The Secret to a Perfect Pie Crust

Americans shelled out $111,350,119 for frozen, empty (EMPTY!) pie shells last year. That’s an awful lot of dough—for dough. So, my fellow citizens: it’s time to cut the fat…into flour. Join me in the kitchen for a 5-minute video tutorial on how to make a super-easy, perfectly flakey pie crust that will cost you less than a buck and earn you dozens of pie-eyed admirers.




You can choose to use any pie crust recipe you desire, but remember, the key is to work very quickly with ingredients that have been chilled beforehand.

If you wish to follow along with me, here’s the basic combination of ingredients I’ve been using for years:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, chilled (Note: I misspoke in the video. Only 2 ½ cups of flour is needed-- NOT 4 ½ cups. Sorry for the confusion!)
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
¼ cup shortening, cut into cubes and chilled
¾ cup butter, cut into cubes and chilled
6-8 Tbsp ice cold water

1. Thoroughly combine flour, salt and sugar.

2. Add butter and shortening to dry ingredients and cut together with food processor or pastry cutter until you have pea or lima bean-sized bits of fat.

3. Slowly add ice cold water while mixing, just until the dough begins to come together. If this happens before you've added all of the water, do not add anymore water and do not mix anymore! 

4. On a floured surface, form the dough into two flat rounds. Chill for no less than 30 minutes. You may also chill overnight, or for up to 2 days before using. 

5. After dough is sufficiently chilled, roll out onto floured surface and lay into pie plate. Style as desired. Chill before baking according to pie recipe directions.