3 Ingredient Pie Crust (With Butter)
This easy 3 ingredient pie crust is perfect for sweet and savory pies. It’s the best simple, quick crust for busy holiday baking on Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Featuring just 3 ingredients: cold butter, all purpose flour, and ice water, homemade pie crust could not get any easier- no shortening needed!
Jamie’s Recipe Summary – 3 Ingredient Pie Crust
- Taste: Buttery and light, the perfect companion to apple or pumpkin pie.
- Texture: Flaky and buttery.
- Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- Skill level: Beginner friendly.
- Tools needed: Large bowl, saran wrap.
- Why is this the best recipe? This flaky pie crust is made with just 3 ingredients and is the perfect simple recipe for busy holidays. Made with butter, this classic crust is flaky, rich, and easy to make!
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Why You’ll Love It
This buttery pie crust recipe will be your new baking bestie-it’s perfect for any pie recipe and is so quick and easy to put together!
Feature it at your holiday spread alongside sourdough stuffing, sourdough rolls, and 3 ingredient fudge.
My daughter, who I affectionately call the pie princess, developed this delicious crust-it’s just waiting for you to add your blueberry, pumpkin, or apple filling! Cecelia also developed our pie crust cookie recipe.
As a bonus, this recipe is made by hand, no food processor needed. The recipe requires just 3 ingredients- like my easy homemade applesauce.
This is the perfect crust for sweet pies like pumpkin, pecan, apple, or blueberry. It can also be used for delicious savory pies like chicken pot pie.
If you’re looking for a sourdough version, try my easy sourdough discard pie crust.
Key Ingredients
- Chilled salted butter: If you don’t have salted butter, simply add 1/2 tsp of salt to the recipe. Keep your butter in the fridge until ready to use.
- All purpose flour – I like to use organic.
Jamie’s Recipe Tips
- For accurate results, measure your flour by using the scoop and level method. First scoop the flour out with a spoon, then pour it into the measuring cup, then level off with the back of a butter knife.
- Use very cold ingredients. Chop up the butter and stick it in the freezer before using, and make sure you add a lot of ice to your water.
- This pie crust is perfect for a 9 or 10″ pie plate. You want 1/2 inch to 1 inch of crust to hang over the sides so you have enough room to fill out the pan and make a pretty edge.
- Remember, if you only need 1 pie crust, cut the recipe in half.
- Do not over mix the pie crust dough. The secret to flaky pie crust is leaving those cold chunks of butter in tact!
This recipe is for a double crust, which is perfect for pies like apple or blueberry. If you want to make a single crust, simply cut the ingredients in half- it’s that easy!
How To Make 3 Ingredient Pie Crust
Step 1: Pour the flour into a large bowl. If you prefer a saltier crust, add 1/2 tsp additional salt to the flour and stir. Cut up the cold, salted butter into 1/4 inch chunks and add it to the dry ingredients.
Step 2: Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend the butter into the flour mixture until small pea-size chunks form, taking care not to over mix.
Add the cold water to the dough 1 tablespoon at a time and mix with fork- or pinch the dough with your hands until all of the flour is incorporated and a rough ball of dough is formed. You do not want to create a uniform dough, it should be a bit rough and shaggy, with pea-size bits of butter still showing.
Step 3: Use your hands to form the dough into a 6 inch disk and cover with plastic wrap.
Step 4: Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
Your pie dough is now ready to use- just follow the steps in your pie crust recipe for assembling when ready to bake!
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How To Roll Out Dough
Wondering how to roll out your dough? We’ve got you covered!
First, your work surface with flour and rub flour over your rolling pin. Start in the center, and rotate the dough as you roll it out into a rough shape of a circle, making sure it is larger than your pie pan by 1/2 inch or more on all sides.
Roll the dough until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick, then place it into the pan and cut off the excess dough. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork in multiple spots.
Use the extra dough for pie crust cookies if desired!
Storage
Refrigerate for up to 3 days before using. The dough may be frozen by wrapping the disc in plastic wrap, then placing in a freezer bag and freezing for up to 3 months.
To thaw, transfer the dough to the refrigerator the night before using.
3 Ingredient Pie Crust Faq’s
The secret to making a good pie crust is using icy cold water and chilled butter, so that the ingredients stay very cold when you are mixing the dough. This will give you a flaky pie crust after it has baked.
The best flour for pie crust is all purpose flour. Bread flour contains more gluten and will make the crust tough and chewy.
Butter is better than crisco for pie crust because it will give you a flakier crust and a richer, more authentic flavor.
To get the flakiest pie crust, use ice cold butter and water and don’t over mix the dough when you are putting it together. You should have pea-sized butter chunks showing in the pie dough.
More Holiday Recipes
If you enjoyed this easy pie crust recipe, you’ll love these classic snickerdoodle cookies, old fashioned gingersnap cookies, and decadent chocolate espresso cake.
And for more easy, 3 ingredient desserts, try my 3 ingredient fudge, 3 ingredient caramel sauce, popcorn balls and 3 ingredient apple sauce.
3 Ingredient Pie Crust With Butter
Equipment
- 1 Large Bowl
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup cold salted butter refrigerated or frozen- very cold!
- 1/2 cup ice water use LOTS of ice
Instructions
- Sift the flour into a large bowl. If you prefer a saltier crust, add 1/2 tsp additional salt to the flour and mix well. Cut up the cold, salted butter into 1/4 inch chunks and add it to the dry ingredients.2.5 cups all purpose flour, 1 cup cold salted butter
- Use a fork to blend the butter into the flour mixture until small pea-size chunks form. Do not overmix the dough.
- Add the cold water to the dough 1 tablespoon at a time. Then mix with a fork until all of the flour is incorporated and a rough, shaggy ball of dough is formed. The dough will not be uniform, and you should still see pea-sized chunks of solid butter. Do not over mix. Use your hands to form the dough into a 6 inch disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.1/2 cup ice water
- Make sure to follow the instructions on your pie for the next steps.
Notes
- For a flaky pie crust, do not overmix the dough. You want to see small pea sized chunks of butter in the final ball of dough.
- Measure your flour by using the scoop and level method. First scoop the flour out with a spoon, then pour it into the measuring cup, then level off with the back of a butter knife.
- Use very cold ingredients.
- This pie crust is perfect for a 9″ or 10″ pie plate.
- Remember, if you only need a bottom pie crust and not a top, cut the recipe in half.
This easy, flaky pie crust is our family go-to for holiday baking, and I hope you love it as much as we do!