The Best Flaky Pie Crust Recipe

This flaky pie crust recipe makes the perfect pie crust. It’s super light and flaky, and full of layers. It’s the perfect pie dough for sweet pies and savory pies.

baked crust.

Now, don’t be intimidated by making your own crust. You’ll be a pie crust pro in no time with a bit of practice. And the secret to this amazing crust? Two things: Yogurt and lamination! The acid in the yogurt makes the crust super tender and extra flaky. And laminating the dough (folding it over itself) brings all the layers.

This is the best pie crust, and you it’s great to keep in the freezer for any time you’re baking a pie. Like a pecan pie, or old-fashioned lemon pie, or blackberry hand pies.

pie crust in pan.

Ingredients

Find the ingredient amounts for this yogurt pie crust written in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a rundown of what you will need.

  • Butter. You can use salted butter or unsalted butter. The added salt component in the recipe can be slightly adjusted if salted butter.
  • Flour. All-purpose flour or pastry flour.
  • Salt.
  • Sugar.  Optional, but together with the salt, it enhances the crust flavor
  • Plain yogurt. You can use natural or greek yogurt.
  • Ice-cold water – just a little bit to help bring the dough together.

Flaky layers in a pastry crust

The fat in the pie crust is a key factor in creating a flaky pie crust. In this recipe, cold chunks of butter are cut into the dough until it’s broken into coarse breadcrumb pieces with a few pea-sized butter pieces in there too.

When the pastry hits the oven, the water in the butter evaporates and creates air pockets in the pastry.

super flaky pie crust.

Top tips for achieving the perfect flaky crust

  1. Keep the butter cold. Keeping the butter cold at all times is essential. Using cold yogurt will help with that too. If the butter melts into the dough, you won’t get the reaction of the water evaporating in the oven, and won’t be flaky.
  2. Consider shortening. If you are in a hot environment, you may want to swap half the butter for shortening. While butter makes a flakier crust with more flavor, shortening is easier to work with as it has a higher melting point than butter.
  3. Make the pie crust dough by hand. A food processor might save time, but cutting the butter by hand makes a superior crust. There is the risk of cutting the butter too small when using a food processor, which won’t make it as flaky.
  4. Handle the dough gently. Bring the dough together with just enough liquid without working it too much. Once a dough forms, roll it into a rectangle, then fold it into layers like a pamphlet. This process is similar to lamination in inverted puff pastry and makes a flakier crust.
  5. Don’t add too little or too much water. Dough hydration is essential. Too much water and you’ll get gluten formation that’ll make your crust tough. Not enough water or too much flour will make your dough crumbly and impossible to roll out. Find that perfect balance where the dough stays together when pressed but isn’t sticky or dry.
  6. Rest the dough. And speaking of balance, don’t forget to give your dough some rest time. Two hours is ideal for relaxing the gluten and making your crust tender and delicious. And if you’re not ready to bake just yet, freeze that dough for future use!
  7. Bake the pie crust properly. Properly baking the pie crust is essential to achieving a flaky texture. You want it to be nice, crisp, and flaky, so follow the recipe and bake it perfectly. And voila! You’ll have a pie crust that’s flaky, delicious, and ready to be filled with all your favorite goodies.
pie dough.

Method

  1. Begin by chopping the butter into cubes. Add the cubes to a bowl and place them in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes to ensure it’s cold.
  1. Whisk the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the cold butter to the bowl and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour mixture into coarse crumbs. You want a few pea-size pieces of butter in there too.
  1. Add the natural yogurt to the bowl and stir until the dough comes together.
  2. Use a fork or your hands to combine the dough into a shaggy ball, and add in as much chilled water as needed, 1/2 a tablespoon at a time.
crumbly dough.
  1. It should hold together easily when pressed but not be sticky. If the dough is crumbly, add a bit more water. If the butter has softened or the dough is warm, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes before continuing with the next step.
rolling dough.
  1. Roll the dough Into a 10-inch/25-cm rectangle using a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. It doesn’t need to be perfect, just lengthen it to around that size.

Laminating

hand folding pie dough.
  1. Fold the top ⅓ of the dough down to the middle, then fold the bottom ⅓ of the dough up to make a pamphlet shape.
  1. Turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat this roll and fold process once more.
  1. Once finished rolling, cut the dough into two and use your cupped hands to shape each piece into a round disc gently.
  2. Wrap the dough discs up tightly using plastic wrap or place them in a fitted airtight container. Chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days before using it. Alternatively, it can be frozen for up to three months.

