Go Back
+ servings
partially baked pie crust on a wire rack
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Single Pie Crust

A single pie crust recipe that's flaky and perfect for all your pies this Thanksgiving!
Prep Time3 hours
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time3 hours 30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8 servings (one 9-inch crust)
Calories: 223kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups (180 g) g all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 Tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter cold and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
  • 4 Tablespoons vegetable shortening cold
  • 3-5 tablespoons ice cold water

Instructions

Make pie dough:

  • Process flour, sugar, and salt together in food processor until combined, about 5 seconds. Scatter shortenign over the flour mixture and pulse to combine. Then scatter butter over top and process until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 10 seconds. Or do this by hand in a mixing bowl, with a pastry cutter.
  • Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. Pulse together, until dough sticks together. If dough does not stick together, stir in remaining ice water 1 tablespoon at a time.
  • Turn dough onto sheet of plastic wrap. Bring dough together into a smooth round disc and flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • Roll Out Pie Crust
  • On a floured work surface, roll out the disc of chilled pie dough. Turn the dough a quarter turn to ensure it's not sticking to your surface. Continue rolling (and turning) the dough until you have a 12" circle. Roll the pie crust over a rolling pin (or fold into quarters) and transfer to your pie plate. Roll out (or unfold) and tuck gently into the pie crust. Fold the edges under and crimp. Chill the pie crust for 30 minutes.

Blind Bake

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or rice. Make sure the weights are evenly distributed around the pie dish. Fill to the top of the pie crust.
  • Bake until the edges of the crust are starting to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper/aluminum foil (with the weights) out of the pie.
  • Prick holes all around the bottom crust (and sides) with a fork. Return the pie crust to the oven.
  • For a fully baked pie crust: Bake until the bottom crust is golden brown about 15-18 minutes longer until edges are golden brown. For a partially baked pie crust: Bake until the pie crust is lightly golden brown, and no longer looks raw about 8 minutes longer until edges are lightly golden brown and bottom no longer looks raw. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while you prepare your pie recipe as directed.
  • For a no bake pie, let the pie crust cool before adding your filling. For a fully baked pie crust, you can add the filling to the crust while it is warm.

Notes

  • Make ahead: You can blind bake a pie crust up to 3 days ahead of time. Just let it cool, wrap it well, and keep it at room temperature until ready to fill. Pie crust can be made up to 3 days ahead of time! Just keep it in the fridge, well wrapped. You can also freeze pie crust up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before using.
  • Chill Your Pie Crust Before Baking. I find if I don't do a second chill for 30 minutes, the edges tend to slip down the sides while par-baking leaving a shrunken pie crust.
  • Dock The Crust. After you remove the parchment paper, dock the pie crust (aka prick it with the tines of a fork). This will keep the pie crust from bubbling up on you while it finishes blind baking.
  • Fill With Weights All The Way To The Top. I par-baked a few pie crusts awhile back and didn't fill the pie shell to the top of the crust with pie weights and the pie crust shrunk down the sides. So I find it better to make sure it's completely filled. That can take a lot of pie weights, so that's why I've started using dried beans/rice because it requires a lot.
  •  

Nutrition

Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 148mg | Potassium: 28mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 262IU | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg