Perfect Pie Crust Recipe

4.53 from 40 reviews

A Perfect Pie Crust is a thing of beauty. Because there are so few ingredients in a basic pie dough, how you mix those ingredients is crucial to achieve just the right texture. Add the fats in two stages to get a tender and flaky pie crust.

Prep Time10

Chilling Time1

Total Time1 10

Servings:10 servings

Ingredients

10 oz all purpose flour (2 cups (see note))
3 ½ oz cake flour (⅔ cup)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
4 oz vegetable shortening (or leaf lard)
4 oz unsalted butter (very cold and sliced into ¼" slices)
4 oz ice cold water (½ cup)

Instructions

Combine 10 oz all purpose flour, 3 ½ oz cake flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Whisk together to mix the ingredients evenly.
Cut 4 oz vegetable shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse corn meal. Using your fingers, toss 4 oz unsalted butter slices into the flour mixture. Work quickly so the butter doesn't get warm. Don't break the butter down completely. There should be some large flakes remaining.
Pour 4 oz ice cold water onto the flour all at once and toss to combine. Gently press the dough just until it comes together. It will look a little dry in spots. The water will redistribute in the dough as it rests.
Wrap the dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before using.

Video

Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.

This recipe uses a mixture of all purpose and cake flour to mimic pastry flour. All purpose flour will give the dough enough structure so it can hold the flaky texture and a small proportion of cake flour will help keep it tender. If you have pastry flour you can use that in place of the flour mixture.

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