Martha Stewart Pie Crust is the ultimate homemade crust for sweet and savory pies. This pie crust recipe with butter makes a rich and flaky pastry pie shell for baking pies.
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What Makes This Pie Crust So Dependable?
So, what’s your favorite kind of pie? Is it a fruit-based pie like blueberry or apple? Perhaps you prefer a pecan or cream pie? Maybe you’re looking for a crust for a pot pie instead?
Whatever pie you’re planning to make, you need a really good pie crust, and this is the recipe you want!
Why You Should Try This Recipe
Pie crusts don’t have to be complicated, and this recipe proves that even simple crusts can taste amazing. Adding cold butter and shortening to the crust creates a pie crust that is easy to work with but still flakey and flavorful.
As a bonus, since this recipe doesn’t contain sugar, you can use it for sweet and savory pies. Make one batch of Martha Stewart Pie Dough for just the bottom crust, or double it up if you want to add a top one to your pie.
This Martha Stewart Pie Crust recipe with butter and shortening is the only pie crust you need to know how to make.
Pie Crust Ingredients
To make this Martha Stewart Easy Pie Crust, you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Butter, cold
- Vegetable shortening
- Ice water
How to Bake This Pie Crust
To make this Martha Stewart Pie Crust Recipe:
- Sift your flour and measure it into a bowl. You can use the bowl of a food processor or a standing mixing bowl. Sifting your flour before measuring will help prevent your crust from becoming dense. Preparing the dough for the crust in a food processor is a snap, but you can cut in the butter by hand.
- Stir the salt into the flour.
- Add the cold butter and shortening to the flour mixture.
- Cut it in with a few pulses of the food processor or by using a pastry blender. Stop cutting in the fat when the dough resembles coarse cornmeal.
- While the food processor is on, add the water in a small stream. If you are mixing by hand, roll a kitchen towel into a tube and form a circle on the counter. Place the mixing bowl on the towel to help keep it in place. Drizzle in the ice water with one hand while stirring with the other using a wooden spoon.
- Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the dough well and place it in the fridge for at least an hour. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator 15 minutes before rolling it out with a rolling pin on a floured work surface.
How to Blind Bake a Pie Shell
One of the cardinal sins of pie making is s soggy, pale crust. You can prevent under-baking a pie crust by prebaking it before adding the filling. Many cooks refer to this as blind baking the crust.
You must blind-bake the crust for any fillings that require no baking or only need very short baking times. Blind baking is very easy:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Lay the pie dough over the top of a greased pie tin.
- Use a scrap ball of dough to push the pie dough into place.
- Crimp the edges of the pie dough.
- Line the inside of the pie dough with a piece of parchment paper. Make sure the parchment paper extends up the inner sides.
- Add pie weights (see below) on top of the parchment paper.
- Blind bake the pie crust for 20 minutes.
- Remove the pie crust from the oven. Remove the parchment paper. Use the tines of a fork to prick small holes in the bottom of the crust to prevent the crust from puffing up.
- Return the pie crust to the oven for 15 to 20 or until golden.
- Place the crust while still in the pie tin on a wire rack to cool before filling.
What Are Pie Weights
Pie weights keep the crust from puffing while cooking when there isn’t any filling to weigh it down. Standard pie weights you can buy include pie chains and ceramic balls, but many people prefer using a few cups of dried beans or uncooked rice as pie weights. Pie weights are reusable but need to be cleaned and dried before storing.
Alternative to Pie Weights
One of the easiest ways to keep the dough from puffing when prebaking a crust is by placing another pie tin on top of the dough.
Where to Use This Recipe
This Martha Stewart flaky pie crust recipe is perfect for almost any pie. Here are just a few:
- Cracker Barrel Chocolate Pecan Pie
- Black Bottom Pie
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie
- Easy Buttermilk Pie
- Chess Pie with Nuts and Raisins
- Cinnamon Roll Pie
- Karo Syrup Pecan Pie
- Marie Callender’s Banana Cream Pie
- Old-Fashioned Apple Pie
- Rhubarb Custard Pie
- Toll House Pie
Favorite Holiday Desserts
Check out more of my easy pie recipes and the best Thanksgiving dessert recipes.
Martha Stewart’s Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons shortening
- 1/8 cup ice water
Instructions
- Place the flour and salt in the bowl of food processor. Cut the butter and shortening into the flour and process for a few seconds, until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the ice water very slowly and process briefly. The entire process should take about 20 to 30 seconds.
- Remove the dough from the food processor, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill for 1 hour.
- When ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it stand for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Roll out the dough, press it into a pie pan, and bake until done.
Liz
This was so easy and it turned out really good!