How to make a pie crust buttery and flakey?!


Question: I love to bake pies, particularly apple and blueberry, but I am having some difficulty with the crust. Normally I just use butter and no shortening, but I think crusts with shortening taste better. I don't use shortening because it has trans fats. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to use or a method the find sucessful?


Answers: I love to bake pies, particularly apple and blueberry, but I am having some difficulty with the crust. Normally I just use butter and no shortening, but I think crusts with shortening taste better. I don't use shortening because it has trans fats. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to use or a method the find sucessful?

so long as you use the right amounts of fat ( shortening or butter the results will be the same)
here is your problem.
Butter and shortening do not act the same because respond to heat differently.
if you use butter made sure you add it right from the fridge. Cutting it into to large chunks about 1 inch in size.
You will cut the butter into the flour using your hands or a dough cutter. For the bottom crust you want the butter to be cut into the flour very well. So it should feel sandy in texture kind of a grainy texture. Then add your liquid.This will make a crust bottom resistant to liquids. So the bottom will hard and not mushy.
For the crust you want to cut the butter into the flour so you have pieces the size of your thumb nail. This is what makes the crust flaky. The butter melts and produces steam which gives the crust that flaky texture.

Follow this you won't go wrong.
Butter is better tasting that shortening.
You will have the best pies on the block.

Chef Robert authors of Chef Robert Presents Romantic Dinners for Two

Actually for pies I use lard. It has to be cold, and don't molest the dough.

use ice water, that will help with the flakieness.
I prefer vegetable shortening, they have some with no transfats. You could use half butter and half shortening and see how that turns out.
Good Luck!

Butter flavored shortening works. Use ice water and don't over knead the dough because that makes it tough.

I agree that lard is the best, using cold water, and not overworking the dough.

In place of butter, you can use butter-flavored Crisco, Crisco or Lard.

The thing with butter is that it's about 25% water so it has the potential of causing your crust to be a little tougher due to gluten activation. Shortening is about 100% fat so you usually end up with a more tender crust.

In regards to trans fats, how many pies are you eating a week? If it's a small amount, I'd not worry about trans fats as much as the media (and NYC) plays it up.

My personal preference is for shortening. I've used lard, butter and just plain vegetable oil. To me, lard has an off-taste.

I have to go with the lard also, it makes such an unbelievable flaky crust. Make sure the lard and water are very cold and rest the dough if it warms up too much before rolling it. Handle it as little as possible.

Lard makes the best crusts. Nothing else compares.

You need to use shortening and Ice cold water. Basically the water you use needs to have ice cubes in it. That's the tip for a flaky pie crust.

I ALWAYS use butter. Here is a recipe for you to try.

3 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 cups cold butter
Cut butter into flour as usual and add ice cold water until desired consistency is attained.

This recipe is for a two crust pie so cut it in half for a one cruster. Good luck and enjoy.

this recipe usually does the trick for me .
Perfect pie crust
12 tblsp very cold butter,3 c all purpose flour,1 tsp kosher salt,1 tblsp sugar,1/3c very cold shortening,6 to 8 tblsp of ice water. Dice the butter and return it to fridge while your prepare the flour. place flour,salt and sugar into bowl. mix untill the butter is the size of peas. while mixing add ice water untill the dough forms a ball . dump out of bowl into floured surface and roll into a ball . wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 min. cut the dough in half. roll each half on a well floured surface into a circle ,rolling from the center to the edge,turning and flouring the dough to make sure it does not stick to the board. fold the dough in half,place in a pie pan and unfold to fit the pan .repeat with the top crust . good luck and god bless .

Try this recipe. It works real well. From America's Test Kitchen!

All-Butter Pie Pastry:
2 ? cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces), plus additional flour for work surface
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. sugar
? cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and frozen for 10 minutes
3 Tbs. sour cream
1/3 cup ice water, more if needed

For Pastry:
Process flour, salt, and sugar together in food processor until combined, about 3 seconds. Add butter and pulse until butter is size of large peas, about ten 1-second pulses.
Using fork, mix sour cream and 1/3 cup ice water in small bowl until combined. Add half of sour cream mixture to flour mixture; pulse for three 1-second pulses. Repeat with remaining sour cream mixture. Pinch dough with fingers; if dough is floury, dry, and does not hold together, add 1 to 2 tablespoons ice water and process until dough forms large clumps and no dry flour remains, three to five 1-second pulses.
Turn dough out onto work surface. Divide dough into 2 balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk; wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate until firm but not hard, 1 to 2 hours, before rolling. (Dough can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Let thoroughly chilled dough stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling.)





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