Buttery And Flaky 6-Inch Pie Crust

Maybe you aren't planning on feeding a crowd and are making a smaller pie recipe. If so, let me my favorite Buttery and Flaky 6-inch Pie Crust. It is really simple to make and is the perfect pie crust- trust me, I have me this thousands of times!! This recipe will make enough for 2 pie crusts, or a top and bottom.

I have a pie obsession and might need help with that. Check out some of my favorite pie recipes below.

Top tips for making pie crust

While pie-making isn't complicated, there are some things to keep in mind. These tips I am listing will have you making pie crust perfectly the first time and every time.

1. Keep the Dough Chilled: It's essential to maintain a consistently cold temperature throughout the process. This includes using cold ingredients like butter and water. Chilling the dough until it enters the hot oven is crucial as it ensures that the cold butter within the dough creates distinct pockets during baking. These pockets result from the rapid expansion of the moisture in the butter into steam, giving your pie crust a flaky and tender texture. The contrast between the chilled dough and the hot oven is what produces this effect.
2. Minimal Handling: Handle the dough as little as possible to prevent overworking it. Overworking can make the crust tough instead of tender.
3. Chill the Dough: After mixing the dough, chill it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out. This allows the butter to firm up, making it easier to work with and preventing it from melting too quickly in the oven.

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour- I like to use unbleached all-purpose flour for mine.
• Whole wheat flour- If you have been following me for a while, you know I use whole wheat in all my baked goods. I especially love it in my pie crust. That nutty flavor and texture is one you will want to try if you haven't before. You can use red or white whole wheat flour, spelt flour, rye flour, or Kamut flour. For this recipe, I used whole wheat pastry flour.
• Butter- I know your grandma's recipe probably used shortening, but I like the butter flavor and texture so much better. This is an all-butter crust.
• Salt- Kosher salt is my preferred.
• Ice water- I fill up a glass with ice and water, then strain out the chilled water for the dough when I am ready to use it.

How to make the pie crust by hand

I generally make my pie crust in the food processor as this is the quickest and easiest method. However, if you don't have a food processor or just want to make it by hand, let me walk you through the steps.

Make sure you have everything ready and work through the steps quickly, you want the dough to stay chilled.

Mix dry ingredients

Start by mixing the dry ingredients. Do this in a medium-sized bowl as you will make dough in this bowl.

Cut in butter

Cut your chilled butter into ½-inch pieces and add them to the flour mixer. Make sure your butter is CHILLED, you want this to stay cold until it hits the oven.

Once the butter is in, use your hands or a pastry blender to break the butter into small pea-sized pieces. I use a process of sliding it between my hands to break it up, as you can see in the photos below.

Add ice water

The last step in the making process is to add in the ice water. Be sure to strain out the ice before you add it in. Mix this in with your hands, kneading just a couple of times at the end to make sure it is all mixed in.

Chill

It is really important to let the dough chill before working with it. This will do a couple of things- it will keep the dough cold, but it will also give the gluten a chance to rest, making it easier to work with when you are ready to make your pie.

I wrap mine in plastic wrap and move it to the fridge for at least an hour before working with it.

Food processor method

I won't go into as much detail with the food processor method as it is essentially the same as above, just in the food processor instead.

• Combine flour and salt in the food processor.
• Add the cold, cubed butter.
• Pulse in short bursts until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Add all the ice water at once.
• Pulse until the dough starts to come together but is still crumbly.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and form it into a disk.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour before using

How to roll out pie crust to make a pie

1. Prepare Your Work Surface: Dust a clean, flat surface and a rolling pin with a bit of flour to prevent sticking. You can use all-purpose flour for this.
2. Take the Chilled Dough: Remove the chilled pie dough from the refrigerator and let it sit for a couple of minutes to slightly soften, making it easier to work with.
3. Flatten the Dough: Gently press the dough down with your hands to flatten it slightly.
4. Roll Out the Dough: Place the dough in the center of your floured work surface. Begin rolling it out from the center to the edges, using gentle, even pressure. Roll in one direction, then turn the dough 90 degrees and roll in the other direction to create an even circle. Continue rolling until the dough is about 2 inches larger in diameter than your pie pan.
5. Check the Size: To ensure that the dough is large enough to fit your pie pan, you can place the pie pan upside down on top of the rolled dough. The dough should extend at least 1 inch beyond the edges of the pan.
6. Transfer the Dough: Gently fold the dough in half to make it easier to lift without tearing. Carefully transfer it to the pie pan by unfolding it over the pan. Center the dough in the pan.
7. Press into Place: Gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pie pan, making sure it's snug against the edges.
8. Trim Excess Dough: Use a pair of kitchen shears or a knife to trim any excess dough that hangs over the edge of the pie pan, leaving about a ½-inch overhang. This overhang can be folded under to create a thicker, decorative crust edge.
9. Crimp the Edges: To create a decorative edge, use your fingers or a fork to crimp the dough all around the edge of the pie. (NOTE: if you are using a top crust, don't crimp until both layers are together).
10. Top the pie: If you are using a top crust on your pie, fill it with your preferred filling. Roll out the top crust and lay it over the filling. Trim the edges as needed and crimp the edges tightly.
11. Chill (if needed): If your recipe calls for a chilled crust before baking, place the pie pan with the crust in the refrigerator for a short time while you prepare the pie filling.

How many does a 6-inch pie serve

Well, this depends on the person (s) eating the pie. I am not one to judge the amount of pie a person can eat. Unless you are doing a sampling of a lot of different 6-inch pieces (which I did one year for Thanksgiving) I generally think this size will feed 2 people. However, if you want to eat this all on your own, go for it.

You can cut the pie into 4-6 pieces. If you cut it into 6 pieces, they will be small pieces.

How to store homemade pie dough?

This is a question I get ALL the time. I know everyone on the internet has different thoughts, but let me share mine. These have been tested so many different times.

Fridge

You can hold this pie dough in the fridge for up to 7 days. Be sure you wrap it tightly with plastic wrap before placing it in the fridge.

If you have used whole wheat flour in the dough, it will start to change colors and get a little darker after day 3. This is nothing to be alarmed or concerned about. It is just oxidation happening. It is still good for up to 7 days.

One thing to note, if the dough is very hard from being in the fridge, which is normal for a dough made from only butter, let it sit on the counter at room temperature until it has softened just slightly. This will make it easier to handle and roll.

Freezer

Moving the pie dough to the freezer will extend the life of the dough even longer- up to 2 months!

One thing to note about freezing the pie dough and holding it for this long in the freezer is you want to make sure to not only wrap it with plastic wrap but also place it in a freezer Ziplock bag. This will ensure that the dough will maintain freshness. Butter will take on flavors from the freezer you might, double wrapping will keep them out.

Equipment for making pie crust

Let me list the necessary equipment first, then the extras after.

Bowls- I love these glass nesting bowls and use them SO often in the kitchen.

Rolling pin- My favorites are these- the black one is the one I use most often, but I also love this wooden one.

Pastry blender- I don't use these as often, but I know many people love this for making pie dough.

6-inch pie pans- I love baking in glass pans. It is a great transfer of heat and I also love to be able to see the browned crust.

Food processor- yes, this is an investment, but one that is well worth it. Not just for making pie crust, but for so many other things in the kitchen.

Pie weights- these are only used in blind baking. You can also use beans, which I used for many, many years, but weights are convenient to keep in the kitchen for baking.

• Pie
• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour