Pie season is just around the corner, so I thought I’d share with you the only homemade pie crust recipe you’ll ever need! Made with an unexpected ingredient and made in the food processor, you can have a perfect pie crust chilling in your refrigerator in a matter of minutes!
This easy homemade pie crust recipe is essentially foolproof and comes out perfectly buttery and flakey every single time! This recipe has been my family’s go-to for over a decade and it’s what I use to make my chocolate pie. Be sure to check out the video at the bottom of the post walking you step-by-step through the recipe!
This is it, pie-loving friends. The only pie crust recipe I ever use, one that my mom has been making exclusively for over a decade.
You might have caught this easy pie crust recipe before on my website. I shared it with my apple turnovers and also my turkey pot pie, but it’s about time that this recipe gets its own post.
While it may be a little bit more effort than my graham cracker crust recipe, it’s one of the easiest pie crusts I’ve ever made and only one that has never failed for me. It has a classic pie crust taste, a buttery, flaky texture, and it comes together in a food processor (no obnoxious pastry cutters!) and uses a perhaps unexpected ingredient…
Sour cream!
Instead of worrying over adding exact amount of ice water, you’re going to simply add sour cream to this recipe. This ingredients yields one of the flakiest, best tasting pie crusts of your life. Unlike those ice water recipes, this easy pie crust recipe turns out for me perfectly, every time. And in case you’re worried, it does not taste like sour cream! Nobody is going to be able to tell that you used sour cream in this recipe.
How To Make Homemade Pie Crust
You’ll make everything in a food processor, combining your dry ingredients first and pulsing them until they’re combined. Next, add very cold butter that you’ve first chopped into pieces.
Pulse until your mixture resembles coarse, sandy crumbs.
Next, add your sour cream and pulse again until your dough just begins to clump together. It should look like this when it’s finished 👇🏼 (don’t overdo it!).
Next, transfer your dough to a clean, lightly floured surface where you’ll use your hands to gently knead the dough together.
Once it’s formed into a smooth, round ball, use your palms to lightly flatten the dough. Wrap your pie dough tightly with clear wrap and place it in your refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. If you chill the dough for longer, you may need to let it sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes before rolling it out, as the colder it is the stiffer and more difficult to work with it will be.
Roll your dough out onto a lightly floured surface into a 12″ circle. I like to roll my dough out slightly larger, and then use a pizza cutter to trim up the edges to that they are neat and even. If yours aren’t, you can always just fold them underneath for a prettier looking edge to your pie crust.
If you’re using this easy pie crust as part of another recipe, it’s likely that the recipe will have instructions for filling and baking the crust. However, some recipes, especially those with no-bake fillings, will require a pre-baked pie crust, so I’ve provided instructions in the recipe for blind baking.
How to Blind Bake a Pie Crust
Blind baking simply means baking a pie crust without filling it first. In the past, I’ve blind baked pie crusts by filling with beans or pie weights, but this method from Serious Eats using sugar has quickly become my favorite method.
- Arrange your rolled out pie dough into your pie plate as desired and place in the freezer while your oven is preheating
- After chilling, line your chilled pie crust with a large piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper. Be sure to use a piece large enough that it hangs over the edge of the pie plate so you can simply grab each end and and lift it out of the pie once it has finished baking.
- Fill the foil or parchment paper with sugar (pie weights or dry beans will work, but I really like using sugar). The sugar should evenly distribute its weight against the pie crust, holding it in shape as it bakes.
- Bake 50 minutes or until pie crust is baked through and lightly golden brown.
- Allow to cool completely (otherwise it may shrink!).
Once you are finished baking, allow your sugar to cool before lifting the parchment or foil from the pie crust. You can either re-use the sugar in your baking or you can save it separately to use for all of your future blind baking.
Making your own homemade pie crust is as simple as that. Try this recipe out for yourself and let me know what you think!
The BEST Easy Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (125g)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter cold and cut into 12 pieces (85g)
- 1/4 cup sour cream (60g)
Instructions
- Make the crust first by combining flour, sugar, and salt in the canister of a food processor. Pulse to combine.
- Sprinkle butter pieces over the mixture and pulse again until coarse crumbs form.
- Add sour cream and pulse again until mixture begins to clump together.
- Carefully (remove the blade first!) remove the dough from the food processor and use your hands to shape it into a ball. Flatten slightly into a disc and wrap in cling wrap. Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove chilled pie dough from refrigerator and transfer to a clean, lightly floured surface. Allow dough to sit for about 5 minutes and then roll dough out into a 12" circle and place in a 9" or 10" glass pie dish.
- Gently lay the pie crust into a 10" pie pan, folding under the excess dough beneath itself and crimping with a fork.
- If pie crust is to be used with a baked filling, follow that recipe's instructions for filling and baking.
For Blind Baking
- If baking pie crust alone (or "blind baking"), transfer your prepared pie dish to the freezer and preheat your oven to 350F.
- Once oven is preheated, retrieve your pie dough and gently line it with aluminum foil or parchment paper*, being sure that the aluminum is molded to the sides of the pie crust, especially (you want to make sure they don't collapse or sag while baking) -- make sure the edges are covered so that they do not over-brown/burn.
- Fill the aluminum with sugar** and place pie pan on an aluminum cookie sheet.
- Transfer to oven and bake on 350F for 45-55 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely before lifting out the aluminum foil and sugar**( and finishing with desired filling.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Tools used in this Pie Crust Recipe
- Pyrex 9 1/2″ pie plate (3 pack): I literally have 5 of these pie plates, they’re simple and easy to store and I love them!
- Wooden rolling pin: A classic for every kitchen, this is what I’m using in the video
- 8 cup food processor: I LOVE this food processor! I read hundreds of reviews before picking this one and have had no regrets.
Treat yourself to a FREE E-BOOK!
Originally published 09/18/17
Maria says
Hello!! Do you happen to have a recipe that doesn’t include sour cream? Unfortunately, where I live sour cream is usually really expensive.
Sugar Spun Run says
Hello, Maria! I have had others substitute greek yogurt and have had success. I hope that this easy to find where you live. If you are looking for another kind of pie crust, I have a graham cracker crust recipe as well. 🙂
Nada says
can I add some cocoa powder to make it chocolate flavored pastry??if doing that,do I need to reduce the flour by 1 tablespoon and add cocoa instead or just add 1 tablespoon cocoa and the flour amount remains the same?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Nada! I have not tried making the pie crust chocolate-flavored so unfortunately, I can not advise. If you try it, I’d love to know how it works for you. 🙂
Nada says
Anyway,I have to say that this is the best pie crust recipe I’ve ever made..I gave it a go yesterday and it came out amazingly flaky&tender..I made a salted caramel chocolate tart and it was an amazing recipe…thank you dear for sharing this recipe&by the way I’m only 19 year old and loved that the people asked for the recipe as if i was a professional chef :))
Sugar Spun Run says
What an amazing compliment to receive, Nada! I am so happy to hear that the pie crust was such a hit. Thanks for trying my recipe. I can’t wait to hear what you try next! 🙂