The Best Butter Pie Crust Recipe

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Planning on making some tasty pies this holiday season? This is the best Butter Pie Crust recipe you will find! It’s so simple and easy to make.

Planning on making some tasty pies this holiday season? This is the best Butter Pie Crust recipe you will find! It's so simple and easy to make.

The Best Butter Pie Crust Recipe

I’m pretty good at making a lot of things but a flaky pie crust is not one of them. Years and years ago I came across a recipe for a simple butter crust and it’s been my go-to recipe ever since.

We now make a couple of changes to the original recipe to make it gluten and dairy free and I’ve included those changes below. No matter how you end up making this recipe, it makes a wonderful flaky pie crust!

Butter Pie Crust

What You Need:

  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup water (or less)

Mix together all ingredients besides the water. You can soften the butter just a bit but make sure you cut it in, don’t melt it.

Slowly add in the water until the dough is the right consistency. You may not need the full 1/4 cup.

This dough works great for sweet treats like pies or sweet dumplings or use it for savory meals like chicken pot pie!

Need to print this recipe for your Recipe Binder? Grab it below!

Butter Pie Crust

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup water or less

Instructions

  1. Mix together all ingredients besides the water. You can soften the butter just a bit but make sure you cut it in, don't melt it.
  2. Slowly add in the water until the dough is the right consistency. You may not need the full 1/4 cup.
  3. Use the pie crust according to the directions of whatever recipe you are making.

How to Make a Dairy or Gluten Free Pie Crust

I have successfully subbed out both the butter and the regular flour in this recipe! Here’s how:

For a gluten free pie crust – Replace the regular flour with a good all purpose gluten free flour. Roll out the pie crust on a pie of plastic wrap and “flip” it into your pie plate. The crust will be slightly crumbly but don’t add extra water.

For a dairy free pie crust – Use a “butter alternative” or sub out the butter with coconut oil, lard, or tallow. We really like this recipe with tallow/lard.

Looking for more sweet holiday treats to make these year? Here are some of our favorites!

What kind of pies do you like to make? Have you ever made a Butter Pie Crust?

Merissa Bio

This recipe for Butter Pie Crust was originally posted on Little House Living in June 2012. It has been updated as of October 2020.

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22 Comments

    1. Merissa mentioned she isn’t good at making Flaky Pastry. She should switch out the butter for shortening or lard. Also if wanting Flaky Pastry it should be rolled out & doubled over 2/3 times, it is why you don’t melt the butter. J/S.

  1. i do something similar, and i substitute cream to make a sweeter pie dough / pie dough cookie.

  2. THANK YOU for this recipe. It helped me overcome my fear of pie crust and now I make a pie from scratch every week. My family is in heaven. Last week it was razzleberry, Yum! This week, who knows?

    I love your site!

    Best,
    Emmie

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  4. I put a recipe for razzleberry pie on my blog today and inserted the link for your butter crust recipe. Thanks again for your wonderful work!

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  7. Hello,
    Pie crust newbie here…once I make the dough, how do you bake it? temp? time? Do I need those baking beads?

    Thanks!

  8. I really enjoy your recipes. Just got your cookbook in the mail and made 4 recipes. Can this crust be frozen? Also do you have a good recipe for making the apples ahead of time fir apple pie and then freezing? Thank you for your time

    1. Yes. After making the dough for this crust I form it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and then place it in a freezer bag to freeze it until I need it. It works best if you can thaw it at room temp.