• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Rustic Foodie®
  • Recipe Index
  • About Me
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
×
Home » Recipes » Old Fashioned Desserts

Homemade Pie Crust (How To Make)

Dated: October 27, 2016 Last Modified: May 14, 2024 This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
Trimmed unbaked pie dough in pie pan.

A step by step tutorial on how to make a homemade pie crust that is buttery and flaky. Learn How To Make Homemade Pie Crust from scratch!

It's important to remember is that pie crust does not need to be perfect! It's job is functional - To hold its contents in place as it bakes and to taste good. It may take a little practice, but I promise that you can master pie crust. Keep reading to learn How To Make Homemade Pie Crust!

Unbaked homemade pie crust in pie pan.

It's official - Pie making season is here! And I couldn't be happier about it. To be honest, I am not a baker by nature. I enjoy baking and really enjoy eating things that are baked, but I'm more of a 'throw everything in the pot and see how it comes out' type of cook.

Baking requires much more precision than that. It demands a specific list of ingredients that need to be measured and added in a certain order and finished within an allotted time frame.

Pies are a little more forgiving than the average baked good. There is a certain amount of 'throw everything together and see how it comes out' with pies, which is probably why they are my favorite thing to bake.

The key to any pie is the crust. It's kind of the foundation. Once you master the crust, you can play around with all types of fillings. I think people are sometimes intimidated by the idea of making pie crust and they shouldn't be.

Jump to:
  • How To Make Homemade Pie Crust
  • Add The Liquids To The Pie Dough
  • Chill The Dough In The Fridge
  • How To Roll Out Pie Crust
  • Trim The Pie Crust
  • Homemade Pie Crust (How To Make)
Flour and butter in metal bowl with pastry cutter.

How To Make Homemade Pie Crust

Pie crust only contains a few ingredients. They include flour, butter, salt, water, and vinegar.

  1. Start out with 3 cups of AP flour, 2 sticks of cold unsalted butter, and a pinch of kosher salt. The temperature of the butter is going to play a huge role in the success of your pie crust.
  2. Place the flour, butter, and salt in a sturdy bowl and grab a pastry cutter. Take the pastry cutter and start to 'smash' the butter into the flour. The butter should begin to break apart and incorporate into the flour. Do this for 3-5 minutes. Your wrist may get a little sore, but it's totally worth it.
Flour and butter cut together in metal bowl with pastry cutter.

Add The Liquids To The Pie Dough

After a few minutes, the flour and butter mixture will become a bowl full of coarse crumbs. It should have the texture of cornmeal. All of the butter has been incorporated into the flour.

The next step is the trickiest part (I think) of making pie crust. This includes adding the liquids and forming the whole thing into ball.

  1. Add 4-6 Tbsp. of cold water (very important that it's cold) one at a time. Start with the first Tbsp. and begin to form the mixture into a ball with your hands. It will be crumbly at first. (Add more water if dough is just too crumbly).
  2. Continue to do this with the remaining 4-5 Tbsp. of cold water and 2 tsp. of vinegar (add one at a time and then continue to form a ball with your hands). The mixture should stick together in a ball after all the liquid has been added.

The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs after it is completely combined.

Two balls of pie dough wrapped in plastic wrap.

Chill The Dough In The Fridge

Split the ball of dough in two and flatten each one slightly. You should have two dough 'patties' at this point.

Wrap each portion of dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. This will cool the dough off slightly so that it doesn't stick to your hands as you roll it out.

Round of pie dough with wooden rolling pin.

How To Roll Out Pie Crust

  1. After the dough has chilled for 15 minutes, retrieve one or both (depending on how much you need) portions from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. This is the fun (and messy) part.
  2. Place the dough on a clean and even surface. Coat the surface, the dough, and a rolling pin with flour. It is important that there is flour under the dough so that it doesn't stick to the surface.
  3. Begin to roll the dough out with a rolling pin. Start with short, light stokes and as the dough stretches you can press down harder to flatten it. Flip the dough over once or twice to make sure it doesn't stick and sprinkle with more flour if needed.
Pie dough rolled out next to wooden rolling pin.

