Making my pie dough recipe is quick and easy. You won’t need any advanced baking skills to make our easy pie dough recipe. It’s super flakey and tastes so much better than any store-bought ready-made pie crust. My pie dough recipe is almost like a puff pastry it is so flakey!
Take the challenge and try my pie crust because this is a no-fail foolproof recipe! This versatile blind-bake pie crust can be used for both sweet and savory applications.
PIE DOUGH RECIPE
A typical pie dough recipe fails as often as it works because every step has to be executed perfectly. This easy pie dough is literally fail-proof. If you follow our step-by-step instructions you will get a fantastic pie crust.
You don’t have to be scared of rolling out pie dough! Use our tried and true method of mixing and chilling the dough and it will roll out like a breeze.
A flaky crust is the definition of a good pie crust, and ours is flaky perfection every single time.
HOW TO MAKE PIE CRUST
Pie crust can be a nightmare, but let’s just change that right now. Follow these simple steps to make amazing pie dough.
Ingredients for the Easy Pie Dough Recipe
- Unsalted Butter. Frozen and the grated using a regular large size grater.
- All-Purpose Flour.
- Sugar.
- Salt.
- Icy Cold Water. Drop a couple ice cubes in a cup of water to get it nice and cold.
Variations for the Sweet or Savory Pie Crust
The amount of salt and sugar may vary according to your recipe, the basic guideline is:
- For a sweet pie dough: use 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- For a savory pie dough: use 1 teaspoon of sugar and up to 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Flavor this dough with any of the following ingredients for different flavors
- nuts
- orange zest
- emon zest
- vanilla extract
- cinnamon
- any sweet flavorings
- spices such as garlic, chili powder, or taco seasoning.
- fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary or basil.
- cheeses
This recipe is really easy because it takes the most daunting and unpredictable aspect of pie dough and simplifies it. The butter is frozen and then grated by hand in a regular grater so that it doesn’t have to be rubbed or cut into the flour. By adding the grated butter into the flour mixture, you eliminate the risk of overworking the dough or overheating the butter. These are the most common mistakes people and both result in tough pie dough.
Once the butter is grated and added into the flour mixture, next gently coat that butter in the flour using a fork. This takes just a few seconds. Finally, cold water is added into this mixture and with the same fork, it comes together into a shaggy mess of dough that you clump and gather with your hands into a rough ball.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and gently press it down into a disc with the palm of your hands. Chill the pie dough for at least half an hour before you roll, cut, and bake it into gorgeous flakey layers of pie crust that only took a few minutes to prepare!
TIPS FOR THE BEST PIE DOUGH
Double, triple, or quadruple this recipe if needed. Wrap each batch separately if you’re making extra batches in advance for freezing, that way it’s easier to defrost, roll and use in endless ways!
Try this recipe If you’ve ever been frustrated because you can’t figure out how to roll pie crust. It rolls so easily when you roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface or between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
The main secret to flakey pie dough is freezing and grating the butter while working it into the flour using just a fork.
Use ice-cold water. To do this, place water in a small dish with ice cubes and then measure the water out of the bowl into the pie crust.
The pie crust is ready when you can clump it together in your hands.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, form it into a disc, and chill it in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes before you try to roll it out. This makes it easier to roll the dough without it sticking to the dough roller or floured surface.
Rotate the dough as you roll it out to get a perfectly formed circular pie crust.
Notice the flakes of butter scattered throughout your rolled pie crust? That’s going to result in a super flakey pie dough everyone loves!
HOW TO USE PIE CRUST
Use chilled pie crust to make hand pies, sweet pies such as pumpkin pie, pecan pie or fruit pies, savory pies such as chicken pot pie, or quiche. You can use this easy pie crust as the base of a thousand different pie variations.
HOW TO STORE PIE CRUST
Chill our easy pie dough for up to one week in the refrigerator in an airtight container. If you are making it ahead, you can keep it for up to three months in the freezer. If you ever peek into my freezer—that’s one item you will find for sure! I take it out, defrost it on the counter and roll it out while it’s still cold.
RECIPES TO MAKE USING PIE DOUGH
Easy Whole Apricot or Peach Pie
Lollipop Savory Hand Pies With Strawberries
Easy Flakey Pie Dough
This easy flakey pie dough recipe is all it claims to be! It is super flakey almost like puff pastry, super easy and doesn’t need any advanced baking skills, very versatile so it can be used both sweet or savoury, and most importantly, this easy flakey pie dough taste so much better than anything you buy ready made! Take the challenge because this is a no fail fool proof recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 stick of unsalted butter , frozen and the grated using a regular large size grater.
- 1 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of sugar ** see note
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt **see note
- 2 – 4 tablespoons of icy cold water
- Flavors** see note
Instructions
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In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and sugar and any flavors you like.
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Add the frozen grated butter onto the flour and use a fork to gently coat the butter into the flour mixture.
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Add 2 Tablespoons of the cold water and use the same fork to gently mix it into the flour-butter mixture. Touch the dough and try to clump it together. If you feel it is dry and doesn’t hold together, add water 1 Tablespoon at a time and mix gently after each addition until the dough clumps together—but it should not feel dry and fall apart, nor should it be sticky or wet, it should just hold together.
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Clump the dough into a circle and wrap it in plastic wrap.
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With the palm of your hands, press down on the plastic wrap until the dough forms a disc.
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Chill the dough for 30 minutes minimum or flash freeze it for 15 minutes.
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Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface or between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
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Cut or use the dough as per your recipe.
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Bake at a 400 degrees (no less) to ensure flakiness.
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**The amount of salt and sugar may vary according to your recipe, the basic guideline is:
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For a sweet pie dough: use 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of salt
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For a savory pie dough: use 1 teaspoon of sugar and up to 1/2 teaspoon of salt
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** Flavor this dough with nuts, orange or lemon zests, vanilla extract, cinnamon or any sweet flavorings you like. Or use: nuts, spices, herbs, or cheeses for a savoury version.
Hi Rena! The stick of butter is exactly half of the 250 gram block you have in Germany, so it’s 125 grams only. I hope you make it soon, it’s really super easy, super flakey and super yummy! P.S–I lived in Europe for most of my life and I know your butter is the best! So try it with this dough and enjoy 🙂