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Bon Appétit

Flakiest Pie Crust

3.6

(176)

Image may contain Food Human Person Powder and Flour
Christopher Testani

The best pie crust doesn't require special equipment. Using your hands is the best way to ensure that the butter ends up in irregular pieces and the dough doesn’t get overworked. Use the force!

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes two 9" pie crusts Servings

Ingredients

2¼

cups all-purpose flour

1

tablespoon sugar

1

teaspoon kosher salt

1

cup (2 sticks) plus 2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1

tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Toss butter in flour mixture to evenly coat. Working quickly and aggressively, use your fingers to rub butter into flour to create large, shaggy pieces of dough (the idea is to smash the butter into the flour, creating some pieces that are flat and thin and some that are large and chunky).

    Step 2

    Combine vinegar and 3 Tbsp. ice water in a small bowl and drizzle over flour mixture, running your fingers through the flour as you drizzle to evenly distribute (think of running your fingers through your hair). Knead dough in the bowl until it starts to come together (it will still look a little dry).

    Step 3

    Turn dough out onto a work surface and knead 1 or 2 more times, pressing to incorporate shaggy edges. Divide dough into 2 pieces and press into about 1"-thick disks. Wrap with plastic and chill at least 1 hour.

    Step 4

    Do Ahead: Dough can be made 5 days ahead; keep chilled, or freeze up to 1 month.

Nutrition Per Serving

Calculated per crust: Calories (kcal) 1460 Fat (g) 105 Saturated Fat (g) 66 Cholesterol (mg) 275 Carbohydrates (g) 115 Dietary Fiber (g) 4 Total Sugars (g) 7 Protein (g) 16 Sodium (mg) 980
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Reviews (176)

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  • Why can't I read any of the reviews on this recipe!?

    • Anonymous

    • 9/30/2018

  • Made this recipe twice and both times came out way too flaky. The dough would not stick together so I added some extra water to the second batch but it still didn’t set right. Won’t be making again.

    • jess_irion

    • Baltimore

    • 12/31/2019

  • I love this recipe, it is my go to pie crust! I’ve used it for both sweet and savory pies, just adjusting the sugar up for sweet pies and the salt up for savory. I would recommend messing around a bit with the water flour ratio as it does not come out perfect at first. I also always take one of the sticks of butter and laminate it in with either seasoning or sugar to make it more flaky!

    • tristan.babbitt

    • Charlotte, NC

    • 3/29/2020

  • I would really like to make this but I only have cake and pastry flour. What would be the amount to sub in for the all-purpose? Is it just one-to-one?

    • Anonymous

    • 4/12/2020

  • Simple delicious!! Almost too easy to make. 10/10 would make again!

    • Anonymous

    • Ann Arbor

    • 6/20/2020

  • Flakey crust but i wish that cooking temp and duration was included in the recipe.

    • Anonymous

    • 7/4/2020

  • I have tried this crust at least three times, and it never comes out right. The taste is lovely, but this most recent time I had cracks all through my crust after blind baking it. It also doesn’t seem to make quite enough for two 9” deep dish pies, and it seems like every pie recipe these days calls for a 9” deep dish. I’m back on the hunt for a new go-to crust recipe.

    • Elizabeth

    • North Carolina

    • 12/3/2020