Basic Pie Crust with Butter Recipe - Making Life Delicious (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a good pie crust? ›

Pie and tart doughs have so much butter in them that they almost self-grease as they bake. The butter melts and turns into steam and browns the bottoms making them crispy. If you add more grease into that situation, the texture of your pie crust may change in the oven. So you definitely don't want to overdo it.

Butter plays a key role in creating the delicate flakiness of the pie crust, and only if the butter is incorporated correctly and COLD when it goes into the oven.

Shortening is better at crumbly crust, butter is better at flaky. But you can get either from both. There are obvious differences in flavor, and butter can give you a very nice chewiness in a crust while still being tender. Butter also tends to shrink and lose shape/detail more when it bakes.

The dough is relatively easy to work with and roll out, and it holds its shape in the oven. The secret lies in using a combination of butter and shortening; butter not only imparts a rich flavor but also contributes to the crust's flakiness, while shortening ensures it maintains its shape and enhances the texture.

The theory is that the fat disrupts the formation of bubbles on the surface of the viscous fruit mixture. Others claim that the butter simply enriches the flavor and texture of the pie filling.

If your recipe doesn't have instructions and you're wondering how long to pre bake the pie, here's what I do: I pre bake the prepped pie crust at 350°F. If the crust is homemade from scratch, I pre bake for 35 minutes. If the crust is store-bought, I pre bake for 30 minutes.

To fully prebake the crust, prick the bottom all over with a fork to prevent bubbles.

Despite the great taste of butter, some bakers don't like to use it for pie crusts because it's difficult to handle. “Butter is harder to work with than shortening because it melts at a lower temperature,” Huntsberger said. It can be hard to get a flaky pie crust with butter if the butter isn't handled very carefully.

What are 2 disadvantages of using all butter in pie crust? ›

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using butter in a pie crust? Advantages : excellent flavor and forms distinct flaky layers. Disadvantages: Expensive and butter melts easy bettween 82.5 and 96.8 degrees F. It takes more time to make pastry because it must be refrigerated.

Tough pie crusts are typically the result of working the dough too much (again, gluten). You don't need to make sure it's a perfectly uniform ball. “As long as the dough is mostly holding together, you don't need to spend a lot of time kneading it,” Susan Reid wrote for King Arthur Baking.

The vodka works for two reasons. First, it makes the dough feel way more moist and easier to work with. Second, the ethanol in the vodka stops the gluten in the flour from binding, making for a more tender end product.

The acidic properties of vinegar inhibit gluten, some will say. This theory proposes that once the water and flour are combined, gluten starts forming, causing the dough to grow tough. Adding an acid, the theory goes, stops the gluten in its tracks and rescues the crust from toughness.

#1—Cut the fat into the flour

Over-mixing frequently leads to a tough product. Pie dough is no different—the less you handle it, the better the result. Recipes for pie dough use the “rubbing” mixing method to combine the fat into the dry ingredients.

Traditionally, what you're looking for in a pie crust are three basic things: you want it to be fully cooked through, without any doughiness between the filling and the bottom crust, you want the crust to be light and flaky with discernible layers, and, of course, you want there to be a rich, buttery flavor.

First, roll your bottom crust and place it in the pan. Crimp or flatten the edge. Chill it for 30 minutes, to relax the gluten and firm up the fat(s); this will help prevent shrinkage, so don't skip! Dried navy beans and a 9" parchment round are one simple way to keep your bottom crust from bubbling as it bakes.