This flaky pie crust is pastry perfection. I've been making pies since I was a kid, but this recipe for Perfect Pie Crust is the best I've ever found. There's no need to chill the dough and it makes enough for 4 or 5 pies - so you can freeze some for later.
Use this pie crust recipe to make a family classic, Old Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb pie. A treat everyone loves!
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💭 Ingredients to Have on Hand
Pie crusts can seem daunting to make from scratch and often it's the time that goes into waiting while the crust chills that can make it that way. This recipe is a breeze because you roll out your dough within minutes. Here are the ingredients to have handy:
- All-purpose flour: The basic staple of every pantry!
- Shortening: This ingredient helps ensure the pie crust is tender and flaky. The perfect pie crust!
- Egg: This helps the ingredients hold together and add moisture, which helps make the crust easier to roll out without chilling the dough first.
- White Vinegar: Here's another ingredient that helps stabilize the dough, making it easy to handle, smooth and less likely to tear or fall apart as you roll it out.
Scroll down to the recipe card for details on the quantities of each ingredient.
Pie is an incredible dessert and a wonderful treat any time of year, and especially during the holidays. Other tasty desserts worthy of serving for holiday desserts include Easy No Bake Peanut Butter Pie, Fresh Fruit Tart, Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars and Vanilla Cheesecake.
🥧 A Freezer-Friendly Pie Crust Recipe
When it's the holidays and we're making pies for a crowd, it's easy to use up every one of these crusts in one baking project. It's another reason why I love this recipe!
But other times, we may just need one or two pie crusts and that's where the freezer comes in handy.
Once you divide the dough into four or five portions, pat them into flat rounds and wrap them in waxed paper.
Place each rolled portion in a zipped-top freezer bag, write the date on the bag and freeze until you're ready to make pies. The crust defrosts perfectly in the fridge in about 8 hours.
Pro Tip: Practice makes perfect and that goes for pie crust. Perfect Pie Crust is easy to make and what I've found is the more often I make this recipe, the better I get at rolling out the dough.
👩🏻🍳 How to Roll Out Perfect Pie Crust
With this recipe, you'll have at least four or five pie crusts to roll out and make beautiful pie crusts with. After combining the ingredients, divide the dough into five equal portions (or 4 portions if you are making deep dish or larger-sized pies).
- Spread a tablespoon or two of flour on a cutting board.
- Place a piece of waxed paper on top of the flour and add another tablespoon or two on top. Spread the flour around the surface of the waxed paper
- Add one of the pie crust rounds on top and dust with a little more flour.
- Place another piece of waxed paper on top and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into 9 or 10-inch crusts.
Pro Tip: Waxed paper is important when you roll out the dough, some folks like to use parchment paper between the rolling pin and the pie dough, but I think the thinner, more flexible waxed paper works best for pie crusts.
🥣 How to Make Single-Crust Pies
If you are making a single-crust pie such as a cream pie or lemon meringue and need to bake it before filling, here's what you do:
- roll the crust for each pie
- place the single crust in a pie pan and flute the edges
- use the tines of a fork to create very small holes all over the crust
- bake at 425° for 10-15 minutes
- cool and fill with whatever pie filling you have prepared
More Dessert Recipes
If you baked Perfect Pie Crust or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below.
Recipe
Kristen says
I have looked for a pie crust recipe that tastes as good as my fillings for years. I love this recipe! I have a tale of two pies to share— a sweet version and a savory version with a small change.
My first pie was your old fashioned strawberry rhubarb pie recipe. It was exactly like my grandma used to make and it was ah-mazing!!!!! I held fidelity to this crust recipe. I used high quality butter as my shortening and followed instructions as written. I had a hard time working with the dough. It was fragile/dryish and there was no way I could ever make a lattice with it. My pies came out fabulous!!! (I made two, one as a taste test and the second to bring to a 4th of July party if I was happy with the test pie). I felt bad for all the other desserts because my pie was hands down the star of the dessert table. And everyone loved the crust! The brush of milk with the sprinkle of sugar on the top was perfect. It was the first time I wanted to eat pie crust and not just the filling!
Second pie was tonight’s dinner. My son asked for my chicken pot pie. I decided to use this recipe again instead of a store bought. I had an idea. When we make bacon, I strain the rendered fat through a mesh sieve into a mason jar and store in the fridge. I used 1-cup of my high quality Irish butter and a half cup of the bacon fat for my pie dough. The resulting dough was less crumbly and easier to work with. I assembled my pie and brushed the crust with a little milk and baked at 375 for an hour. It was delicious! I mean sooooooo good!!!! Flaky, tender, flavorful crust. The bacon fat wasn’t even really a flavor, it was just enough to bring some savory depth.
Thank you! I can finally make my traditional pies with confidence!
Melinda O'Malley Keckler says
Thanks for the five star rating Kristen! That's great to hear that you used the pie crust with good results for both sweet and savory recipes. Wonderful!!