Grandma's Secret Pie Crust Recipe with Tips for the Perfect Pie Crust (2024)

FAQs

What are some tips for achieving a perfect pie crust? ›

“My preferred fat for pie crusts will always be butter. To me, it is all about flavor, and no other fat gives flavor to a crust like butter does. Other fats, even though they have great pros, lack flavor,” De Sa Martins said. “The more flavorful the butter, the more flavor your pie crust will have,” Huntsberger added.

I always chill my dough for at least 2 hours before rolling out, and then chill again for at least 1 hour after shaping in the pie pan. There are undoubtedly faster methods out there, but this is what I've found to work best for me in terms of maintaining pretty crimps and the overall shape of the crust.

The cardinal rules of pie dough: Keep it cold, work fast, and don't overwork your dough.

Line the crust with foil, parchment, or a paper coffee filter. Fill it about two-thirds full with dried beans, uncooked rice (or other uncooked grain berries), pie weights, or granulated sugar. Bake the crust in a preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes, set on a baking stone or steel if you have one.

Some recipes will instruct you to bake it right away. But I like to freeze the crust before pre baking. The chilling time allows the gluten in the dough to relax and prevent shrinking when baking. So I recommend freezing the pie crust for at least 1 hour before pre baking.

The acidic properties of vinegar inhibit gluten, some will say. This theory proposes that once the water and flour are combined, gluten starts forming, causing the dough to grow tough. Adding an acid, the theory goes, stops the gluten in its tracks and rescues the crust from toughness.

Butter is prized for its sweet, rich flavor and is our preferred fat for pie crust recipes, but its low melting point and overall makeup can make it difficult to work with. Unlike shortening or lard, butter is not 100% fat. It contains on average 80% butterfat, 10 to 16% water, and a small percentage of milk solids.

Do I really need to rest my pie dough for at least an hour before rolling it out and then freeze my pie crust before baking it off? ›

Let them rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but ideally overnight. Resting them in the fridge allows the gluten to settle and the moisture to despurse evenly throughout the pie crust.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Tip: Chilling hardens the fat in the dough, which will help the crust maintain its structure as it bakes. And the short rest before rolling relaxes the dough's gluten, helping prevent a tough crust.

Let it rest—but not in the fridge

This is a great idea if you make your pie dough in advance and need somewhere to keep it for a few days, but if you're making pie that same day, ditch the cold. The fridge temperature solidifies the fat and makes the crust mixture more likely to crack and break if it gets too chilly.

Traditionally, what you're looking for in a pie crust are three basic things: you want it to be fully cooked through, without any doughiness between the filling and the bottom crust, you want the crust to be light and flaky with discernible layers, and, of course, you want there to be a rich, buttery flavor.

Rather, pie dough should be flaky and tender! So, it's important to use cold butter and ice water with your flour, as the coldness interrupts gluten development. Try to not handle the dough too much when mixing.

If you know anything about making pie crust, you know the ingredients need to be very cold. Cold ingredients mean flaky texture. Also, you should avoid overworking the dough and making it tough. Beyond those little baking rules, there are some variations in pie crust recipes that lend different results.