This is my favourite homemade flaky pie crust that has been past down from generations. It makes a consistent flaky pie, every single time!
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I am going to teach you everything you need to know about making the perfect flaky, buttery pie crust. This is the only pie crust I use and it has been past down to me by generations. It is always consistent, and is a dream to roll out.
Making a homemade flaky pie crust from scratch is a little intimidating, but there is a good reason for that - homemade pies are so tasty! With a few tips, you can easily be making your own homemade pies.
Pie Crust Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Salt - Use only ¼ teaspoon if making a sweet pie. If you are making a savoury pie, boost up the salt to 1 tsp.
- Granulated sugar - Use sugar if you are making a sweet pie. Savoury pie - leave the sugar out.
- Fat - I prefer using lard or shortening for a flaky pie crust. Store your fats in the refrigerator so they are ready to use. It's important to keep them cold so the fat doesn't melt into your dough. If the fat melts into the dough before baking, you lose the flakiness.
- Cold milk and water - I use a mixture of the two because, well, that's what my Grandmother uses.
How to make pie crust
Whisk the flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl. Add in the cold lard and use a pastry cutter or two forks to cut it into the flour. You should have pea sized chunks of flour covered lard when you are finished.
Measure 4 tablespoons of cold water and 4 tablespoons of cold milk. Whisk them together and slowly drizzle it into the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix the dough together after each addition and stop adding the water/milk mixture when the dough begins to form large clumps. You may not need to add in all of the water/milk.
Form the dough into a large ball and then break it into two balls - one slightly larger then the other. The larger ball will be the bottom of the pie, and the smaller, the lid.
Flatten each ball into 1-inch thick discs and wrap each in plastic wrap. Store them in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
How to roll out pie crust
Take your larger dough disc and place it on a floured surface. Gently roll out the dough. Start at the center and roll up. Start at the center again and roll down. Turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat. Keep rolling and turning until the dough is about a 12 inch circle. Or, as you can see from the above photos, a square works too!
Repeat the rolling steps for the lid of the pie and proceed with your recipe's instructions.
Pie crust tips
- Keep everything cold. As you know, cold fats equal a flaky pie crust. Make sure your filling is ready to go before you roll out your pie crust.
- Use a pie crust shield to keep the edges from browning too quickly. You can purchase pie shields or do as I do. Take a square piece of aluminum foil and cut a circle out of it's center so that the center of the pie is exposed.
- Make sure you use enough milk/water mixture in your dough. Too little water will make your dough unworkable.
- Do you want to make a savoury pie? Remove the sugar and and increase the salt to 1 teaspoon.
📋 Recipe
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Homemade Flaky Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup shortening or lard chilled and cubed
- 4 tablespoons milk cold
- 4 tablespoons water cold
Instructions
- Whisk flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Add the shortening/lard to the bowl.
- Using a pastry cutter, or two forks, cut the shortening into the mixture until the flour coated fats are pea sized.
- Add the milk and water to a measuring cup and stir. Drizzle this in, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix with a spoon or your hands. Do not add too much of the milk/water. Stop adding this when the dough comes together easily. You may need to use less in the summer and more in the winter. Form the dough into a ball.
- Cut the dough into two, with one half being slightly larger then the other. The larger one will be the bottom pie shell, and the smaller one, the lid.
- Flatten each half into 1-inch thick discs and wrap each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 3 days.
- Roll out your dough on a lightly floured service. Start in the middle of the disc and roll out up and down. Turn the dough a quarter turn with your hands and roll out up and down. Continue with the rolling and turning until you have a 12 inch circle. This is will fit into a 9-inch pie dish.
- Roll out the lid the same way and proceed with your pie recipe instructions.
Notes
- Keep everything cold. As you know, cold fats equal a flaky pie crust. Make sure your filling is ready to go before you roll out your pie crust.
- Use a pie crust shield to keep the edges from browning too quickly. You can purchase pie shields or do as I do. Take a square piece of aluminum foil and cut a circle out of it's center so that the center of the pie is exposed.
- Make sure you use enough milk/water mixture in your dough. Too little water will make your dough unworkable.
- Do you want to make a saovury pie? Leave out the sugar and increase the salt to 1 teaspoon.
nancy
Thanks for the tips on this pie crust!
Nina
You're welcome, Nancy 🙂