This Easy Pie Crust recipe has been passed down through generations, from my grandmother, the PIE QUEEN. Just 5 simple ingredients to make.
It’s that time of year again!! Pie season! When I was a little girl I would visit over at my great grandmother’s house.
She and my grandmother would spend ALL DAY making pies – literally in batches of 20+ a day. They were both known for the family pumpkin pie recipe.
The family always went nuts for that pumpkin pie. But spending all that time with them- I did learn a thing or two about pie.
So since you (and I) will be needing this recipe through the end of the year – I thought I would share my great grandmother’s recipe for Easy Pie Crust.
Now her recipe was for pies in BULK. She sort of jotted it down but for the most part, she worked off memory. However – I was able to break it down to what a normal recipe would be for the regular person making just one pie. It’s perfect every single time.
Try using this recipe to make our Spanakopita (Spinach Pie) Recipe or my Easy Chicken Pot Pie recipe.
very easy pie crust
It’s moist and springy while working with the dough prior to baking, which is so nice. For years I had one that was way too dry and was so difficult to work with.
I am so happy I was able to get this one down because it really is just SO EASY from start to finish.
simple pie crust recipe
This recipe is just for the one crust. You can double it if you are wanting crust on top too.
I tend to make all my pies open – be it a French Apple, or some sort of cream pie or fresh strawberry. I don’t know why.
Maybe this year will be the time to change that and expand my horizons. Stay tuned for that.
single pie crust recipe
I have a few other recipes up my sleeve that I use this recipe for. I can’t wait to share them with you.
This is such a fun time of year. I so TRULY enjoy making fall recipes.
quick pie crust recipe
Here are some commonly asked questions
Can I use gluten-free flour?
I have not tried it. When swapping out flours in my recipes, I recommend using a brand with a 1:1 ratio (such as this Bob’s Red Mill) so you don’t have to add anything else to the recipe to get the same consistency.
Can I use a sugar substitute?
I have not personally tried it, so I can’t say how that would turn out. But if you would like to try it, I suggest a product that offers a 1:1 swap. Please let me know how it turns out.
Can this pie crust be frozen?
I prefer to freeze my pies once they have been baked. The dough can dry out when frozen and then be thawed and baked later.
How many can this serve?
This recipe makes 1 pie crust. We usually get 6-8 slices out of a standard-size pie. But this will depend on how you slice it.
recipe for pie crust
Can I use shortening instead?
So, my grandmother would do it one of two ways. This recipe with all butter, because the flavor you get with butter is incredible.
But sometimes she wanted that dough to be a little flakier, so she would sub in half of the called for butter with shortening. It does give a slightly flakier crust, so I like to reserve that version for the top layer.
I just don’t like it AS MUCH for the bottom layer because I want it to hold together differently than I would for the top.
Can this recipe be doubled?
You can absolutely double this recipe. If you are making a top crust for your pie, you will want to double this.
Be sure to check out my Easy Sweet Potato Pie recipe you can make with this crust too!
easy pie crust with butter
Why does the butter have to be cold?
So here’s a little tidbit shared by grandma. You want the dough to stay as cold as possible before baking because it is those little cold fat pockets of butter that will melt and create the flakiness you desire.
If your butter is too warm, the fat will result in hard, greasy clumps. Not good for pie, or anything else, really.
What recipes can I make with this crust?
The possibilities are pretty much endless – but here are a few of our favorite pies to make with this crust.
- The Best Pumpkin Pie
- Mini French Apple Pies
- French Apple Pie
- Easy Cherry Pie in the Air Fryer
- Cinnamon Pie Crust Dippers
- 30-Minute Strawberry Pie
easy homemade pie crust
HOW DO YOU MAKE Easy Pie Crust?
- Combine flour, butter, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- Using a pastry cutter, start working the butter into the dry ingredients until it looks like crumbles. (You can also use 2 butter knives & cross them through the ingredients to combine.)
- Once you have reached a crumbly texture add the water.
- Work it together with your hands pressing & lightly kneading it together until you have a moist ball of dough that holds together well.
- Place the dough on a well-floured surface.
- Flour your rolling pin & start working from the center pushing outward in all directions.
- Once you have stretched the dough large enough to fill your pie plate carefully transfer it to your plate.
- Trim any excess dough that hangs over the edge of the pie plate.
- Flute your edges by crimping between your fingers and pinching the dough every ½ inch or so.
