The first time I made my own pie crust I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. Fresh out of college, I looked up a recipe in my trusty Pillsbury Cookbook and made it. The following day at work, I mentioned that I’d made a pie with a homemade crust, and one of the older ladies said, “Oh, pie crusts are SO hard to make.”

“They are?” I said, honestly surprised. Later, the more I thought about it, the more I was glad no one had said that to me before I’d tried making one. If I’d known they were difficult to make, I might never have tried. Or I might have been too critical of how it turned out (I don’t remember how it turned out, but it was good enough that I kept making my own, so there’s that).

So, I’m going to tell you that pie crusts are NOT difficult to make. In fact, they’re ridiculously easy. The trick is to make sure the dough isn’t too sticky (if it is, mix in some more flour until it isn’t) and use plenty of flour when you roll them out so they don’t stick to your counter.

I have basically one kind of pie crust I make—this recipe. Oh, sure, every once in great while I may make a sweet crust out of graham crackers or vanilla wafers, but that’s *maybe* once a year. This crust right here is my go-to. It’s perfect, it’s easy to make, easy to work with, and it honestly never fails me.

Never.

I have come to relish the flavor of it, too. It’s made with BUTTER. *suh-WOON* Other crusts pale in comparison. The only time I use shortening (the non-hyrdogenated kind) is when I’m making a dairy-free or vegan pie. And that crust never comes out quite as tasty as this one. (I’ll share that recipe another time, promise.)

This recipe hails from the Pie and Pastry Bible* by Ruth Levy Beranbaum, one of my favorite cookbooks and one I highly recommend if you’re in the market for a great pastry cookbook. Not only are there hundreds of pie and pastry recipes, there are sixteen different crust recipes! SIXTEEN. I haven’t tried them all—I’ve made maybe three or four of them—because this one stole my heart from the start. Why look elsewhere when I’ve already go the perfect recipe?

In the book, Beranbaum recommends starting the crust in the food processor and then transfering it to a plastic bag to knead it until it forms a ball, then refrigerate it for at least 45 minutes, but preferably overnight.

I don’t do that.

I mean, I’m ALL about the streamlining and I don’t like to waste plastic bags or make more work for myself. So, I just do the whole thing in the food processor, then roll it out right away, put it in the pie plate, and slide it right into the oven as soon as it’s filled.

If I really care about the crust or am doing something decorative (like this Stars and Stripes pie I made for the 4th of July a couple of years ago—you have to see the before and the after pics because it was SO cool, and I PROMISE I’ll post this recipe this year) then I might refrigerate it for 30 minutes after I’ve formed it in the pie plate so it doesn’t lose its shape.

The other thing I do to try to minimize waste is roll out the dough in a circle as much as I can so there are no scraps to cut off. IF you DO cut off scraps, please for the love of all things flaky and delicious, do NOT throw them out! Instead, spread a thin layer of butter on each piece, then sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar. Bake on a cookie sheet in the preheated oven for 15-ish minutes, until they are crispy and starting to brown at the edges. Let them cool, then marvel at the deliciousness that is pie crust cookies. (Seriously, they are so good you’ll want to eat them all. And I totally think you should. I mean, who’s going to know?)

Because I love you (and since I mostly bake deep dish pies because if you can have a mile-high pie of fruity goodness WHY WOULDN’T YOU?) I’m including both the regular 9-inch pie shell recipe AND the 9 or 10-inch deep dish recipe.

You’re welcome. Now go get your pie on.

Everyday Flaky Pie Crust

A perfectly flaky, buttery pie crust for your everyday pie needs. (Because doesn't everyone have pie needs every day?)

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Servings: 1 9-inch pie shell

Ingredients

Volume - Weight

• 8 tablespoons butter, cold
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (dip and sweep method)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 tablespoons ice water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Instructions

• Place dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor. Cut up butter into slices and add to dry ingredients. Run food processor for 10-20 seconds until the butter is finely incorporated.
  
• Add ice water and vinegar, then run food processor until the dough comes together to form a ball. Dough should be smooth and only barely sticky. If it's crumbly, add a little more ice water (1/2-1 tablespoon at a time). If it's too sticky, add a little more flour (1-2 tablespoons at a time). Remove dough from processor.
  
• On a clean counter, sprinkle a generous amount of flour. Sprinkle a little flour on ball of dough and form it into a flat disk. Cover top of disk with flour and start to roll out dough, rolling it in all directions to maintain the circular shape as much as you can. Once your circle is about 9-10 inches in diameter, lift it off the counter, redistribute the flour underneath it (to keep it from sticking) and place it back down again. Sprinkle more flour on top as needed, and keep rolling until your circle is about 2 inches larger than your pie plate all around.
  
• Gently fold dough in half, then in half again. Place the quarter size dough in your pie plate and gently unfold the dough to cover one half, then the whole dish. Let it relax down into the plate, then form the crust to your liking. Turn any pie crust scraps into pie crust cookies (spread with butter, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top, then bake at whatever temperature you're baking your pie, for about 15 minutes or until the edges just start to lightly brown.)
• Bake your pie following the recipe's directions.
  

Notes

Recipe from Ruth Levy Beranbaum's The Pie and Pastry Bible.

Everyday Flaky Pie Crust (Deep Dish)

A perfectly flaky, buttery pie crust for your everyday deep dish pie needs. Yep. Pie every day.

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Servings: 1 9 or 10-inch deep dish pie shell

Ingredients

Volume - Weight

• 9 tablespoons butter, cold
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (dip & sweep method)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 tablespoons ice water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Instructions

• Place dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor. Cut up butter into slices and add to dry ingredients. Run food processor for 10-20 seconds until the butter is finely incorporated.
• Add ice water and vinegar, then run food processor until the dough comes together to form a ball. Dough should be smooth and only barely sticky. If it's crumbly, add a little more ice water (1/2-1 tablespoon at a time). If it's too sticky, add a little more flour (1-2 tablespoons at a time). Remove dough from processor.
• On a clean counter, sprinkle a generous amount of flour. Sprinkle a little flour on ball of dough and form it into a flat disk. Cover top of disk with flour and start to roll out dough, rolling it in all directions to maintain the circular shape as much as you can. Once your circle is about 9-10 inches in diameter, lift it off the counter, redistribute the flour underneath it (to keep it from sticking) and place it back down again. Sprinkle more flour on top as needed, and keep rolling until your circle is about 2 inches larger than your pie plate all around.
• Gently fold dough in half, then in half again. Place the quarter size dough in your pie plate and gently unfold the dough to cover one half, then the whole dish. Let it relax down into the plate, then form the crust to your liking. Turn any pie crust scraps into pie crust cookies (spread with butter, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top, then bake at whatever temperature you're baking your pie, for about 15 minutes or until the edges just start to lightly brown.)
  
• Bake your pie following the recipe's directions.

Notes

Recipe from Ruth Levy Beranbaum's The Pie and Pastry Bible.

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