Butter Pie Crust
Flaky layers of buttery pastry melt in your mouth with my butter pie crust recipe. It is a quick recipe that is made in the food processor. Pie crust can be a bit intimidating and can very easily be overworked, too hot, too tough, or fall apart. I will give you my top tips to achieving the perfect flaky butter pie crust.
Special Thanks to: Barton Spring Mill
I have consumed so much bread that has been baked by local bakers using Barton Springs Mill amazing flour, I knew it was going to be good and I couldn’t wait to incorporate it into a recipe of my own. I chose pie crust to highlight this flour since the ingredients are so simple and flavorful, I would be able to enjoy and taste the quality of the flour. I was right, and I love being right.
Barton Springs Mill is a flour mill that specializes in supporting regenerative farming practices, they work alongside farmers who grow organic heritage grains all over Texas, and they mill all the grain in Dripping Springs to distribute their flour retail as well as wholesale to restaurants, bakeries, and markets alike. It’s Texas grown grains milled into fresh Texas flours and they have several different varieties of flour for different baking needs. If you have followed me for a while, you know how supportive I am of everything Texas grown and after years of being a dairy farmer, I know the hard work and reliance on community support local growers need to be successful. Thank you so much for doing what you do, this Texas girl appreciates y’all!
I picked up a bag of all purpose flour at Three Six General in San Marcos and combined it with Kerrygold butter, salt, sugar, cornstarch, water and apple cider vinegar to make one of the most delicious pie crusts I have ever made. The best pie crust, not only terms of flavor but texture and ease to work with. The pie crust was rich golden brown, flaky, buttery, with the most subtle nuance of a nutty flavor, almost as if I had toasted some sort of almond or pecan into the mix. The texture was sturdy enough to stand up to brown sugar peaches baked in a peach galette and gave the best contrast of flaky, crisp, and savory in my blackberry pie cookie recipe. I am truly pleased with the results of my bakes, and I look forward to incorporating more of their flours into my baking journey.
Ingredients You Need
-Butter- I used Kerrygold irish grassfed butter. I find this butter to be very rich and creamy and it imparts such a great buttery flavor to the pie crust. It also has a higher butterfat which will help the crust be crisp and flaky. If you can, pie crust is a pastry that really does benefit from a higher quality butter.
-Flour- I used Barton Springs Mill all purpose flour for this recipe. It is a local mill that sources their grains from Texas farmers. Great flour to use and I really loved the results, but you can use any all-purpose flour for this recipe.
-Salt- I go a little heavier handed with salt in this recipe because I like the bright contrast of saltiness in the pie crust pieces that I add to my blackberry cookie. You can use less salt if you prefer.
-Ice water- I just fill a cup with ice water and measure it out as I go. Sometimes, due to the humidity, I will use less water so I like to start with a quarter cup then work my way up a tablespoon at a time if the dough looks too dry.
-Cornstarch- This is optional. I added cornstarch to this crust because I am using a stone ground flour which has a little more texture than the usual Gold Medal all-purpose flour I use. I figured it would help soften the texture of the final product. When I use regular all-purpose flour, I don’t add cornstarch.
Sugar- I add a tablespoon of granulated sugar to bring a slight sweetness to the dough.
-Vodka or Apple Cider Vinegar- I used acv in this recipe but I have also used vodka in the past. The reason for this is it helps slow down the gluten formation in the dough so that the pie crust stays flaky and tender. I do feel the acidity in the acv gives the pie crust a little more flavor. You don’t taste it in the end result but the pie crust has a nice savory note to it.
Helpful Pie Crust Making Tips
I’m in Central Texas which means I am always fighting with two things: heat and humidity. A tender flaky pie crust is not hard to achieve and the most important thing to remember is always keep your butter cold. The tiny and medium sized flecks of butter is what make those flaky layers of crust that is so highly coveted by dessert enthusiasts. When the butter is baked the fat melts and let’s off the tiniest amount of water (which all butter has water in it) as steam which is how the flaky layers are created in the dough. If the butter is too warm and gets mixed in with the dough, the tiny amounts of water in the butter is mixed with the flour and activates gluten formation and you end up with a tough dough that is not very fun to eat. It will still be tasty, as most things are when they are homemade with love, but it won’t be crisp.
-Make dough during peak cool hours-if you are cooking in the middle of a hot day with a hot kitchen, do not make pie crust at that time. If your kitchen gets direct sunlight and the counter you are working on is in the midday sun, do not make pie crust at that time. A cool kitchen helps keep the butter and dough cooler. I know it’s a feat to keep the house cool during hot summer months so, I opt to make pie crust either early in the morning or later at night and out of direct sunlight.
-Dice butter and freeze ahead of time-my piecrust improved significantly when I diced up my butter, put it in a bowl and left it in the freezer for as long as I could. Because I am using a food processor to make this crust, the heat of the blades spinning will heat up the butter as well, so I want to start with very cold or even frozen butter for pie crust.
-do not overmix-we do not want the gluten in the flour to activate when making pie crust. Gluten forms when water is added and it is worked to create chains of gluten proteins in baked goods. For bread, this is exactly what you want, but with pie crust you want the exact opposite. The pie crust will look like it isn’t mixed well. It will have some chunks of butter and will be grainy and a tiny bit floury at the bottom of the food processor bowl. This is exactly when I pour it out on plastic wrap and carefully gather the edges to form the disc of dough. Allowing the dough to relax, again avoiding gluten formation, it will continue to hydrate those sandy looking bits of dough as it rests in the fridge.
