Servings large pie crust

Prep 15

Cook 15

An easy buttery flaky pie crust recipe that, go figure, uses butter to make the pie crust. The butter ensures a flaky pie crust with amazing flavor! Yes, trust me, this homemade flaky pie crust is easy to make and everyone will love it. Let the food processor do all the work and you will have the most amazing buttery pie crust. Everyone will love your pie and want the pie crust recipe!

An overhead shot of a butter based flaky pie crust with crimped edges. Ready to either bake or fill with a tasty filling.

Last week, I shared a family favorite Old Fashioned Coconut Custard Pie.

It got me thinking, why have I not shared with you all the easiest pie crust recipe ever! This is my favorite buttery flaky pie crust that assembles super fast. The key is using your food processor to make this pie crust. You will be the pie crust, Queen or King!

old fashioned coconut custard pie with homemade pastry shell and custard filling/. Ready to bake in a flaky butter pie crust

Tips To Make a Flaky Pie Crust:

Why use butter and not lard or shortening to make a flaky pie crust recipe?

It is a personal choice, so here is why I love butter in my pie crust. I find butter adds amazing flavor and the crust is light. It is not only hard to find but also full of fat. So I won't use it. Shortening is also 100 percent fat so I don't want to use it, too unhealthy.

Can homemade butter pie crust from scratch be frozen?

Absolutely. Especially during the Holidays. I make a few of these pie crusts and freeze them until I am ready to make the pies. It saves so much time. The dough should be wrapped well and kept in a freezer safe bag. These butter pie crusts can be kept for about 3 months in the freezer.

What to do with a flaky pie crust that gets soft when rolling or the dough breaks?

As you make more pie crusts, experience brings quickness. So trust me, practice makes it easy. At the beginning of learning how to make pie crusts, the dough can get soft and break if you are working with it for a long period of time. If that happens, roll the dough back into a disk, stick the dough in the freezer for about 10 minutes. The dough will be easy to work with again.

Can you use salted butter to make this buttery flaky pie crust recipe?

Sure, if you do not have unsalted butter, use salted butter. Just leave out the salt when making the pie crust.

How do I get my butter pie dough in a circular shape?

Once you are ready to roll out the dough, place the dough sphere in the center of the work surface and lightly flour the surface and begin to roll the dough from the area closest to you and roll across to the opposite side of the dough. Continue to rotate the dough about 20 degrees and continue to roll and flour the surface until the dough is the size you desire.

When baking a pie crust without filling do I need to use pie weights?

Pie Weights can be purchased through Amazon or baking supply shops. The weights keep the pie from rising while it is baking. This can happen when the crust is baked without filling. You can use uncooked beans, popcorn kernels, or rice in the middle of the pie crust while it is baking. Remove whatever you have in the middle of pie crust once the pie is baked.

How to make an easy Flaky Pie Crust:

In a food processor, combine all-purpose flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Pulse the food processor about 3 times to mix the dry ingredients.

an aerial view of food processor with the all-purpose flour, salt. sugar. and baking soda that has been pulsed to blend the dry ingredients to make a homemade pie crust from scratch

Add in the cut-up unsalted butter pieces.

an overhead view of food processor with the dry ingredients for a flaky pie crust recipe and butter.

Pulse the dough around 12-15 times. The butter pieces should be incorporated into the dough.

an aerial view of food processor with dry ingredients pulsed with butter to begin to form a homemade flaky butter pie crust

Add in the egg to the pie dough mixture.

An aerial view of the makings of a buttery flaky pie crust. The ingredients of the butter pie crust and egg are ready to be pulsed to make a buttery flaky pie crust

Pulse until the dough forms a ball about 8-10 times.

A food processor with the all butter pie dough that has formed a dough in the steps to How to Make a Homemade Flaky PIe Dough

Remove the dough from the food processor. Place on a work surface that is sprinkled with flour.

An overhead view of a homemade butter dough recipe that is shaped in a round disk and the dough will rest in the refrigerator.

The butter pie dough should be refrigerated for an hour if you will be using it that day. After an hour, remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on the floured work surface. Roll out the dough as instructed above with the directions on how to get your dough in the shape of a circle.

An aerial view of a homemade pie crust from scratch that is an all butter crust that has been rolled out on a floured pie sheet form.