- If you are baking this pie & filling it afterward – Poke holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork. Bake at 425 degrees for a conventional/ 400 degrees for convection for approximately 15 minutes.
- Baking time is just for the crust. If you are filling the pie before baking – do not poke holes in the crust.
- Baking times for a filled pie will vary depending on the filling you are baking.
Notes
- *Recipe is for 1 bottom crust. You can easily double this for a top & bottom or continue doubling for the number of pies you are making.
how to make pie crust
What is the best way to store leftover pie crust?
If you are just making the pie crust and not filling it, the best way to store it is to wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it until ready to use.
If you have filled the crust and you need to store the whole pie, I recommend transferring it to an airtight container and then refrigerating it.
What is the easiest way to transfer the crust to the pie pan?
Here’s another tip from grandma. After rolling the dough out, she would loosely fold it in half and then in half again, making a triangle. Then she would place it in the pie plate and then unfold it. This way there is less chance of tearing it when lifting it into the pie plate.
To make Easy Pie Crust you will need…
- all-purpose flour
- cold butter
- granulated sugar
- salt
- ice water
best pie crust recipe
Products I love when making pie crust…
This pie crust recipe is SUPER EASY and delicious – and if you’re like me this time of year, then you maybe already have some of these items on hand.
OR maybe you have never made homemade pie crust before, & you might be a bit nervous – but you’re going to love it. I have made a list below of the things I absolutely can’t live without when it comes to making homemade pie crust.
- mixing bowl
- rolling pin
- pastry cutter
- disposable pie plates
- aluminum pie plate
- ceramic pie plate
- airtight pie container
DON’T MISS THESE HOLIDAY E-BOOKS!
If you love this Easy Pie Crust recipe, you’re going to love these pie filling recipes too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!
pie dough
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Easy Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cold butter (1 stick – cut into cubes)
- ½ tsp granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup ice water
Instructions
- Combine flour, butter, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- Using a pastry cutter, start working the butter into the dry ingredients until it looks like crumbles. (You can also use 2 butter knives & cross them through the ingredients to combine.)
- Once you have reached a crumbly texture add the water.
- Work it together with your hands pressing & lightly kneading it together until you have a moist ball of dough that holds together well.
- Place the dough on a well-floured surface.
- Flour your rolling pin & start working from the center pushing outward in all directions.
- Once you have stretched the dough large enough to fill your pie plate carefully transfer it to your plate.
- Trim any excess dough that hangs over the edge of the pie plate.
- Flute your edges by crimping between your fingers and pinching the dough every ½ inch or so.
- If you are baking this pie & filling it afterward – Poke holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork. Bake at 425 degrees for a conventional/ 400 degrees for convection for approximately 15 minutes.
- Baking time is just for the crust. If you are filling the pie before baking – do not poke holes in crust.
- Baking times for a filled pie will vary depending on the filling you are baking.
Notes
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate. Please double-check with your own dietary calculator for the best accuracy. We at Yummi Haus cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Madonna says
What a nice memory to remember your grands and the recipe is a great recipe.
Madonna
MakeMineLemon
Krista @ Joyful Healthy Eats says
Alright… I’m pinning this to save for later! I NEED to and am convinced that this year.. NO store bought crust. I will be using this recipe and thats that! Can’t wait to try it! Thanks Gina!
Gina Kleinworth says
YAY – no more store bought crust – you will love this Krista!!!
Tamar says
You know, except for pumpkin pie, I am more of a crisp or crumble kind of girl! But this does sound AMAZING!
Gina Kleinworth says
I agree on the crumble & crisps – however I have a house full of pie lovers. Besides – given my grandmothers & their pie legacy – I need to get a few perfected.
kim says
I so need to practice pie crusts. Mine always come up short when I place in the pie plate. I’m terrible at rolling dough. I’ll give this one a whirl!
La Cuisine Helene says
I found you on the Thrifty Thursday linky party and glad I did. I have so many different recipes for dough but the ones with butter are my fav for pies.
Gina Kleinworth says
Oh I agree – the butter adds such great flavor.
Jillian says
Perfect for this time of year as we enter pie season, pinning!
Kelly says
Yay for easy — and yummy! Thanks for partying with me every week. HUGS!
Gina Kleinworth says
Thank you my dear friend- always a pleasure to play at the party each week. Love & hugs.
