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Pie crust made without food processor, baked in a white pie dish and placed on a linen tablecloth.

How to Make Pie Crust without a Food Processor (Classic Pâte Brisée)

Marissa
A simple French-style pie crust made by hand with no food processor or special equipment. Flaky, buttery, and easy to use for both sweet and savory pies, quiches, and tarts.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Dessert, lunch
Cuisine French
Servings 6 people
Calories 284 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 large bowl For flour and buter
  • 1 Parchment paper
  • 1 Rolling Pin
  • 1 Pie dish 9 or 10 inch (23 or 25 cm)

Ingredients
  

  • 1 3/4 cups All-purpose flour 220 grams
  • 1/2 cups Butter, cubed cold, cut into small cubes, 110 grams
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp Cold water 60 ml, cold with ice cubes in it
  • 2 tbsp Sugar (optional) I sometimes add about 2 tbsp if I am making a sweet pie, but this is optional.

Instructions
 

How to make pie crust without a food processor

  • Cut the cold butter into small pieces.
  • Mix the flour with salt (and sugar, if using), then add the cold butter. Next, add a couple of ice cubes to the bowl of flour and butter. This will help keep the butter cold while you mix it in with your fingers.
  • Rub the butter and flour together between your fingers or palms.
  • Keep rubbing between your fingers and/or between your palms, until the mixture is sandy, with some pea-sized and larger chunks of butter. These chunks are important for a flaky crust.
  • Add one or two tablespoons ice water. Gently mix until the dough just begins to hold together. If needed, add another tablespoon of ice water. Do not add too much. You may not need all the water called for in the ingredients list. You want the dough to be moist but not wet. You should still have some small chunks of butter in the dough.
  • Use the heel of your hand to gently press and smear the butter into the flour. You are not kneading, just pressing and dragging the dough once or twice. This is a French technique called “fraisage”. Instead of fully mixing the butter in, you create thin streaks of butter throughout the dough. This keeps the gluten from developing too much and gives the baked crust that flaky texture we are after.
  • Stop working the pie crust dough when you still see some streaks and small pea -sized pieces of butter in the dough. Remove leftover ice cubes (they just pop out).
  • Form the dough: Gently gather the dough together and press into a flat disk about 2cm (3/4 inch) thick. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days). Chilling allows the gluten to relax and keeps the butter cold, which helps the crust bake up flaky and prevents shrinkage.
  • Roll out the dough: Either lightly flour your clean work surface and rolling pin and roll the dough from the center outward, rotating occasionally to keep the thickness even. Or do what I learned at the Cordon Bleu – roll out your dough in between two sheets of parchment paper. So much easier!
  • Fit the rolled out pâte brisée dough to your pie dish. If you used parchment paper, you can do this by just flipping the rolled out dough and parchment paper onto the pie dish. Otherwise, you can roll the dough onto the rolling pin and then unroll it onto the pie dish.
  • Use your rolling pin or a knife to cut off extra dough from the side of the pie dish if you like. (But you can also just bunch it up for a more rustic look)
  • Poke holes in the bottom with a fork to help even baking.

How to Fully Blind Bake your Pie Crust Dough

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
  • Line the dough with parchment paper or foil and fill with pie weights or dry beans.
  • Bake for 15-18 minutes, then remove the weights and parchment.
  • Bake another 8-12 minutes until the crust is lightly golden brown.

How to Partially Blind Bake your Pie Crust Dough

  • If your filling will bake further (like a fruit tart that gets cooked), remove after 20-25 minutes total when the pastry is set but only lightly golden.

Notes

Tips for a flaky pie crust:
  • Keep everything cold. Use cold butter, ice water and ice cubes. Temperature is really important
  • Do not over-mix. Stop mixing while you still see butter pieces, pea-sized pieces and little streaks of butter. Mix just enough to bring the dough together. Over-mixing develops too much gluten and makes a tough crust.
  • Chill dough disks before rolling to prevent shrinkage when you bake.
  • Use a rolling pin to roll pie crust evenly and avoid stretching.
  • Blind bake (bake pie crust without filling) for pies with wet fillings to prevent a soggy bottom crust.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 284kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 4gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 414mgPotassium: 44mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 473IUCalcium: 11mgIron: 2mg
Keyword French pie crust, How to make a pie crust without a food processor, pâte brisée
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