Tips for Making the Flakiest Pie Crust

Learn tips for making an incredibly flaky pie crust that will make the best pie!

Minimize Gluten Development

Gluten development is good for making chewy breads, but not for pastry. For pie crust, gluten development leads to a tough crust.

Use Very Cold Ingredients

Cold ingredients are vital for a flaky pie crust. Cold or frozen butter and ice water help keep the butter from melting, which forms gluten.

Use High-Fat Butter

High-fat, European-style butter like Kerrygold has less water content (=less gluten) and creates a more flavorful crust.

Have Uneven Sizes of Butter

Most recipes tell you to make the butter the size of peas. But leaving some the size of walnut halves will help create more steam in the oven, leading to a flakier crust!

Use a Fork to Mix

Instead of mixing with your hands, use a fork to toss the ingredients together. This will keep the dough from melting. You only need clumps of dough to form.

Don't Over Hydrate the Dough

Over hydrating dough is the most common issue making pie crust. It's okay if the dough still has some dry spots. It will continue to hydrate as it rests!

Rest the Dough

Always place the dough in the refrigerator if at some point it starts to melt. Resting the dough for at least an hour before rolling it out, will hydrate the dough.

Laminate the Dough

Lamination is a pastry technique to form extra layers of pastry. For pie dough, you can roll it out into a rectangle and fold it into a letter packet.

The lamination triples or quadruples the amount of layers in the dough. When the dough bakes in the hot oven, the layers will separate from the steam!

Freeze Before Baking

Once the dough is in its pie plate, freeze for at least 15 minutes. This rests the gluten and helps keep its shape. It also creates more steam in the oven for layers!

Learn more!

Get the full pie crust recipe by clicking the link below! The recipe includes a how-to guide with photos, detailed instructions, and more pie crust tips.