Having a standard pie crust recipe is an essential in any kitchen. This Easy Homemade Pie Crust can be used in both sweet and savory applications such as a chicken pot pie, empanadas, apple pie, or even a delicious double berry galette. Making your own pie dough is surprisingly simple and so rewarding. Best of all, it is a cinch to make in a food processor!
When you make anything from home instead of opting for the store-bought option, you know exactly what is in it and can enjoy it guilt-free. No preservatives, additives, hormones, or chemicals here… just the good stuff!
🎉 Now, Let’s Get Baking!
Ingredients
All Purpose Flour: Cooking with organic unbleached and unbromated flour is extremely important.
Nutrition Note: Most non-organic flours contain potassium bromate which is a chemical added to flour that according to Google AI “acts as an oxidizing agent, enhancing the rising process of dough and improving the overall texture of baked goods. While bromate is used to improve baking results, it has also been linked to health concerns, as it has been shown to cause kidney, thyroid, and gastrointestinal cancer in animals”
Butter: I always use organic unsalted butter for baking and cooking. It provides the perfect base to add any flavors to it for sweet or savory applications.
Salt: Any good quality salt will do. I use pink Himalayan sea salt for a little boost of nutrients
Sugar: I use organic raw sugar cane for my baking. Sugar in the raw still has its nutrients intact, and it hasn’t been bleached. It is a beautiful sandy color and adds a slight caramel-y and molasses-y note to your baked goods.
Eggs: I eat and cook with free range eggs. Opting for free range eggs means that your chickens haven’t been cooped up and fed strictly grain. They are allowed to graze and eat grass and bugs and whatever else they find tasty which makes for a healthier egg.
Water: Using ice-cold water is so important for yielding a flaky pie crust.
Nutrition Note: In our home we have a reverse osmosis filter, which according to the EPA, “can potentially remove water contaminants such as lead, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PFAS, arsenic, bacteria, and viruses” (1). We find that the water tastes so much better and feel relieved knowing we are not consuming dangerous additives. If you use a reverse osmosis filter in your home for drinking water, look into possibly supplementing with minerals as the filter removes minerals in addition to the above.
Try to always use organic ingredients when possible. Avoiding the chemicals, added hormones, and pesticides that get put into our food supply is so important.
Homemade Pie Dough – 9 inch crust
Equipment
- 1 food processor (or, you can make it by hand)
Ingredients
- 1½ cups All Purpose Flour
- 10 tbsp Butter Cold
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Sugar Optional
- 1 large Egg
- 2½ tbsp Water Chilled
Instructions
Food Processor Instructions
- Whisk together the egg and water and put in the fridge until needed. If you can, drop in an ice cube to ensure that the mixture stays as cold as possible.
- Cut the butter into cubes and put in the fridge until needed.
- In the food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt until combined.
- Pull the butter out of the fridge and pulse in the flour mixture until you see pea-to-walnut sized chunks of butter in the flour.
- Pull the egg and water mixture from the fridge (remove the ice cube if used) and slowly pour into the food processor while it runs until the dough pulls away from the sides of the food processor.
- There you go! Your homemade food processor-friendly pie dough is done! Let the dough chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before baking and filling. See tip below about how to roll out and store your dough to achieve optimal flakiness!
By Hand Instructions
- Whisk together the egg and water and put in the fridge until needed. If you can, drop in an ice cube to ensure that the mixture stays as cold as possible.
- Cut the butter into cubes and put in the fridge until needed.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Then, using your hand or a whisk, stir until combined.
- Next, get your cubed butter from the fridge, add to the flour mixture and squish the between your fingers until you have achieved pea-to-walnut sized chunks of butter throughout the flour mixture. Be careful to not work the dough too much. Overworking will heat up the dough, causing you to miss out on extra flakiness in the final product.
- Finally, retrieve your egg and water from the fridge (remove the ice cube if used), and pour it over your butter and flour. Using your hands or a spatula, gently stir it together until very little spots of dry flour remain and the mixture is well-combined.
- Congrats on making your very own homemade pie dough by hand! Let the dough chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before baking and filling. See tip below about how to roll out and store your dough to achieve optimal flakiness!
Pro Tip: How To Achieve Optimal Flakiness
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly-floured surface and gently pat/roll the dough out into a large rectangle shape. Mentally divide your dough into 3 sections (left, center, and right). Fold the right side of the dough over the the center section of dough, then, fold the left side of the dough over the center section of dough. You should now have 1 section of dough with 3 layers (these layers are going to create beautiful layers of flakiness in the final dough). All done! Wrap your dough and chill it for at least 20 minutes before folding again (adding additional layers) or baking and filling. Congrats and enjoy!
Notes
Well there you have it, a universal pie crust suitable for sweet or savory uses. A staple recipe to have in any kitchen. I hope you try this recipe for your next pie, empanada, or galette, and love it!
May God bless you and yours,
<3 K & J
(1)“Point-of-Use Reverse Osmosis Systems.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov/watersense/point-use-reverse-osmosis-systems.