Yield

This homemade pie crust recipe makes enough for a double 9-inch pie or two single 9-inch pies.

Rolling a pie crust

Lightly dust your work surface with flour.

Place the chilled pie dough on the floured surface and evenly sprinkle some flour on top. Press down gently with a rolling pin, starting from the center of the dough and working your way out.

Rotate the dough 90 degrees after each pass to ensure an even, circular shape. Continue this process until you achieve a crust thickness of about 1/8-inch and a diameter of about 2 inches larger than your pie dish for a single-crust pie. Make it around 3 inches larger than the pie dish for a double-crust pie.

Once the dough is rolled out, gently place it into the pie dish, ensuring it is centered. Press the dough lightly against the bottom and sides of the pie pan.

Trim any excess dough hanging over the edge, leaving about a 1/2-inch overhang. Tuck the overhang under itself, creating a thicker edge.

To flute the dough, use your thumb and index finger to create a V-shape on the outer edge while pressing your other index finger from the inside of the crust to form a U-shape between the V.

Continue this pattern around the entire crust.

Par-baking

Some pie crusts require par-baking before filling to ensure the crust’s texture remains crisp and flaky. The specific baking method depends on the type of pie and its filling. This involves blind baking the crust until it’s partially cooked.

It is often used for a single-crust pie recipe with a pie filling with a shorter baking time than the crust.

How to partially blind bake a crust

Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C). Using a fork, gently prick the bottom and sides of the pie crust to prevent puffing during baking. This flaky pie crust recipe likes to puff a lot! Line the crust with parchment paper. Fill the parchment-lined crust with pie weights, rice, or dried beans, spreading them out.

Bake it for approximately 10-15 minutes until the edges of the pie crust are lightly browned. Remove it from the oven and lift off the parchment paper and weights. Place the crust back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes until the bottom stops looking wet. 

par baked crust.

Full Baking

Sometimes, the pie crust must be fully baked before adding the filling. This method is used when the filling doesn’t require baking or is pre-cooked. Fully baking the crust ensures it remains crisp and flaky, even after adding the filling.

How to fully bake a pie crust

To fully bake a pie crust, blind-bake it as described above up to the step when removing the pie weights and parchment paper. Lower the oven temperature to 400°F (200°C) and place the pie crust back in the oven for 15-20 minutes until it’s nicely golden brown and baked through.

close up of flaky pie crust.

Related recipes

Here are some great pie recipes to try this in!

close up of flaky pie crust.

Flaky Pie Crust Recipe

Yield: 9-inch double crust
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Additional Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Made with natural yogurt, this pie crust is tender, light, and full of layers, perfect for sweet and savory pies.

Ingredients

  • 312g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour or pastry flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 225g (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold
  • 120g (½ cup) natural yogurt, cold
  • Ice-water as needed

Instructions

  1. Begin by chopping the butter into cubes. Add the cubes to a bowl and place them in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes to ensure it's cold.
  2. Whisk the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the cold butter to the bowl and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour mixture into coarse crumbs. You want a few pea-size pieces of butter in there.
  3. Add the yogurt to the bowl and stir until the dough comes together. Use a fork or your hands to combine the dough into a shaggy ball, and add in as much chilled water as needed, 1/2 a tablespoon at a time. It should hold together easily when pressed but not be sticky. If the dough is crumbly, add a bit more water. If the butter has softened or the dough is warm, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes before continuing with the next step.
  4. Roll the dough Into a 10-inch/25-cm rectangle using a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. It doesn't need to be perfect, just lengthen it to around that size.
  5. Fold the top ⅓ of the dough down to the middle, then fold the bottom ⅓ of the dough up to make a pamphlet shape. Turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat this roll and fold process once more.
  6. Once finished rolling, cut the dough into two and use your cupped hands to shape each piece into a round disc gently.
  7. Wrap the dough discs up tightly using plastic wrap or place them in a fitted airtight container. Chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days before using it. Alternatively, it can be frozen for up to three months.
  8. See instructions on baking the pie crust in the above post.

Notes

*The cup sizes given are US-sized cups. Note that these are smaller than metric cups. For best results, use grams.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 15 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 223Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 213mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 4g

This is an informational estimate only. I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist

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