The sides may crack a little bit and you might get little tears in the crust. That's OK! Just pinch any cracks or tears together with your fingers.

The most important thing is that it does not stick to the surface because it may rip apart as you remove it and place it in the pie pan.

If the dough rips apart for any reason, you can re-form it into a ball and try again!

Doing some holiday baking? Check out these recipes!

  • Pumpkin Coffee Cake
  • Cast Iron Skillet Apple Crisp
  • Crustless Pumpkin Cheesecake
  • Pumpkin Caramel Bread Pudding
  • Gluten Free Apple Crisp
Unbaked homemade pie crust in pie pan.

Place a pie pan or baking sheet near the dough. You don't want to carry pie dough across the kitchen - This would likely cause it to break.

Carefully slide the dough across the pan and press down so that it lines the surface. Again, the sides may crack or tear a little bit and that's OK. The goal is not perfection.

Looking for more desserts? Check out these recipes!

  • Old Fashioned Blueberry Buckle
  • Scandinavian Almond Cake
  • Glazed Lemon Doughnuts
  • Crispy Sugar Cookies
  • Peanut Butter Blossoms
  • Buttermilk Rhubarb Cake
  • Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake
  • Italian Hazelnut Cake
  • Baileys Doughnuts
Trimmed unbaked pie dough in pie pan.

Trim The Pie Crust

You can trim the edges from the pie crust to fit the pan if desired.

I like to sprinkle those pie crust scraps with cinnamon and sugar and bake them for a little 'pre-pie' treat. You can crimp the edges or press them down with a fork for that classic pie look.

This recipe makes two 9-inch pie crusts. You can roll out one or both of them depending on the type of pie you are baking.

If you become a pie crust master (and have a lot of patience) you can use the crust decoratively to make a lattice top or pie crust cutouts. I'm just in it for the most important part - Eating!

Love pies? Check out these recipes!

  • Old Fashioned Apple Pie
  • Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie
  • Maple Walnut Pie
  • Homemade Apple Galette

Are you gluten free? Check out this recipe for How To Make Gluten Free Pie Crust!

For a pizza crust from scratch check out How To Make Homemade Pizza Dough!

Looking For Homemade Pie Recipes? Don't Miss These!

Classic Blueberry Pie

Bourbon Buttermilk Pie

Southern Pecan Pie

Unbaked homemade pie crust in pie pan.

Homemade Pie Crust (How To Make)

Christine Rooney
A step by step tutorial on how to make a homemade pie crust that is buttery and flaky. Learn How To Make Homemade Pie Crust from scratch!
No ratings yet
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved Recipe!
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Chilling Time: 15 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 16
Calories 187 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 3 cups AP flour plus 2 Tbsp. for sprinkling
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter cold
  • pinch kosher salt
  • 4-6 Tbsp. cold water
  • 2 tsp. vinegar

Instructions
 

  • Place 3 cups of AP flour, 2 sticks of cold unsalted butter, and a pinch of kosher salt in a large bowl. Begin to smash and cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter. Do this for 3-5 minutes until all of the butter has incorporated into the flour and the texture resembles cornmeal.
  • Add 4-6 Tbsp. of cold water (one at a time) and 2 tsp. vinegar to the flour/butter mixture. After each addition of liquid, form the mixture into a ball. It will be crumbly at first, but should stick together after all liquid has been added. (Add a few more Tbsp. of water if dough is just too crumbly).
    The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs after combined.
  • Split the ball of pie dough into two portions and flatten each of them slightly to form two dough patties.
  • Wrap each portion of dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  • Retrieve dough from fridge and remove plastic wrap.
  • Place dough on a clean and even surface and sprinkle surface, pie dough, and rolling pin with flour.
  • Begin to roll out dough lightly. As it flattens, press down harder with rolling pin. Check to make sure bottom is not sticking to surface.
  • Once desired thickness is reached, carefully remove the pie crust and place onto pie pan or baking sheet.
  • Remove excess dough and crimp edges if desired.

