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Easy All-Butter Pie Crust

November 9, 2023

Flaky and flavorful and unbelievably easy—thanks, food processor!—this completely foolproof pie crust recipe is one for the ages.

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unbaked homemade Easy all-butter pie crust pressed in a pie pan on the counter

Leave All Those Pie Crust Fails in the Rearview Mirror! Our All Butter Homemade Pie Crust Recipe Will Make It All Better.

If you’ve tried and failed to make pie crust in the past, know that we understand where you’re coming from. We think that everyone who has ever made a pie has had a bad experience with a failed pie crust attempt. But it’s time for success! And we are so very serious when we tell you that this recipe is a no-fail pie crust recipe. It’s foolproof. The food processor does most of the work and all you have to do is a bit of counting and temperature control. Your butter MUST be cold. Your ice water must be icy. You must count the number of times you pulse your food processor. But if you follow the recipe, you will end up with a beautiful, flaky, tender pie crust that’s richly flavored—butter wins over shortening every time in the flavor department—and sure to win you all the raves. This easy all-butter pie crust recipe makes two 14-inch rounds of rolled out pie dough, or enough for one double-crust pie or two single-crust pies, quiches or tarts. If you only need one round, go ahead and make the whole recipe! You can freeze the extra crust for up to three months to use later. Give yourself a little pie crust making pep talk and let’s get mixing!

flour, butter, salt and ice water in bowls on the counter to make easy all-butter pie crust

Yes, A 3-Ingredient Pie Crust.

Because three ingredients are truly all you need to make a perfect pie crust. We’re assuming you’ve got water, but if you really want to nitpick, ice water makes for a fourth ingredient. We also think this buttery pie crust makes a terrific crust for both sweet and savory pies, but if you’re making, say, an apple pie and want to sweeten things up, you can add a tablespoon of sugar to this pie crust recipe. Without further ado, here are the three ingredients you’ll need to make homemade pie crust:

  • Flour. Regular old all-purpose flour.

  • Butter. Unsalted. Cold as can be, fresh from the fridge. In fact, after you dice the butter, if it seems to have warmed a bit, you can pop it back in the fridge or freezer to rechill before you start making the pie crust.

  • Fine Sea salt or regular old table salt will do.

flour, butter and salt in a food processor
flour, butter and salt pulsed in a food processor
flour, butter, salt and cold water mixed together in a food processor
homemade easy all-butter pie crust dough in a ball on the counter

How To Make Perfect Homemade Pie Crust, Every Time.

Pie crust doesn’t need to feel hard. With your trusty food processor and a little understanding of what trip points you may encounter, you can definitely nail this recipe! Here are our three biggest tips and tricks for making the best pie crust:

  • Keep everything cold. When in doubt—or when it’s hot out—chill everything again. When we say cold butter, we mean COLD!. If it warms up when you cut it, put it back in the fridge. If it’s been in your grocery bag for a while and it’s warm outside, put it in the fridge for a while. Some people chill their flour, too. You don’t have to, but it doesn’t hurt.

  • Don’t overmix your pie dough. This is absolutely essential to keep in mind for a pie crust recipe that uses a food processor because, while the food processor is faster and better at keeping everything cold than using your hands, it’s also more likely to land you in the realm of people who have overmixed their pie dough. Just pay close attention, and—if you must err!—err on the side of undermixing.

  • Butter! All-butter pie crusts have won our hearts because butter is more flavorful than shortening. They just taste better, and that’s always a win. We call for unsalted butter because that allows you to control the saltiness of the final product.

homemade easy all-butter pie crust rolled out on the counter next to a rolling pin
homemade easy all-butter pie crust rolled out and placed in a pie pan

Tools You’ll Need:

Recipes To Make With Your Super Great Homemade Pie Crust!

homemade easy all-butter pie crust in a pie pan next to a rolling pin
homemade easy all-butter pie crust in a pie pan

Homemade Pie Crust Perfection: Achieved!

How good does it feel to have mastered homemade pie crust? SO SO good. We know. And no one has to know how easy it is to make. Just let them wonder at your mad culinary skills! When you whip up this beautiful pie crust, we want to see what you fill it with and how much you love it. Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!

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Easy All-Butter Pie Crust

  • Serves:  8
  • Prep Time:  1 hr 15 min
  • Calories:  390

Ingredients

  • 3 cups All-purpose flour
  • 18 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into a ½-inch dice
  • 1 tsp Sea salt or table salt
  • 10 Tbsp Ice water

Method

*Makes 2 pie crust

  1. Prepare the crust: Place the flour and ½ teaspoon salt into a food processor fitted with a blade. Pulse 3-4 times to combine.

  2. Add the cold butter. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas.

  3. Pour the ice water (without the ice) down the feed tube. Pulse 4-5 times to combine. If the dough hasn't completely come together yet, that's OK. Dump it out onto a floured surface and finish bringing the pie dough together with your hands. Form the dough into 2 evenly sized balls, flatten each slightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour before rolling out.

  4. When you are ready to use the pie crust, work with one round of dough at a time. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough round out on a lightly floured surface into a 14-inch circle, with a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Carefully transfer it to your pie plate or tart pan and trim the edges as-needed. Place in the fridge to chill until ready to use.

Note: pie dough can be frozen for up to three months. Simply store it wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. When you’re ready to use it, thaw it in the fridge overnight and then roll it out as stated in the recipe.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 390
  • Protein 5 g
  • Carbohydrates 33 g
  • Total Fat 26 g
  • Dietary Fiber 2 g
  • Cholesterol 68 mg
  • sodium 296 mg
  • Total Sugars 0 g

Easy All-Butter Pie Crust

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • Jennylou

    Could I use salted butter instead of unsalted?

    If you do we'd recommend cutting the salt in half.

  • Camille

    I only have (2) 9 inch glass pie pans can I use those? If so how should I modify?

    9 inch will work great!

  • Jocelyn

    I don’t have a big food processor. Can I use my mixer instead?

    I would not use a mixer, but you can always do it by hand, the old fashioned way. : )

  • Kt

    Maybe this is a silly question, but do I need to prebake the crust? Making a pumpkin pie and want to make sure I don't burn anything.

    nope!

  • Jamie

    Are you using both balls of dough for the crust or just one?

    It depends what you are making if you are making a pie that needs and bottom and top crust then yes, use both balls of dough. Hope you enjoy Jamie!

  • Cristina

    This is my go-to pie crust for all quiche recipes and it is perfect every time!

    That's so great to hear, thank you Cristina!

  • Joleen

    I never knew an all butter pie crust could be as flaky as this one turned out to be! I am so HAPPY to have this recipe in my collection now. It is a reliably good and simple recipe. Thank you!

    Thanks Joleen, so happy you loved it!

  • jenn

    I used this crust for my pumpkin pie this thanksgiving and it was so flaky and perfect!! Thank you!

    Thank Jenn, glad you liked it!