Learn how to make a pie crust just like the pros do … an all-butter pie crust. Making pie dough using butter is a classic French method that will return a beautifully flaky crust to make your best pies ever.
Making homemade pie crusts are easier than you think. Rewarding, flakier and tastier and far superior to store purchased.
A skill that every home cook should learn. Here’s the classic French method, Pate Brisee (prounced pat bre-say) for how to make a perfect pie crust using butter. This method will also make an all butter tart shell. It’s as traditional as it gets.
It reflects my respect for traditional methods and it’s something every home cook should learn to make. And the fun part? It’s easy.
Making an all butter pie crust was just one of the big take aways from my time spent at Culinary School. And learning a new skill of making a pie crust recipe without shortening, was important to me because the shortening method was the only way I knew.
And it’s versatile. You can make impressive pies and tarts to your heart’s content.
Essential Steps That Must Not Be Ignored
- Cold ingredients (butter and water must be cold)
- Use a bench knife or sharp chef knife to cut the butter into chunks, then return to the refrigerator before proceeding
- Measure flour using a kitchen scale
- Add an acid (white vinegar) to keep crust from discoloring
- Don’t over mix (you want small chunks of butter to remain in final product)
- Rest (let dough rest in refrigerator at least 30 minutes)
- Not too much water, you want dough to be just slightly sticky enough to be able to roll into a ball.
- Low protein flour (All purpose flour)
Step By Step to Making A Homemade All Butter Pie Crust
This recipe will make two 9″ tart or pie pan crusts.
- Step 1: Cold Butter: Make sure the butter is cold and cut into cubes. Once I cut it into cubes, I return it to the refrigerator while gathering the rest of the ingredients.
- Step 2: Add flour and salt to that cold butter and start to work the dough.
- Step 3: Cut In The Butter: Using the sheeting method, blend the flour and the butter with your hands without over working. The sheeting method is simply combing the butter and flour using your thumbs and index fingers in a slicing (sheeting) motion.
- Add in the cold water and blend with your hands, and shaping into a shaggy looking ball.
- The dough should feel slightly sticky. Add a little more water if necessary for the dough to come together in this rustic ball. The photo above is illustrating how the dough will look have way through the sheeting process.
Step 4: Let it rest: Cover in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Step 5: Ready to roll: This ball of dough made from this recipe makes two all butter pie crusts. Use a bench knife to cut it evenly into to sections.
How To Dock A Pie Crust
- Pricking holes in a prepared pie crust allows the steam to escape while it’s baking. If you don’t dock a pie crust before baking, the steam will puff up in big bubbles and pockets in the crust while its baking.
- That means some parts will cook faster than others and also the crust will come out uneven.
- If you’re blind baking a crust for a filling that doesn’t need cooking, this is an important step to make sure you have an even surface for that custard.
- Docking a pie crust is simple, just place the pie crust in the pie pan and form it to the pan. Then take a fork and stab the pie crust all over, even on the sides.
How To Blind Bake A Pie Crust
What does “blind bake” mean? Blind baking a pie crust means to bake it before adding the filling. This is used for fillings that don’t require cooking time. Like this no-bake Key Lime Pie.
- Once the crust has been placed and formed into it’s pie pan or tart pan, and docked, refrigerate for about 30 minutes to make sure it’s cold. A longer refrigeration is even better and over-night is good. Or freeze for about 10 minutes.
- To insure the crust bakes evenly and doesn’t bubble, place a piece of parchment paper over the unbaked crust. Then fill the parchment covered crust with pinto beans or pie weights. I keep a storage container in my pantry with these beans labeled “pie crust beans” and use them over and over.
- Level out the beans with your hand and bake at 375 degrees for 15 – 16 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and cook for 15 more minutes. Let the crust cool completely before adding filling.
Pie Pans vs. Tart Pans?
- What’s the difference between and pie pan and a tart pan? The main difference is the shape and depth of the sides.
- A tart pan has straight sides with a wavy design. I prefer the end result look of tart.
- They turn out neat, more “professional” looking than pies.
- Most tart pans are made of metal, and have a removable bottom, allowing you to slip off the outer ring without damaging the beautiful crust.
Tips For Success
- Don’t skip the resting process: Letting the dough rest in the refrigerator makes it easier to roll out. If the dough is too warm, it will stick to your rolling pan, forcing you to use more flour, which will make the dough tougher in the long run.
- When rolling the dough out, place a little flour on your working surface and the rolling pin. Rotate the dough as you roll. And make sure when rolling that dough to even thickness. An even and consistent thickness makes for a professional looking end product.
Make Ahead
- Instructions are to let the pie crust rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. You can leave the pie crust ball in the refrigerator up to a day in advance. So make ahead is perfectly ok.
