The easiest 3-ingredient pie crust recipe that is buttery, flakey and perfect for any filling

Have you been searching for the perfect pie crust? Well, you finally found it! This pie crust recipe is so unbelievably good that you find yourself using it all the time. It is perfect for fruit fillings, chocolate creations, or for using as a base for your savory pies. The fact that you only need three ingredients makes this pie crust even better! Give it a try, and you will see why this is the only pie crust recipe you will ever need.

Ingredients

What is a homemade pie crust made of? Technically, this three-ingredient pie crust recipe is a four-ingredient pie crust if you count the dash of added salt. Ironically, this small dash makes a big difference because it enhances the flavor of both the flour and butter. So, it's important not to leave it out to achieve the tastiest pie crust.

You will need flour, butter, water, and salt.

For a printable recipe card, visit the original 3-ingredient pie crust recipe.

Assemble the dough

1. Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl until well combined. Then, place the bowl in the freezer to chill for about 10 minutes or until cold.
2. Cut cold butter into small cubes that are similar in size, and then place them in the freezer to chill for 10 minutes, along with the flour mixture.
3. Add the cold cubes of butter to the chilled flour and rub the mixture between your fingers until it becomes like the texture of coarse sand. It's essential for both the flour and butter to be well chilled before you even attempt this step.
4. Don't over-crumble the flour and butter with your hands. The flour mixture must have some larger chunks of butter. That is what makes this perfect pie crust recipe come out extra flaky. If you like, you can also use a pastry blender, but I find that my hands do the best job.
5. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir a small amount of the cold water into the flour and butter mixture a little at a time. It's important not to dump in all the water at once.
6. Begin carefully binding the dough together with your hands. But do not knead the dough. It will seem very crumbly at first, but it will come together in just a couple of minutes.
7. Form the dough into a disk. Then cover it well with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours. It's imperative that it chill for a minimum of 2 hours for the best outcome.
8. Remove the dough from the fridge after 2 hours and then place it on the kitchen counter to rest for a few minutes. At this point, the pie dough needs to still be cold, yet not so cold that it begins to tear when being rolled out.

Assemble the pie into the pie dish

1. Place the disk of dough onto a lightly floured surface or between 2 Silicone baking mats, which is my preferred method. Then, begin rolling it out with a rolling pin, making sure to turn the disk with each roll to make it even. When doing this, try not to add too much additional flour to the dough. The dough itself should be cold enough to prevent it from sticking to the kitchen counter. If it is sticking, then your dough is likely getting too warm, and you need to place it in the freezer for a minute or so to chill back up.
2. For a standard 9-inch pie dish you will need to roll the dough out to about 10 inches in diameter. Also, remember that you should never force or stretch the dough after rolling. It needs to stay both cold and smooth to be easy to work with or you risk the crust shrinking.
3. Carefully place the dough into the pie dish. An easy way to move the dough is to drape it over your rolling pin and then carefully lay it into the pie pan.
4. Fold the excess pie dough around the edges under the crust. Then flute the dough in a uniform manner with your fingers.
5. Chill the dough once more in the freezer for 30 minutes. This step helps to prevent the crust from shrinking too much while baking in the oven.

Apply the egg wash

First of all, what is egg wash? In short, egg wash is just egg (either whole egg, yolk only, or white only) that has been whisked together and thinned out with either a bit of water, milk, or cream, and then brushed on top of baked goods right before they are baked.

1. Only use the egg white to seal the bottom of the pie crust (if blind-baked). When baked, the protein in the white acts as a barrier and helps to prevent a soggy bottom.
2. Apply the egg wash in a thin layer using a pastry brush just right after removing the pie weight when the pastry is sort of half-baked. I use a silicone pastry brush that helps coat all my pie crusts perfectly.
3. Optionally poke the dough gently with a fork. This step is needed to avoid the dough puffing up, although it should already be half-baked, so it might not be necessary.

Also, read this article: What is egg wash and how to use it

How to blink bake pie crust

I've outlined the simple steps for blind-baking pie crust here. These instructions and tips will help you bake successfully!

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. The oven needs to be nice and hot before you put the crust in to bake.
2. Once the pie crust has chilled for 30 minutes, line it with parchment paper, and then fill the crust with pie weights. Now, transfer the crust to the preheated oven and let it bake for 15 minutes.
3. After baking for 15 minutes, remove the pie weights and brush a thin layer of egg white, only egg wash, onto the bottom and sides of the partially baked pie crust. The egg wash seals and supports the crust, preventing it from becoming soggy once filled.
4. Put the partially blind-baked crust back into the hot oven without the pie weights and bake it for another 15 minutes.

Also read this article: How to substitute pie weights

Expert tips

1. All the ingredients must be very cold at all times when making the dough. So if at any point the butter starts to melt or the dough begins to get too soft, you should put it back in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up again.
2. Make a glass of ice water, remove the ice, and then use that water to make your dough.
3. Resting the pie dough is not optional. It's a mandatory step. The dough has to rest for the butter to firm up and for the gluten to develop. 

For more expert tips, read the original 3-ingredient pie crust article at Spatula Desserts.

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