Planning ahead can be as easy as Pie! Make this Pie Dough this weekend, freeze ahead and be ready to bake the day of with no stress or effort. This dough is a basic recipe that requires minimal ingredients but results in a flaky crust that will impress everyone!
I absolutely love spending my whole day in the kitchen baking. I know it might not sound appealing to some of you, which is why I am sharing how to make basic homemade pie dough ahead of time so when you are ready to bake those delicious pies over the Holidays, you won’t spend endless hours prepping in the kitchen.
Homemade Crusts will make such a difference in your pies in terms of flavor and texture. Plus, you probably have most of the ingredients already in your pantry.
Flour Sugar Salt Butter Water
Making your own homemade crust can be difficult and intimidting. I made my first pies last year for Thanksgiving and I practiced for weeks leading up to the day. It took a lot of time and practice to perfect this skill and I am still no expert by any means. By the time it was Thanksgiving, I was over pies!! Instead of struggling as I did, follow these tips and learn how to make a pie crust that will impress all your relatives this year!
Tips to Making the Perfect Pie Dough:
Keep the butter cold:
For a flaky pie crust, you want your butter to be cold. When mixing butter in your dough, you actually want little chunks of butter roughly the size of peas and not any larger. When your crust is baking these little chunks of butter melt leaving air pockets. This will ensure you have the perfectly flaky pie crust! Believe me, this step is key… use COLD butter!
Let the dough chill:
The butter starts to warm as you’re making the dough. To avoid this, keep the dough chilled. If you find your dough becomes sticky when rolling it out, place the dough back in the fridge.
How to Make Dough and Freeze:
Step 1: In an electric stand mixer (or handheld mixer), stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl.
Step 2: Add the cubed butter (make sure butter is very cold) and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture.
Step 3: Mix on medium-low speed until the butter pieces no larger than small peas, the texture should resemble coarse cornmeal.
Step 4: Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together. The dough will pull dough quickly.
Step 5: Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk.
Step 6: Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until ready to use (dough will last up to 2 months in freezer).
*This recipes makes enough dough for one 9-inch single-crust pie. If you plan to make a lattice top you want to double this recipe.*
To make a double-crust pie: Double the recipe, cut the dough in half and pat each half into a round, flat disk.
Now that you have your Pie Dough, click here for Step-by-Step Instructions and Tips on How to Bake the Perfect Pie Crust.
- 1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 8 Tbsp. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes
- 3 Tbsp. cold water
- In a stand mixer or using a handheld mixer, stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl.
- Add the cold, cubed butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture.
- Mix on medium-low speed until the butter pieces are no larger than small peas, the texture should resemble coarse cornmeal.
- Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.
- Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk.
- *Makes enough dough for one 9-inch single-crust pie*
- If freezing for later use: Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until ready to use (dough will last up to 2 months in freezer).
- If baking pie crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Flour your rolling surface and rolling pin. Place chilled dough disk onto a floured surface. Roll out the dough, rotating the dough as you go. Transfer the dough into the pie plate. Press the dough into the pie plate. Trim the edges. Crimp the edges using your fingers. Prick the bottom of pastry all over with a fork. Bake for about 30 minutes or until crust begins to color around the edges.
To make this Pie Dough, I use my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, truly every Well Dressed Kitchen needs one so I have linked below.
For the Apple Pie Recipe I am making this Thanksgiving, click here!
I got this recipe on Audrey’s Apron Food Blog. She calls it the Best Apple Pie Ever and I agree! I have made this Apple Pie Recipe a handful of times and I just love it, the sauce smells amazing and tastes even better, it’s hard not to eat all of the filling before you have even have a chance to fill the pie crust!