Notes

Carefully mend any tears or cracks in pie crust with fingers while rolling it out.
Add a few more Tbsp. of cold water if pie dough is just too crumbly.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cupCalories: 187kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 3gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 2mgPotassium: 29mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.1gVitamin A: 353IUCalcium: 7mgIron: 1mg
Keyword how to make pie crust, pie crust from scratch, old fashioned pie crust
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

More Old Fashioned Dessert Recipes

  • Slices of gluten free rhubarb bread on parchment paper.
    Gluten Free Rhubarb Bread with Streusel
  • Buttermilk bread pudding with caramel sauce on white plate with fork.
    Buttermilk Bread Pudding
  • Strawberry mascarpone tartlets with honey and lemon zest.
    Strawberry Mascarpone Tartlets
  • Baklava tartlets on white platter.
    Baklava Tartlets with Maple and Walnuts
8839 shares
  • Facebook
  • Bluesky
  • Email

About Christine

My name is Christine Rooney. I live in rural Minnesota with my husband. I own and operate The Rustic Foodie and work as a freelance photographer and writer. I like my food to be like anything else in life - down to earth and full of flavor.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. [email protected]

    November 06, 2016 at 11:17 pm

    Could you please tell me the number of grams in 2 sticks of butter please? E.g. Is it 250 grams? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Christine

      November 08, 2016 at 12:29 am

      It looks like two sticks of butter is 226 grams.

      Reply
  2. Kacey

    November 23, 2016 at 5:21 pm

    I am making a banana cream pie so I need to know how to cook just the crust. Can you help me?

    Reply
    • Christine

      November 24, 2016 at 12:20 am

      Hi Kacey - It sounds like you'll want to blind bake the crust. This just means baking the crust for awhile without the filling. It's really easy - just roll out the crust, place it in the pie pan, cover the dough with parchment paper or aluminum foil, and then fill the pie pan with something heavy like dry beans or rice. This will keep the pie dough from bubbling up as it bakes. Here is a great tutorial with step by step instructions. http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-blind-bake-a-pie-crust-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-197553
      Hope that helps!

      Reply
  3. Çitra Kale-MyhomeDiaryinTurkey

    October 10, 2017 at 9:51 am

    İ am looking for another pie crust recipe...and İ found it here... lovely recipe and seems easy to follow...will try it soon. thx for sharing

    Reply
    • Christine

      October 16, 2017 at 7:25 pm

      Hope you enjoy!

      Reply
  4. Rachel

    November 25, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    Can you use gluten free flour to bake apple pies and pie shells.

    Reply
    • Christine

      November 25, 2019 at 11:51 pm

      Hi Rachel - This pie crust should work great to make an apple pie. Just make sure to pre-bake as directed before adding the filling. Then bake as you would a regular apple pie. Hope that helps! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Alicia

    November 23, 2023 at 5:17 pm

    I would just like to say that you should take the ad off the bottom of the page. I can't read your blog and it's too frustrating. So i probably won't be back.

    Reply
    • Christine

      November 25, 2023 at 1:25 am

      Hi Alicia - Thank you for the feedback. I was able to change my ad settings so that users can now click the bottom bar ad off. The video ad that shows up at the bottom of the screen is also able to be clicked off. I hope that helps if you do decide to check out my site again!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Thanks for stopping by! My name is Christine Rooney. I live in rural Minnesota with my husband. I own and operate The Rustic Foodie and work as a freelance photographer and writer. I like my food to be like anything else in life - down to earth and full of flavor.

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility

Contact

  • Contact
  • Work With Me!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2025 Foodie Pro on the Foodie Pro Theme

8839 shares

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required