-USE THE FREEZER-I cannot stress this enough, if the butter seems to be getting soft at any stage of this process, pop the bowl of the food processor back in the freezer for 15 minutes. We want little bits of butter, some bits can be a bit bigger like the size of marble, to stay intact to create the flaky layers of pie crust. When I made this batch of dough, I popped the food processor bowl into the freezer twice. If you have a warm kitchen you will need this tip to keep your butter cold and your pie crust flaky.
-Try not to handle the dough-I give my pie crust a few turns and presses with my hands when I wrap it in the plastic wrap but I try to keep my hands off as much as possible. The warmth of my hands can melt the butter pockets on the surface I just worked so hard to create.
-Let the dough rest-this goes back again to avoiding gluten formation in our dough and for the proteins in the flour to relax. I usually let my dough rest overnight in the fridge if I am baking the next day or, I will pop in the freezer if I am not baking in the next few days. Pie dough doesn’t last very long in the fridge and I give mine 2 days shelf life in the fridge, max. Anything over this and I find the flour will oxidize and turn a greyish color which isn’t very appetizing. Pie dough will last in the freezer for several months. If using frozen dough, defrost in the fridge overnight prior to rolling out.
-Roll out- I let my dough come to temp for 10-15 minutes on the counter before rolling out. This should be done during peak cool hours to avoid the butter melting as you roll. If that isn’t possible, as it was for me when I rolled this dough out, make sure to take breaks if the butter is looking soft. I placed my dough back in the fridge 4 or 5 times during this process. I was trying to take pictures of the rolled out dough and needed to put the dough in the freezer to keep my dough cold. I roll my dough out on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin and I make sure the counter I am working on is not in direct sunlight. You can place a baking sheet that has been chilling in the freezer on top of your counter to cool off the workspace before you roll out the dough. I found this very helpful in my old house where I had lots of sunlight coming through my kitchen windows and a not so great AC. Once the dough is rolled out, put in the freezer while your oven preheats, or while you get the rest of your ingredients ready for the pie recipe you are using.
-Cold dough, hot oven-You want the steam of the melted butter to puff up the dough to create layers of flaky deliciousness and the fat of the butter to essentially crisp up the flour. This is done very successfully when I pop a very cold dough into a very hot 425* oven. *Note-this is when I am baking the pie dough solo like in my recipe for blackberry pie cookies. Follow the baking directions for whichever pie recipe you are making.*
Let’s Dough This Thang
Now that I have given you my best tips to achieve perfect, flaky, butter pie crust, you are ready to make some dough!
I get all my dry and wet ingredients ready first. I’ll measure out my flour, sugar, and salt, then get a measuring cup, tablespoon, and a quarte cup of ice water that I have added a tablespoon of ACV to. During this time the diced butter is chilling in the freezer. You can even dice it up the day before and use when ready.
I add the flour mixture to the food processor then take my cold butter out of the freezer and pulse 3-5 times. I want the butter to be broken up but not mixed in. It’s ok if you see some larger marble sized chunks of butter in the mixture but nothing bigger than that.
I add the quarter cup of water/acv mixture all at once and pulse another 2-3 times. The dough should come together slightly but not look like pie dough yet. It will look like lumpy wet sand. If you find your dough is still very floury, add in a tablespoon of water and pulse again until it just slightly comes together. If you pinch the dough and it stays together, it’s good to go.
Pour the contents of the food processor out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. It will be crumbly and look like a mess. Hang in there, don’t lose faith. Press the dough lightly together with the palm of your hands a few times, then fold over the plastic wrap over the dough to make a square.
Press down on the dough to flatten it out. I will do this gently with a rolling pin as to not warm up any of the butter on the surface of the dough with the warmth of my hands. I make my dough disc about an inch thick. It will spread to the edges of the plastic wrap and be nice and snug. I will usually take another sheet of plastic wrap to double wrap it before I put it in the fridge to rest.
Allow the dough to rest for at least a couple hours or preferably overnight. Flaky, crisp pie dough benefits from beauty rest.
This pie crust is enough for one 9-inch pie, if you would like a double crust, you can easily double the recipe. It can be used for most pie recipes and is wonderful for fruit pies. Remember to keep dough always chilled to prevent butter form melting before baking.
I am rolling this dough out, brushing with melted butter, a very generous sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and baking until deep golden and feathery light and crisp. Then I will add it a delicious blackberry pie cookie that will be the featured cookie for Cookie Thursday, stay tuned.
If you try this recipe and love it as much as I do, please tag, follow, and like @sunshinetxcookies on Instagram and Facebook. New posts every Tuesday and Thursday so be sure to follow me for more delicious cookie recipes. Happy Baking!
Butter Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 9 tbspn butter cubed and chilled
- 1⅓ cup flour
- ½ tspn salt
- 1 tbspn granulated sugar
- 1 tbspn cornstarch
- 1 tbspn apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup ice water
Instructions
- Combine flour, salt, sugar, and cornstarch in a food processor and pulse to mix.
- Add very cold butter cubes to the flour and pulse 3-5 times in short intervals. The butter should be slightly broken up.
- Add in quarter cup of ice water mixed with ACV then pulse 2-3 times. Making sure not to overmix. You wan the mixture to come together slightly but still be a little crumbly.
- Turn mixture out onto a sheet pf plastic wrap and gently form into a square. Fold plastic wrap over the dough and tap down into a 1 inch thick rectangle.
- Let dough rest for at least two hours and up to 2 days in the fridge.
- Roll dough out on lightly floured surface with lightly floured rolling pin and use in your favorite pie recipe.