Roll the pie dough into the size you prefer. I use a pie mat that shows the diameter of various size pies. I also place the pie plate on top of the dough to ensure I will have enough dough to make a nice design with the edges of the dough.

An arial view of a buttery flaky pie crust that has been rolled out and a clear pie pan is on top of the flaky pie crust to ensure the pie dough is larger than the pie pan.

To place the dough in the pie pan, roll the dough onto the roller about half way and place into the pie pan.

An aerial view of an all butter pie crust that has been rolled out and is rolled onto a rolling pin. The flaky pie dough with then be rolled out into a pie pan.

Roll the dough out into the pie pan.

An aerial view of an all butter pie crust on a roller being rolled out into a clear pie pan.

For a one-crust butter pie crust, crimp the edges of the dough by using your fingers to pinch the edges and proceed with your recipe.

An aerial view of a buttery flaky pie crust with crimped edges ready to be either baked or filled with a filling.

This buttery flaky pie crust I used to make Old Fashioned Coconut Custard Pie.

Some other dessert favorites you make enjoy:

Poached Pears in White Wine

Chocolate Coconut Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

How to make a Perfect Irish Coffee

When you make this delicious flaky pie crust, take a pic and tag me on Instagram @everyday_eileen or #everydayeileen

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An aerial view of a buttery pie crust recipe in a clear pie pan with fluted edges that is not yet baked

Buttery Flaky Pie Crust

Make a homemade pie crust from scratch is easier than you think. The full tutorial to make the flakiest buttery pie crust. Perfect for all your pies. Make them ahead for the Holidays and freeze until ready to bake your pies.

5 from 10 votes

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Course: Baking

Cuisine: Baking

Keyword: Holiday Baking

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 15

refrigerate: 1

Total Time: 30

Servings: large pie crust

Calories: 209kcal

Author: Eileen Murphy Kelly

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

Equipment Needed:

Ingredients

Single Buttery Flaky Pie Crust

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt Note 2
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter Note 2
1 large egg
4 Tablespoons cold water
all-purpose flour for rolling out the dough

Double Buttery Flaky Pie Crust

2½ cups bleached white flour
4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoons salt Note 2
¼ teaspoon baking soda
8 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter Note 2
2 large eggs

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Single Pie Crust

Into a food processor with S-blade, add 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon baking soda . Pulse 3 times to combine the dry ingredients.
Add 4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter to the dry ingredients in the food processor. Pulse 15 times, the flour combination should resemble sand.
Add 1 large egg to the food processor and pulse 5 times.
Add up to 4 Tablespoons cold water to the pie crust mix. Pulse about 8 -10 times. The mix will form into a ball.
Remove the dough from the food processor and place on a floured work surface. Form the dough into a disk and place in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. At this point, the dough can be wrapped well in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer bag and frozen until ready to use.
Remove dough from the refrigerator and place on a floured work surface.
Once you are ready to roll out the dough, place the dough sphere in the center of the work surface. Lightly flour the surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough from the area closest to you. Roll across to the opposite side of the dough. Continue rotating the dough about 20 degrees, and roll the pie crust until it's the size you desire.
Place the pie plate on top of the dough to ensure you have enough dough to make a nice design with the edges of the dough.
To place the dough in the pie pan, roll the dough onto the roller about half way and place into the pie pan.
Roll the dough out into the pie pan. For a one-crust pastry dough, crimp the edges of the dough by using your fingers to pinch the edges.
At this point, if using a single pie crust, follow the directions for your pie. If pre-baking the pie crust, use a pie weight to keep the crust down. (Note 1) Otherwise, use the pie recipe to bake the pie and crust together.

Double Pie Crust

Baking a double pie crust, follow steps 1-5 using measurements from double pie crust ingredients. Divide the dough in half before placing in the refrigerator. Use a food scale to weigh and divide dough. Follow the recipe instructions to make your pie with this pie crust.

NOTES

Note 1: If you do not have a pie weight and need to pre-bake the pie crust, use dried beans. Place the beans on the unbaked pie crust before placing in the oven to bake.

Note 2: If you use salted butter, omit salt for the Buttery Flaky Pie Crust, for the double pie crust, use ¼ teaspoon salt.