All Butter Pie Crust (The Best Flaky Pie Crust)

This all butter pie crust recipe requires just 5 ingredients and can be made in your food processor or by hand. An all butter crust is so easy to prep and comes together in no time! Also includes frequently asked questions about how to make a pie crust recipe with butter.

All Butter Pie Crust From Scratch

In the past, I have had many failures when attempting to make a perfect pie crust. My homemade pie crust attempts often resulted in a dough that was too sticky, too dry, or full of cracks.

Purchasing frozen pie crusts isn’t really my style and I love to eat pie, so I pressed forward and kept trying.

A few years ago, I finally learned how to make a great — no, perfect — all butter pie crust recipe.

Making homemade pie crust with butter is easier than you’d think and you wind up with a wonderfully buttery, flaky pie crust every single time.

Tools Used to Make this All Butter Pie Crust

You’ll need a few different tools to prepare this delicious crust recipe. Here’s what I recommend having on hand before getting started:

• Food Processor or Pastry Cutter and Large Bowl – to mix the ingredients for this recipe.
• Measuring Cups and Spoons – to measure the ingredients for this flakey pie crust.
• Silicone Pastry Mat – to use as a work surface when rolling the pie crust.
• Sheet of Plastic Wrap – to wrap the dough circle with while it chills
• Rolling Pin – to roll dough out with.
• Pie Dish – for baking your pie recipe.

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All Butter Pie Crust Ingredients

This pie crust made with butter requires very few ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to make a flaky pie crust:

• All-purpose flour
• Unsalted butter
• Salt
• Granulated sugar
• Ice water

For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions to make this flakey pie crust recipe, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.

How to Make Pie Crust From Scratch

Sift together the dry ingredients, then add to a food processor along with the cold cubed butter.

Pulse the ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand, then slowly add in the ice water and continue pulsing until a crumbly dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and split in two. Wrap each dough ball in plastic wrap, then freeze for 30 minutes.

Once chilled, on a lightly floured surface, roll each dough ball out until roughly 12 inches in diameter. Transfer to a pie plate, then fill with your desired pie filling and top with the second crust, if desired.

Love the look of lattice pies but don’t think you have the skill to create such a beautiful design? Think again! Follow these easy instructions to learn How to Make a Lattice Pie Crust in no time! 

The above is simply a quick summary of how to make the best pie crust. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.

Click HERE to save this recipe for All Butter Pie Crust!

Tips for the Best All Butter Pie Crust

Keep Things Cold for a Flaky Crust

Refrigerate all of the ingredients for your pie crust before beginning your recipe.

Chilled butter is absolutely essential to this recipe! Pockets of cold butter pieces within the homemade pie crust are what make it so deliciously flaky.

Use very cold, even frozen, butter and iced cold water in your pie crust recipes. You can also chill your flour prior to use.

Use a Food Processor

While a food processor isn’t necessary to make a perfectly flaky pie crust, I love my food processor and I’m convinced that it is what lead to my eventual success.

It works so beautifully this way because it makes it simple to get little bits of butter evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

However, you can use a set of butter knives or a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour if you don’t have a food processor to work with. Just make sure that the bits of butter are small and evenly distributed (the butter bits should be pea sized).

Dough Should Resemble a Coarse Meal

When cutting the butter into the flour, regardless of the method you choose, you should have small bits of butter the size of peas throughout the flour mixture.

You should also only add enough water just to get the ingredients to start to come together. It will look kind of crumbly when prepared properly.

Don’t Overwork the Butter Pie Crust

One of the reasons I like to make food processor pie crusts is that the food processor keeps my very warm hands away from the chilled pie crust dough. Heat will warm the ingredients and melt the bits of butter.

Work the dough until just moist and combined and don’t over handle. Over handling will lead to a tough pie crust from scratch.

All Butter Pie Crust FAQs

Got questions about how to make this butter pie crust recipe? Here are the answers to a few commonly asked questions. Feel free to leave any other questions in the comments on this post and I’ll respond with answers.

Try this Butter Pie Crust Recipe!

Next time you’re looking for a delicious pie crust recipe to bake pies with, give this All Butter Pie Crust a try!

Did you think it was the best pie crust? Leave a comment below and give it a review for others to see what you thought of this delicious recipe.

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Recipes That Use Butter Pie Crust

Now that you know how to make your own homemade pie crust, check out these favorite pie recipes using this butter pie dough.

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What are your tips for making a perfect pie crust?