Mom’s 4-Ingredient, Buttery, Sweet Pie Crust for Sweet Fillings
Flour, butter, salt, & mom's secret ingredient... powdered sugar. Try this flaky, tasty, tender, and sweet pie crust for your next sweet pie filling. It has just enough flavor to enjoy alone and allows your pie fillings to shine. The incredible flakiness from an all-butter pie crust might surprise you!
Servings: 8 slices
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ⅓ tsp salt omit if using salted butter
- 4 oz (½ cup / 1 stick) cold butter diced and kept in fridge until ready to use it
- 5-6 tbsp ICE cold water place ice & water in a measuring glass before beginning recipe
Instructions
- Dice the butter keep it in the refrigerator. Add ice and ½ cup of water to a glass and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Use a pastry cutter to cut in the diced butter until the mixture resembles small peas or course cornmeal (according to my southern grandma).
- Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time using a fork to toss the dry and wet together. Push the mixture against the side of the bowl to ensure the water moistens the ingredients. Continue adding water until all the mixture is just moistened.
- Remove the dough and wrap it loosely in plastic wrap. Form the dough into a disk and place it in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Lightly flour a parchment-lined work surface. Remove the dough from the fridge, unwrap it, and place it on the parchment. Pressing hard, roll dough from the center to the edges rotating the parchment paper until you have at least 2 inches beyond your pie plate perimeter. If using a 9-inch pie plate, roll the dough to 12-14 inches in diameter.
- To prevent the dough from stretching, use the parchment paper to fold the dough in half and then in half again. Pick it up carefully and unfold it in the pie plate. Leave a minimum of ½ inch of dough beyond the pie plate. Use a knife or kitchen shears to trim off excess dough beyond the extra 2 inches needed for decorating. Fold the dough under to create a thick edge. Then, crimp or flute the edge to desired look. Place the formed pie crust back in the fridge for another 15-20 minutes to ensure that it’s good and cold when you place it in the oven.
- Remove the pie dough, add any fillings, and bake following your recipe’s directions. OR blind bake or completely bake the pie crust following the directions below.
- To blind bake a pie crust for baking with liquid ingredients, add a sheet of parchment paper or foil to cover the inside bottom of the dough and add on top pie weights, dried beans, or dried rice. Bake at 425˚F (220˚C) for 10-15 minutes just until the dough is no longer raw and still pale. Remove the weights and paper and add the filling. Bake for the recipe’s directed time.
- To completely bake a pie crust for cold pies, bake the pie crust in the oven at 425˚F (220˚C) with a sheet of parchment paper or foil covering the inside bottom of the dough. Add weights, dried beans, or dried rice and bake for 17 to 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and “weights”. Continue to bake until the crust is evenly brown and looks crisp, which should take another 10 minutes or so.
Notes
*Double the ingredients for a double pie crust.
*You can roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper or 2 sheets of plastic wrap (requires little to no flour).
Variation for a more flavorful crust:
-Use half shortening and half butter.
-Replace water with sour cream using 1/2 the amount.
-Use ice cold milk in place of water, apple juice or cider to compliment other ingredients in the recipe. Keep the liquid refrigerated up to 5 minutes before using it. Add ice cubes to a glass and add liquid until you reach ½ cup. Do this for the last 5 minutes before you add it to the pie dough.
-In place of powdered sugar, add brown sugar, maple sugar (with less liquid), or other sweetener.
To freeze: Once pie dough is shaped and in pie plate, wrap it well and freeze for up to a couple of months. Thaw in fridge overnight and follow recipe’s filling and baking directions.
Food Processor Directions: If in a hurry, you can use a food processor. Add the flour and salt, run the machine to combine them. Place the diced butter over the top of the dry. Pulse until the mixture resembles small peas or course cornmeal. Add 3 tbsp of water through the chute at the top of the machine. Run the machine for 5-10 seconds add more water if needed and run only a few seconds more. Careful not to over mix the dough. As soon as the mixture is moistened, remove it and follow the remaining above directions from step 4.