- If you’re only making one pie, you can divide the crust and freeze the remaining dough for up to three months. Just wrap well in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer safe zip-lock bag.
Recipe for All Butter Pie Crust or Tart Shell
I grew up in a household where my mom used Crisco for her pie crusts. She turned out some fabulous pies with that method, but I’m glad to have this pie crust recipe without shortening for an alternative method.
I hope you give this all butter pie crust recipe a try. And if you’re looking for tart crust recipes, I hope you start with this one.
Want to put that pie crust to work? Take a look at these recipes using this All Butter Pie Crust:
- Strawberry Tart with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling
- Fresh Cherry Pie
- Caramelized Onion Tart with Gruyere
- Fresh Peach and Blueberry Pie
And if you’re a dessert fan, you won’t want to miss my Dessert Category You’ll find lots of ideas for that sweet tooth. Including the most popular dessert recipe on my site, Cherry Delight, an old fashioned cream cheese dessert.
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All Butter Pie Crust, Pate Brisee
Ingredients
- 4 ½ ounces Cold water Approximately just over ½ cup. Add more if dough needs it
- ½ ounce White vinegar 3 teaspoons
- 12 ounces All Purpose Flour 1 ½ cups
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 8 ounces Butter Cold and cut into ½ inch cubes
Instructions
- Combine the water and vinegar and place it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Put the flour, salt and cubed butter in a large bowl.
- Mix with fingers using the sheeting method, until butter is broken into smaller pieces and still visible. How to use sheeting method: Begin sheeting the butter by pressing the cubes of butter between thumb and forefinger in a "snapping" motion, giving you long sheets of butter. You want these long sheets present in the final product.
- Add cold water mixture a little at a time, gently mixing until dough comes together. Knead a few times for mixture to come together. Keeping adding a additional cold water, a little at a time so the dough will form into a sticky ball.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to rest for 30 minutes.
- After the dough has rested, divide dough roll into two equal parts. Lightly flour a surface and with a rolling pin, roll the dough to ⅛″ thickness.
- Place dough in pie pan or tart shell and trim edges. Dock the dough using a fork. Add filling and bake according to recipe directions.
- If You Need to Blind Bake: If using a delicate pastry cream or custard type filling you will want to blind bake the crust. Once the dough is in the desired shell. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Dock the dough. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover the shell with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or rice. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and continuing baking until crust is just turning golden.
Notes
- To keep the water as cold as possible, I use water from the refrigerator water dispenser. Then I place it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- I also keep cubed butter in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- At my age, my hands aren’t as strong as they used to be, so I start the butter/flour sheeting process using a pastry cutter. Just a few mixes will start the process of combing the butter and flour, then I proceed using my hands.
- Don’t skip the resting process: Letting the dough rest in the refrigerator makes it easier to roll out. If the dough is too warm, it will stick to your rolling pan, forcing you to use more flour, which will make the dough tougher in the long run.
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Nutrition
All Butter Pie Crust … It’s Whats For a Perfectly Flaky Pie
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and believe that everyone should try to cook as often as they can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
Delicious! I was really unsure about a homemade crust but just couldn’t buy another frozen pie crust. I followed the recipe exactly as written and it worked perfectly! YUMM
Made this weekend. We weighed the flour and found that 12 ounces was closer to 2 .5 cups. I’ll definitely use this again!
Fabulous! So thrilled that you liked the recipe. It’s the only pie crust recipe I use now.
Hi Morgan, thanks so much for the note, glad you liked the recipe.
I’m about to start making this pie crust and I wanted to see if it’s okay to divide the recipe in half because I only want to make one pie…????
Thanks and I really like your blog so far and the way you describe things…reminds me of Julia Child…she is so persnickety about how she does things…haha
Hi Dionna. Yes you can half the pie crust recipe. Even though I’m usually making only 1 pie, I usually make the full recipe. The dough for the 2nd pie will freeze well.
Lee Ann:
Oh boy….It took me over a week to work up the courage to make this pie/tart crust and I think I messed it up somehow…I probably should have stuck to the recipe as written… Because of the shortage of essentials at the grocery store due to the Budweiservirus; I decided to divide the recipe in half… I just finished making the dough ball and it was a wet mess so I added a pretty good amount of flour just to get it off my fingers and sides of the bowl…I’m only sharing it with my SOB (Significant Other Boyfriend) so I went ahead and used my hands to mix it like the recipe said…I tried my best not to overwork it…I’m waiting the suggested 30 minutes right now and I need all the luck I can get it all the tips you can flip…Do you think it will be okay?
Hi Dionna. I sure hope that recipe turned out ok. Let me know. I usually just make the whole recipe, even though I’m only using one crust. The other half freezes well for later.
So excited to try this. Thank you!