Learn how to make 3 ingredient all-butter pie crust that is light and flaky with only a few ingredients from the pantry!

Pie crust is something that had always intimidated me until, I found the right recipe. Growing up, I was accustomed to buying pie crust because that is what my childhood household habits were. I always heard growing up that pie crust is just too hard to make….so I never even tried! I am here to tell you, if you also feel intimidated, that it is easier than it’s made out to be. Especially if you own a food processor, pie crust comes together in only about 15 minutes of work time.

I like to now make a few pie crusts for the freezer, so I have the convenience of the store-bought and the health and tastiness of homemade. All of the ingredients listed in this recipe, are ones we almost always have on hand. I keep a home inventory list, which is a stockpile of pantry items we use and rotate through. Pie crust is a basic recipe that everyone should learn because so many different meals can come from it. Plus, it feels quite empowering to make something, that I was told all my life was too difficult to bother with.

Tools You’ll Need to Make All-Butter Pie Crust

Food processor
Rolling pin
Measuring spoons
Gallon freezer bags
Measuring cups

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make All-Butter Pie Crust

2-1/2 All Purpose Flour
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 cup butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup ice water, plus more as needed

How to Make All-Butter Pie Crust

Mix the flour and sugar together in a food processor.
Add the cold cubed butter to the food processor and pulse until the butter is pea sized.
Slowly add the ice water through the food processor chute.
Stop adding water when the dough comes together easily and begins to form large clumps. The dough will feel moist and a little sticky, but not overly wet. Do not add any more water than you need to achieve this consistency.
Place the pie dough on a lightly floured work surface. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is fully incorporated into the butter.
Form it into a ball.
Divide the dough with a bench scraper.
Flatten each half into a 1-inch-thick disk.
Place each disk into a gallon freezer bag, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 5 days before using for a pie recipe.
When rolling out the chilled pie dough disks, use even and gentle force with your rolling pin. Start from the counter of the disk and work your way out evenly in all directions to maintain a round shape. Smooth edges, if you notice cracks forming.
Proceed with the pie per your recipes instructions.

All-Butter Pie Crust Tips

Keep all ingredients cold-Keeping all ingredients extremely cold, is the key to good pie crust! It you are making crust in a hot kitchen, consider putting even your dry ingredients in the freezer before starting.
Use a glass pie plate-When you go to use your crust in any recipe, use a glass pie plate so that the crust is heated evenly and gets a nice texture.
If your pie recipe requires pre-baking use pie weights so the pie crust doesn’t puff up and then shrink.

Recipes that use an all-butter pie crust:

We use an all-butter pie crust because butter, flour, and sugar are always in our pantry. I do not keep shortening on hand, because I use it for so few things. We almost exclusibly use this pie crust recipe. This all-butter pie crust recipe ONLY uses 3 ingredients and is so versatile. It can be used in savory dishes like chicken pot pie or quiche to dessert dishes like strawberry pie. It even can be used to make little handheld pies! Some of the most popular way we use this pie crust are:

Chicken Pot Pie-This is great because it is a full meal AND it freezes nicely. I will often make a few of these during my freezer cooking sessions.
Quiche-We love quiche for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is a really good way to use up extra eggs during our hens’ busy season. Quiche can even be made during the winter out of freeze-dried raw eggs!
Strawberry Pie-One of our favorites when the homegrown strawberries are in season. It tastes so delicious with homemade whipped cream.
Blueberry Pie-We have a tradition of making homemade blueberry pie every year after we visit our local U-pick blueberry farm.
Apple Pie-After visiting Grey’s family apple orchard, homemade apple pie in the Fall is a comforting tradition!
Cherry Pie-When our cherries are ready from the tree, we spend days pitting them and making home-canned cherries, so they are ready to make into pies during the whole year.
Butternut Squash Pie-When the butternut squash is abundant, making butternut squash pie is a family tradition!
Chocolate Raspberry Pie-Every Spring when the raspberries are ripe, we try to hold the kids off long enough to have enough to make this pie. It is decadent, and impressive for guests.

garlic scape quiche with all butter pie crust

Commonly asked questions

Why is my pie crust crumbling?

Pie crust that is too dry might be your problem. Make sure you use enough ice water when mixing up your dough.

Why is my pie crust burning on the edges?

To prevent the edges from burning you can use tin foil or a pie shield, around the edges of the pie plate to deflect the heat.

How long will this pie crust keep in the freezer?

This pie crust will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months, just set it in the refrigerator ahead of when you are ready to use it. Roll it out once it is thawed.

3-Ingredient All-Butter Pie Crust

Learn how to make 3 ingredient all-butter pie crust that is light and flaky with only a few ingredients from the pantry!

Ingredients

2-1/2 All Purpose Flour
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 cup butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup ice water, plus more as needed

Instructions

Mix the flour and sugar together in a food processor.
Add the cold cubed butter to the food processor and pulse until the butter is pea sized.
Slowly add the ice water through the food processor chute.
Stop adding water when the dough comes together easily and begins to form large clumps. The dough will feel moist and a little sticky, but not overly wet. Do not add any more water than you need to achieve this consistency.
Place the pie dough on a lightly floured work surface. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is fully incorporated into the butter.
Form it into a ball.
Divide the dough with a bench scraper.
Flatten each half into a 1-inch-thick disk.
Place each disk into a gallon freezer bag, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 5 days before using for a pie recipe.
When rolling out the chilled pie dough disks, use even and gentle force with your rolling pin. Start from the counter of the disk and work your way out evenly in all directions to maintain a round shape. Smooth edges, if you notice cracks forming.
Proceed with the pie per your recipes instructions.