Beef Free All-Butter Pie Crust
A truly great pie starts with the crust, and this all-butter version delivers that perfectly flaky, golden, melt-in-your-mouth base that store-bought simply cannot match. The secret is keeping everything cold — chilled butter cubes worked into the flour until you see those telltale pea-sized pieces, which are exactly what create those gorgeous, layered flakes as the crust bakes. Ice water added gradually ensures the dough comes together just enough without being overworked, so you end up with tender pastry rather than something tough and dense. The short rest in the refrigerator lets the gluten relax and the butter firm back up, making the dough far easier to roll out cleanly. Since this recipe is built entirely from flour, salt, sugar, butter, and water, there's nothing hidden to worry about — just honest, straightforward ingredients you can feel good about. Whether you're filling it with fruit, custard, or a savory mixture, this crust is the kind of foundation that makes the whole pie worth bragging about.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and chilled
- 3–4 tbsp ice water
Instructions
- 1
Whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl until combined.
- 2
Add the chilled butter cubes to the flour mixture and work them in with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized butter pieces still visible throughout.
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