Easy 3 Ingredient Pie Crust

This flaky, buttery 3 ingredient pie crust needs just flour, butter and water. Plus you can make it by hand, without any special kitchen equipment. And large chunks of butter create the most delicious, flaky layers. Queue all the pies from sweet strawberry blueberry pie to a savory roasted carrot galette!

I used to think making pie crust at home was a really complex process. It turns out that it's actually quite simple! I've made dozens of pie crusts now, and I'm excited to share all the tips I learned with you.

This 3 ingredient pie crust recipe is easy to make as a beginner baker, since it only requires flour, butter, and water. And after spending hundreds of hours in the kitchen developing foolproof recipe for beginner home bakers, this is an essential one to have in your repertoire.

Ingredients

• Butter - I recommend using cold unsalted butter. Cut your butter into cubes and store it in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
• Flour - I recommend using all purpose flour for the best texture.
• Water - To get your water as cold as it needs to be, place cold water in a bowl with some ice cubes. Store it in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
• Salt - This is an optional fourth ingredient, to add a little extra flavor to your pie crust and really bring out the butter's natural flavor.

How to Make Pie Crust

Prepare your butter: Cut your butter into small cubes, and store in the fridge until you're ready to use it. This will help keep the butter cold and hard, which is essential.

Combine the flour and salt: If you are adding salt or any other dry ingredients to your pie dough like sugar, cocoa powder, or spices, whisk them together in a large mixing bowl with the all purpose flour.

Add the butter: Add your cold, cubed butter to the large mixing bowl of flour.

Incorporate the butter: Use your index fingers and thumbs to toss the butter in the flour, and to squeeze the butter cubes into flatter, smaller pieces. The butter pieces should end up looking like small, thick cornflakes or roughly the size of almonds.

Add the ice cold water: Add your ice water one tablespoon at a time into the butter and flour.

Mix the dough: Mix the water into the flour and butter with a fork. Keep adding one tablespoon of water at a time and mixing, just until the dough holds its shape in your hand.

Shape the dough: Once the dough can hold its shape when squeezed into a ball in your hand, gently press the dough into two discs (aka flattened circles).

Rest and chill the dough: Wrap your dough discs tightly in plastic wrap and let rest and chill in the fridge for at least one hour, or up to three days.

Roll out the dough: Allow the dough to warm up and soften a bit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie dough. You can use a rolling pin, but I've also used a large flat bottle in a pinch.

Pro Tip: Roll out the dough to be about ⅛-inch thick. If it's too thick, it won't cook all the way through. If it's too thin, it could tear.

Use your pie dough according to your recipe. Depending on what you're making, you'll either transfer your pie dough into a pie pan like my fresh blueberry pie, or fill it and bake it on a baking sheet like my pear galette.

Or perhaps you'll cut the dough to make pie crust cookies or cruffins! Truly, the possibilities are endless!

What is the Secret to Good Pie Crust?

My biggest secret for making delicious pie crust is to keep your butter cold. If your butter starts to soften and melt before your pie is baked, the butter could melt out of the crust and turn into a puddle in your oven floor.

Here's a little science behind it: Steam is created as water evaporates out of the cold butter when it hits your hot oven. This steam creates the flaky, light layers in your pie crust.

So how do you keep your butter cold? Here are my top tips:

• Work with frozen butter or butter that's been kept chilled in the fridge.
• Use ice cold water with ice cubes in it. If you use cold butter but warm water, the butter could still end up softening due to the water temperature.
• Run your hands under cold water if you feel like your hands are warm and causing the butter to soften as you mix the dough.
• Return the dough to the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes whenever you see that the butter is starting to soften.
• Roll out your pie crust on a frozen cookie sheet if it's hot in your kitchen.

How to Egg Wash Pie Crust?

An egg wash is a mixture of egg and water or milk.

It is sometimes brushed on the bottom of a pie crust before blind baking or par baking, to help seal the bottom and prevent it from becoming soggy.

It's also often brushed on top of the pie crust before baking, to develop a golden sheen.

There are slight differences in color based on whether you use the egg white, egg yolk or the whole egg with water, milk or cream. But in my opinion, the differences are subtle, mostly in the shade of golden brown that develops on your pie crust.

Avoiding Common Challenges

• Tearing: If you try to roll out your pie dough when it's too warm or if the dough is rolled too thin, it can tear.
• Crumbling: If you try to roll out your pie dough when it's too cold, it could crumble. Allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes to warm up a little after taking it out of the fridge.
• Dry Crust: If you notice that your pie dough is too dry and crumbly, sprinkle some ice cold water with your fingers on the dough. Knead the water in until it's the correct texture.
• Wet Crust: If you notice that your pie dough is too wet and sticky, knead in a little more flour until it's the correct texture.
• Tough Crust: If pie dough is overworked, it can get tough, resulting in chewy, hard pie crust. Don't over knead your dough - stop mixing when the pie dough can hold its shape when squeezed in the palm of your hand.

Recipe Variations

• For sweet pies like pumpkin pasties, add sugar or spices to your pie dough like ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom.
• For savory pies like German onion pie, add a dash of salt to your pie dough along with other spices like paprika or black pepper.
• You can add food dye to your pie to change the color. For example, dragon fruit powder makes a vibrant pink pie crust, perfect for strawberry pie!

FAQ's

Is pie crust better with butter or shortening?

I prefer using all butter in my pie crust, which creates a better flavor and tons of light and flaky layers.

Using all or some shortening in the pie crust will diminish the buttery flavor and make it less flaky. However, shortening is more stable at room temperature, so if you're trying to make a pie in hot temperatures without a fridge or AC, combining shortening with butter in pie dough could save your pie crust from melting into a mess.

What are pie weights?

Pie weights are small ceramic or metal balls you place inside your pie crust while blind baking or par baking, to prevent the crust from falling in on itself.

Pro Tip: Cover your pie crust with parchment paper then pour dry rice or beans on top for cheap DIY pie weights!

Blind baking vs. par baking

Blind baking means you completely bake your pie crust before adding the filling, like with a custard pie or cream cheese cherry torte.

Par baking means you partially bake your crust before adding your filling, and then finish baking the pie.

Both methods help to crisp up the crust before adding the filling, to prevent a soggy bottom.

Can I Freeze Pie Dough?

Yes! I always make a double batch of this 3 ingredient pie dough to use one pie crust right away, and save the other in the freezer for later. The recipe below makes two pie dough discs, so you can try this too!

To freeze pie crust dough, wrap the dough disc tightly in two layers of plastic wrap. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you're ready to use it, allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight.

What to Make with Pie Crust?

Now that you have a perfect 3 ingredient pie crust, here are some delicious pie recipes to get baking!