This is the only pie crust recipe you'll ever need! Buttery, flaky, and foolproof, this recipe comes together quickly in the food processor, so you can have a perfect pie dough chilling in your refrigerator in a matter of minutes.Makes enough for one 9”-10” pie plate. This recipe makes a single pie dough but can easily be doubled (it doubles well!)Don't forget to watch the how-to video!
Scatter butter pieces over the top of the flour mixture and pulse again until butter is mostly combined and mixture resembles coarse crumbs (there should still be discernible pieces of butter remaining in the mixture, some as large as a chocolate chip).
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Add sour cream and pulse again until mixture just begins to cling together. The mixture may still seem dry, but if you pinch it between your thumb and forefinger and it clings together, you’re ready to move on -- don't overdo it!
¼ cup sour cream
Transfer dough to a clean surface and work into a ball (try not to over-handle the dough, you want it to stay as cold as possible to keep the butter from melting and your hands are very warm!). Flatten into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and transfer to refrigerator to chill for at least 45-60 minutes before proceeding/using as desired.
If arranging into a pie plate, remove the dough from the refrigerator once it has chilled and transfer to a clean, lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll into a 12” circle (add flour as needed and be sure to lift the pie dough and add flour beneath it while rolling to keep from sticking, if needed) and arrange into a pie plate, crimping or fluting the edges (I provide a visual on fluting the edges in my video above).
Transfer to pie plate and use according to your pie filling recipe’s instructions, or see my detailed tutorial on how to blind bake pie crust.
Video
Notes
Sour cream
Full-fat sour cream is your best bet for this recipe, but in a pinch you could substitute full-fat plain Greek yogurt.
Making without a food processor
If you do not have a food processor you may use a pastry cutter, grater (freeze the butter for 20 minutes then grate it into the flour mixture), or even a knife to cut the butter into the flour mixture before stirring in the sour cream.
Blind baking:
To blind bake this pie crust (that is, bake it completely without any filling so it can be cooled and filled with a filling that does not need to be baked), see my detailed tutorial on how to blind bake a pie crust.
Lattice crust
I have a detailed tutorial on exactly how to do a lattice pie crust. You will need to double this recipe in order to do so.
Making in advance:
This pie dough may be made up to 5 days in advance of rolling out and using. Store tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. If chilling for this long, you will likely need to let the dough soften on the counter at room temperature for 15 minutes or possibly longer to make it soft enough to roll without cracking.
Freezing:
This pie dough may be frozen and will keep for several months in the freezer if tightly wrapped. To use, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then use as desired.