Simple All Butter Pie Crust Recipe For Beginners

If you're in need of a fool-proof all butter pie crust recipe as a beginner baker, then this post is for you! We'll show you an easy butter pie crust recipe by hand that's perfect for all pies, quiches, and more!

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Why You'll Love This Butter Crust

Our all butter pie crust recipe is soo flaky! Diving into a bite of homemade pumpkin pie made with this crust is truly an experience. You'll even notice the flaky layers of crust just pulling a slice of pie out of the dish.

It can be used for so many recipes, not just pie. Try using a butter crust to make our sausage quiche recipe or for a classic chicken pot pie. Also, leftover crust makes really good pumpkin pie pinwheels or cinnamon sugar wheels, too!

It's very beginner friendly. We lay out all of the instructions and details very clearly so that beginners will know exactly what to do in order for their pie crust to turn out perfectly.

Baking pie crust is truly an easy process. There's nothing here that's rocket science. You'll love how simple our all butter pie crust recipe is. But, if you're not ready to enter the butter pie crust world, check out our easy oil based pie crust recipe.

You can prep it ahead of time. Simplify Thanksgiving Day by making batches of dough the day before or several days ahead of time. Chilled dough will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 5 days as well as 2-4 months in the freezer.

Ingredients You'll Need

Cold Butter - Unsalted butter is preferred as you can alter the amount of salt on your own later on. The butter must be cold though. Water gets trapped in the clumps of butter throughout the dough which creates steam to make the perfect flaky texture as it bakes. So, using chilled butter or slightly frozen butter is key.

All Purpose Flour - I use King Arthur Organic Unbleached All Purpose Flour!

Salt - Redmond Real Salt is what I use for both cooking and baking. It's the best in flavor and the best for your health, too!

Ice Cold Water - Cold water is the key here. If the water is too warm, the butter will melt and the flaky layers of butter won't be present after baking which is what you want. Make the water very cold by using the coldest tap water possible and then creating an ice bath with ice cubes.

Tools You May Need

Having the right tools on hand makes the baking process much more simple. I've linked a couple of products I use in my own home!

Plastic wrap or press n seal

Rolling pin

Pie dish - This 9 inch pie dish works great-it's what I personally own and use!

Large mixing bowl

Knife - There's no affiliate link for this one, but my all time favorite knife company is Cutco! These knives have never failed me and I highly recommend them to all of my homemaking friends. With Christmas coming, they'd also make a very generous gift!

How To Make An All Butter Pie Crust

What're the essential steps for a truly flaky butter pie crust? Well, here's the step by step directions to help you get the perfect pie crust. See the recipe card, tips, and FAQs for more in depth details.

Step 1: Whisk together flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Then, cut the cold butter into small cubes and add them into the mixing bowl as well.

Step 2: Next, start gently incorporating the butter, flour and salt together. Then, slowly add in the ice cold water. Continue incorporating everything together with your hands until a slightly sticky dough forms.

Step 3: On a lightly floured surface, shape the all butter pie crust dough into a round, flat disc and wrap it in plastic wrap. After that, put it in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.

Step 4: After the pie crust has chilled, place the dough between two sheets of wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll the pie crust into a large, flat circle. Make sure it's large enough to hang over the edges of your pie dish.

Step 5: Lay the pie crust over your pie dish and remove all the wax paper. Gently press the dough into every surface of the pie dish so that there's no air bubbles left.

Step 6: Use a knife to cut away the excess dough hanging over the edges of your pie dish, but leave enough dough to crimp the edges.

Step 7: Crimp the all butter pie crust. Here's a great tutorial from Sally's Baking all about how to crimp and flute pie crust.

Step 8: Finally, bake the pie crust at 350 degrees until it's golden brown. Or, add your pie filling directly into the unbaked butter crust and follow the pie recipe's baking instructions. It's truly the best homemade all butter pie crust recipe for pumpkin pie!

Tips For Success

• Cold butter is absolutely necessary to make a perfectly flaky all butter pie crust. To keep the butter from melting prematurely, try to work as fast as possible with your hands while mixing. Also, make sure the water is truly ice cold.
• Roll out the dough between two pieces of wax paper so that it doesn't stick to either your table surface or the rolling pin. Just make sure it's all removed before baking.
• For an event like Thanksgiving, make this all butter pie crust recipe a day or two beforehand to lighten your load the day of.
• For multiple pies, double crust pies, or extra large groups, double or even triple this recipe. Again, you can easily prep this dough ahead of time so that baking is really easy.
• If you are par baking this butter crust or baking before adding filling I recommend using parchment paper and some sort of pie weight to keep the crust from shrinking and/or bubbling up. Previously, I've used dried beans and that has worked great!

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