Pie Crust Basics

All the things about classic pie crust that I’ve learned the hard way or by getting lucky. And sometimes just from actually following directions.

The story

You’d think I’d have more to say about pie on this blog. I mean, I did name this site Poetry & Pies. But I have a love-hate relationship with pie. I mean, the filling is basically a slice-able liquid, which requires various types of science, like cooking cornstarch/flour or chilling gelatin or tempering eggs all exactly the right amount of time and at exactly the right temperature. Cooking too long could cause it to break or cuddle or turn lumpy. Not enough thickener could result in a runny filling while too much can become gummy. The wrong temperature could scramble eggs or burn your pie.

And yes, all of these things have happened to me.

In fact, I think I could teach you more about what not to do than what you should do. 🤦‍♀️

Anyway, pie crust is something I feel a little more confident about. It’s literally the foundation of a pie, so it’s the first thing I chose to master.

But let’s be real: pie crust is just as finicky as pie filling.

I’m still learning, but I have a handful of tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way that I know create a flaky, tender crust.

Pie crust tips:

Use cold, cold, COLD wet ingredients. Those who’ve struggled with pie crust know I’m not exaggerating. I like to cube my butter then put it in the freezer for 5 minutes (not any longer—I said cold, not frozen).

Use vodka, not water. Funny story: a student taught me this trick. But it makes perfect sense. High quality vodka will leave no taste and will evaporate as it bakes, making your crust flakier.

Keep vodka (or water) in the freezer. I literally have a small mason jar of vodka in the freezer at all times. I don’t even drink vodka, I just always want to be prepared to make pie crust. Which I realize now sounds weird, but I’m just gonna own it.

Use fresh butter. I talk a lot about butter here. I even use butter to create examples of vocabulary in my class. Maybe I have a problem? Regardless, classic pie crust is basically butter and flour. Both need to be fresh, especially the butter. Here, there’s no way to hide that old, smelly fridge taste old butter can develop.

Touch the dough as little as possible. Handling can warm that cold cold butter, which isn’t good. You want pieces of butter still intact when the pie bakes to create a flaky crust. Too much time touching can also mean you’re over mixing, which is never good.

Use a large food processor or sturdy pastry blender. Sooooo…I had a pastry blender break while making a pie for my husband’s birthday. I literally had to hold it together with one hand while using it to blend with the other. Fun.

Don’t let butter pieces get too small. Every recipe says “blend until the size of peas.” Yeah, I tend to go past this. But I learned the hard way not to let the butter/flour mixture get to the point that it resembles sand. It gets tough and chewy.

Add water (or vodka) in a steady stream while pressing pulse. The goal is to avoid the water pooling in one area, requiring extra blending to mix it throughout. Yep, that caused a chewy dough for me a few weeks ago. Alternatively, you can take the lid off and drizzle each tablespoon evenly around the bowl.

Form into a smooth disk. You don’t want any cracks in the edge before it goes in the fridge, or they may turn into large cracks when you roll it out. Use your hands here to gently smooth out any seams or cracks.

Roll from the center out. To keep an even, circular crust, start in the middle of the disk and roll out one way then all the way back to the other side. Keep rotating and repeating this method.

Fix cracks in the edge early on. Here’s where I cheat. I use my hands to meld the dough back together. As soon as you see a crack forming, fix it by pressing it together and angling the rolling pin in a way that helps guide the pieces back together, like in this photo.

Use a guide when rolling out. Maybe this is just for me, but I love the pie mat in these photos. It has a circle so I know if I’m making something remotely pie shaped. It also has a ruler on the edge so I know when to stop, because I for sure have rolled the crust too wide and thus too thin and then had to chisel it out after baking. But I swear I know what I’m doing…

Sprinkle flour when rolling. Don’t sprinkle a lot each time, but whenever the crust begins to lift with each roll or feel sticky, sprinkle a little flour and spread gently with your hand so the crust doesn’t stick to the rolling pin. I sometimes flip the crust to keep it from sticking to the mat, if what I sprinkled at the beginning isn’t enough. If you’ve ever used a frozen, store bought pie crust, you’ll know the texture and dryness to aim for by the time it’s fully rolled out. If not, experience will teach you so that you’re not using too much or too little each time.

Sprinkle flour in pan before adding crust. Ever had to chisel your baked crust out of the pan? No? Just me? I always sprinkle just a tiny bit of flour before adding the crust—which means being gentle with tip 16 so you don’t move it and have half your crust stick anyway.

Wrap rolling pin to transfer to pan. Okay, there’s no title-like way to say you need to gently wrap the crust around the rolling pin then keep rolling it until you have a good portion (at least hang) the crust wrapped burrito-style around the rolling pin. Lift it and eyeball setting it centered on top of the pan. Gently lift the edges to rearrange so it’s centered before proceeding to the next step.

Gently wiggle crust into pan and don’t press too hard along the corners. You will need to press it a little, but too much could cause it to stick to the pan in baking.

Leave at least 1/2 inch overhang and keep it at a slight angle. The crust you see in these photos wasn’t folded down enough before baking and I tucked the excess under instead of trimming it, so it created a gap and shrank into the pan a bit in the blind bake. Ideally, I should have had it sitting gently on the edge of the pan at a 45* or more angle, but I was in a rush and forgot. #toddlermomlife

Chill crust/filled pie before baking. I’ve noticed I get flakier crusts and far less shrinkage if I chill for an hour (or freeze 30 minutes) before baking. I’m sure there’s a whole science behind it, similar to why chilled cookie dough bakes so much better. But the bottom line is it makes a pie better.

Blind bake with plenty of weights. I own two sets and still feel like I could use more, mostly because I own all large or very deep pie dishes. You want to ensure the entire bottom is covered completely and the weights (or dry beans) go up to the very edge and fill in the corners. Otherwise you’ll get bubbles on the bottom.

Blind bake just until foil/parchment paper pulls easily from bottom. I tend to over bake when doing a blind bake. I always worry it’ll be chewy and underdone. So, I consulted a Williams-Sonoma cookbook that gave me my first successful pie recipe over ten years ago. 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees for a partially baked crust (like for a lemon merengue that will go back in the oven about 20 minutes) or 25-30 minutes for a fully baked crust (like for a no-bake cream pie).