Basic Pie Crust

While I have had a basic pie crust recipe on every incarnation of this site, this actually is not the same one I originally posted. I’m going to tell you a little secret – I don’t *like* (most) pie crust – I much prefer the filling. As a result, nearly every pie I make is deep dish to increase the filling to crust ratio. Most pie crust recipes are geared toward a standard depth pie plate so I always had to either roll it a bit too thin or remember to adjust the recipe for just a touch more dough. This recipe is my answer to that issue.

I also recommend you take a look at the notes section of this recipe. One of the things that I typically find lacking in pie crust is flavor – in creating this recipe I found ways of incorporating all kinds of extra flavor to complement the fillings of my family’s favorite pies.

Pie Crust

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This is a basic pie crust recipe. It yields crust for one 9"-10" deep dish single crust pie.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Chilling time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings: 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 232

Equipment Ingredients Method Notes Nutrition

Equipment

• ▢
  food processor
• ▢
  bowl
• ▢
  fork
• ▢
  Silpat
• ▢
  bench scraper

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x4x

• ▢ 9 ounce flour all-purpose
• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoon sugar granulated
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2 ounce shortening cubed, very cold (optional: butter flavored)
• ▢ 4 ounce butter cubed, very cold
• ▢ 2.83 ounce water ice cold
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

 

Cook Mode Cook Mode

 

1. Pulse all dry ingredients in a food processor until well combined.
2. Add shortening, pulse until combined.
3. Add butter, pulse until the largest pieces of butter are about the size of large peas.
4. Transfer to a separate bowl, add the liquid ingredients and stir quickly and gently with a fork to form a shaggy dough
5. Dump out on a silpat and bring together with a bench scraper.
6. Using the heals of your hands smear the dough away 1/3 at a time, using the bench scraper to fold the dough back on top of itself (the butter should remain visible in the dough, not getting fully incorporated).
7. Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic and chill for at least a couple hours before using (1-2 days would be better)

Notes

• For a standard depth pie, you could adjust the flour to 6 ounces, the total fat to 4 ounces and the water to 2 ounce. Or (and this is my preference) you can use the recipe as is and turn the left over dough into pie crust chips
  • cut into fun shapes, brush with egg wash and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar
  • bake at 375° until golden brown (~12-15 minutes or so depending on the thickness of the dough and the size of the shapes)
• For variations in flavor, try replacing 1/5-1/4 of the flour with finely ground cookies (such as ginger snaps or chocolate wafers), add up to a teaspoon of spices (such as cinnamon, ginger or pumpkin pie spice), and/or replace some or all of the water with an alternative liquid (such as apple juice), also ice cold. The following are the variations I use for some of our favorite pies
  • Apple Pie
    • Swap 2 oz of flour for finely ground spice cookies (ginger snaps, ginger thins, Biscoff, etc.)
    • Add 1 tsp cinnamon
    • Swap the water for apple cider or juice (ice cold)
  • Pumpkin Pie
    • Swap 2 oz of flour for finely ground spice cookies (ginger snaps, ginger thins, Biscoff, etc.)
    • Add 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
    • Swap the water for pumpkin juice (ice cold)
  • Tollhouse Brownie Pecan Pie
    • Swap 1.5 oz of flour for finely ground chocolate cookies (chocolate wafers, Oreos without cream, etc)
    • Swap 1 oz of flour for finely ground toasted pecans
    • Add 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Private Notes

Click here to add your own private notes.

Nutrition

Calories: 232kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 3gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 190mgPotassium: 31mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 283IUCalcium: 7mgIron: 1mg

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