you loved it! Aren’t pie crust cookies the best?!
Best, flakiest, easiest pie crust ever!! Seriously!! I’ve struggled with pie crusts forever. Then I found this recipe, it was so simple I thought to myself this will turn out just like every other crust I’ve made, it’s too simple (generally speaking, the perfect pie crust is – don’t this, don’t do that, don’t forget to ect..) however even with my doubts I followed the directions and BAM it truly is the world’s BEST pie crust EVER!!! SO EASY, and so flaky and buttery and just plain yummy. I actually enjoyed the leftovers brushed with butter and baked then I did with the pie ( my filling just didn’t stand up to how amazing this pie crust is) so THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!! Truly the BEST PIE CRUST EVER!!!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Could not agree more. It’s wonderful!
How long can you keep the drought in refrigerator before baking it. I know you can freeze it but I want to use it in three days. I made it a head and tried a little piece baking to make sure I liked the crust.
It should be ok for three days – just make sure you wrap it tightly in plastic so it doesn’t dry out.
Thank you
I just made my first pie ever (Mt. Crested Butte), and feel like I’ve cheated because it went so well with this crust recipe!
My apples ended up a bit watery but that was because of my apple recipe didn’t have any thickener I think, but the crust is definitely the star of the show. Can’t wait to make more and have some disks ready to go in the freezer!
So happy to hear this! Also, apple pie … yum.
I love at 8750 feet and had tried a few crusts this past winter as I learned to bake during Covid. I used your recipe to make my grandmas Chocolate Pie to enter into my town’s Annual Pie Contest. Out of 17 pies, I won 1st Place! Judges were seasoned bakers and loved the crust. I made a second pie so I could try and I must say it’s the best crust I’ve ever eaten. Better than my grandmas too, thanks for sharing.
Wow – congrats!!
I’m so sorry to be the one to say it, but this recipe was a disaster! I’ve been using my great grandmother’s recipe for years, but it’s always a little tough at altitude (Boulder, CO) so I wanted to try another option. I tried this recipe three times and every time it came out gluey, mushy, and sticky even after hours in the fridge. I don’t know what’s going wrong, but it’s such a bummer! Hopefully this goes better for others and I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes Robyn (hopefully with more success)!
I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you! It’s always ok to add a little extra flour if your dough is very sticky.
Has anyone tried this using coconut oil?
I was hesitant, given the amount of butter. And it’s unlike anything I’ve done in my 50 years of pie-making. But, good grief! This is amazing! It’s better than my old uncle’s lard pie crusts (but I’ve yet to find anyone who could best his buttermilk streusel coffee cake). I tried it out on a preT-giving trial run. It will be a super hit with the lemon meringue.
P.S. I couldn’t get the second dose of flour to work into the butter/flour mixture (I don’t get along well with my food processor) so I cut it in with a pastry blender. Also, because it’s winter in dry, dry Montana, I added an extra tablespoon of water. Always have to–we can assume that our flour is drier than it is in, e.g., New York.
Robyn, in all truth I haven’t made your pie recipe yet, but I’m all prepped to do so.
BUT, I can’t find any directions for a temp. if you’re baking a two-crust pie. Of course, I read the instructions for pre-baking a one crust pie.
Are you assuming baking temps. come with the filling recipe?
BTW, the recipe techniques
look great!!
Robyn, MY APOLOGIES!!! I didn’t read the pumpkin pie recipe completely to find the temp. directions.
Really, really, sorry for my haste. Good luck with other such troublemakers. 🙂
Hi. Will this work on a 10 inch Emile Henry pie dish?