Kristen says
Do you use salted butter or unsalted butter? Or does it not matter?
Gina Kleinworth says
I usually use unsalted when filling with something not overly sweet like pumpkin pie. But I’ll use salted when adding a very sweet filling such as chocolate cream or strawberry.
Christa says
This seems so easy! You don’t need to chill the dough at all before rolling it out and filling the pie?
Gina Kleinworth says
You can, if you have time before you need to bake the crust you can refrigerate. But, no, it’s not necessary to do that before baking.
Victoria Piech says
Can I use a food processor to make the dough?
Gina Kleinworth says
That should work, but I have not had to to that. This comes together quickly with the pastry blender.
Jeri says
The very very BEST Pie Crust recipe I have ever found! My life long quest to achieve that has finally ended here. It is so simple and so easy….I’m really happy to have found it. I used Kerry Gold unsalted butter for the 1st time ever and I dont think I’ll ever use anything else. Thank you Gina! Can’t wait to check out more recipes here.
Mary says
This was a super simple crust added a wee bit more ice water as it needed it for me. Should’ve made 2 but rolled it a little bigger for my pie so I had some for top! Will practice this one for sure and add to my crust recipes. Thanks
Jen says
Nice and flakey, and delicious! We used extra dough (from making pumpkin pies) to make jelly-filled pastries, like Pop-Tarts. So yummy! Thanks!
M Kooi says
Loved it
Cas says
Used this recipe recipe bobs red mill gluten free, and to date it is the single best pie crust/pastry dough recipe I have ever worked with OR eaten. Making the dough was super easy, and the result was a perfectly buttery-flaky pie crust I’ve ever encountered with gluten free baking (aka: all of my baking for the last 10 years. Most pie-crusts I’ve made come out either textural nice but gross, or delicious with a texture of cardboard. This one was *perfect*). I enjoyed this crust so much I forwent the other crust I was going to make (graham), and just doubled up on this one. I’m extremely thankful for this recipe, and will definitely be using it again.
Thank you so much!!!
Gloria says
This is a great pie crust. Seems like most recipes always have to be refrigerated before you roll it out. This one was ready to roll right after kneading it. The only thing was that it shrunk about 1/2 inch from the edge of my pie dish. I guess I should have draped it a little more over the edge. I baked it first because it was for a chocolate cream pie. It was still very good. Thanks for the recipe.
Wanda says
First time using butter. This crust is awesome.
Cookie says
I love this recipe! I put everything in the food processor until it just comes together then form it into a disk on some plastic wrap. I also add orange zest and a little more sugar to compliment my pumpkin pie. Super duper easy. Mahalo for a great recipe 🤙🤙
Cheryl says
Can the dough be made ahead and left in fridge til needed?
Gina Kleinworth says
I think that would work just fine. I have never tried it. But if you leave it in a ball and refrigerate until you are ready to roll it out – that would work. Make sure to wrap tightly with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.
Shane says
I’m looking to make homemade empanadas for the holiday. Is this a good recipe for the crust? Also, if you had to guess how much pie crust would I need? 2 pies worth or three? I’m planning to cute 6’disc for each. Any help would be great!
Gina Kleinworth says
Hmmm- never used it for that, so I can’t say for sure. It’s light and flaky, so if that is what you are looking for – this could work. As far as 6″ disks – each batch is enough for one 9″ pie, so I would think you could get maybe 3-4 rounds per crusts if I’m visualizing it right.
Tasha says
Do you add the ice and the water ? Or just the water?
Gina Kleinworth says
I usually measure out my water – add a single ice cube. It will be about 3/4 melted by the time I get to that point of adding it – so I just pour it in with the water. I wouldn’t add a bunch of ice to the measuring cup and then add it with the ice. If you have a good amount of ice remaining, I’d just use the cold water.
Laura Roberts says
verry yummy!!!
Ann says
Seemed pretty simple enough but my crust feel down the sides after a few minutes, so I had no sides for my pie. No sure what I did wrong
Gina Kleinworth says
Sorry to hear that. I have never had that happen before and I have made this recipe hundreds of times over the last 20 years. It sounds like maybe the dough wasn’t rolled out large enough or was stretched to fit – so then it shrank when baked. It will tighten a little when baking as crusts typically do. But it should have plenty of overhang to account for that. When rolling it out, there should be more than enough to fill the pie plate -making it much larger than the dish. Did you roll it out just large enough to fill the dish?