Pie Crust Tips for Beginners

If you’re a beginner in the world of pie baking, it can be a little intimidating going in blind. With my years of working in and owning a pie shop, I have heard just about every question under the sun when it comes to pie crust and what has gone wrong.

Business was booming when I owned the pie shop, and I solely attribute that to the fact that more people would rather have a fresh baked pie placed in their hands than to take a chance on a pie crust disaster in their own kitchen.

But I want to empower you. I want you to say “I want apple pie.”, and then be able to get up and make one for yourself, armed with all of the knowledge and confidence a little pie crust research can give! Think of it.. Pie whenever you want!

Funnily enough, pie crust only uses a few simple ingredients. But somehow, there are so many variables that, if changed even slightly, can cause the pie crust of your dreams to turn into a tough, bland, cracked mess.

So, if you’re wondering why your pie crust is *fill in the blank*, this blog should have all of the tips you’re looking for! Let’s get you some answers!

Why is my pie crust tough?

If you’re struggling with pie crust that keeps coming out tough, trust me when I say you are not alone. This seems to be the biggest issue the average baker has when it comes to homemade pie crust. Without the proper care and ingredient measurements, it is so easy to pull a pie out of the oven that has zero flakiness and is more like a brick than a pastry crust. If this is your problem, there are a few factors that could be contributing:

1.) You have overworked the dough.

There is a slightly pesky factor when it comes to pie crust called gluten-development. I’m sure you’ve heard of it before, though you might not understand the role it is meant to play in your baked goods (or in this case, not meant to play).

Gluten is a protein that lives in your all purpose flour. Once it has been introduced to water, gluten proteins like to bind together to form long, stretchy strands (kind of like a rubber band) that give structure to your baked goods. The longer you mix flour and water together and work it into a dough (like kneading), the more these strands develop and strengthen. While gluten structure is incredibly important in the world of breads and certain pastries, when it comes to pie crust, you don’t want it around at all. Too much gluten development, and it will cause a crust that is meant to have a very tender and fragile, flakey nature, to bind together too heavily and form very strong, tough or chewy texture.

If your pie crust is tough, it may be because you have overworked the dough and caused too much gluten to form. To avoid this, work with your dough until it has only just begun to come together. You don’t want to use a heavy hand . Just lightly toss all of the ingredients until they start to take on a shaggy texture and can be lightly pressed into a ball that will hold together when rolled out.

In summary, mix less… Not more.

2.) You added too much water or flour.

Another possible culprit of a crust turned tough is a simple mismeasurment of your water or flour.

Since water activates gluten, too much of it will make the gluten development process far easier in your dough. Also, if you add too much water, you’re going to have to go in with more flour to counteract it and be able to roll it out. And more flour, means tougher crust.

To avoid this, I never use an exact measurement of water, but instead, go by the feel of the dough. You should only add a couple of tablespoons of water at a time to make sure you avoid adding more than what is absolutely necessary. Go slow and only add water until the dough begins form and can being lightly pressed into a ball. You don’t want your dough to feel too sticky.

The second ingredient that can cause a tough crust is your flour. This one is far simpler to counteract.

Flour is a structural ingredient by nature, which means it is there is “build the walls of your house”, so to speak. In the case of pie crust, we want our “house” (aka: crust) to have walls made of straw. We want a house that will hold shape while it is being built (or baked), but will also give under the pressure of your fork and begin to fall apart when it is time to eat. If you start adding too much flour to your dough, your house is going to start getting “glued” together, and the tender crust you’re looking for will come out of the oven more like a baked piece of pottery than a flakey piece of pie.

To avoid this, simply make sure you are very precisely measuring your flour. Unlike water, you want to make sure you are using an exact amount of flour. To get the most accurate measurement, I typically fluff up my flour with a fork before spooning it into my measuring cup and leveling it off completely.

Why is my pie crust crumbly and falling apart?

Now, you all are gonna think I’m crazy for this one based on the answer to my last pie crust issue. But, the truth is… If your pie crust is crumbly and falling apart when you’re trying to roll it out, you need to add more water.

Water acts as the binder in your pie crust recipe, which means, if it’s falling apart, there simply isn’t enough liquid to make the ingredients stick together. If you don’t have enough water in your dough when you go to roll it out (or pick it up, for that matter), it is going to be incredibly hard to work with and will want to fall apart under the slightest pressure.

The fix for this one is pretty simple.. If your dough isn’t wanting to hold together, add a tablespoon or two of water, and lightly mix it until it turns into a shaggy dough. Again, you don’t want it to be sticky… Just moist enough to hold it’s shape when pressed into a ball and rolled out.

Why did my pie crust shrink?

This one is an interesting one that can really stump you if you run into it! There are two reasons this could be happening.

Have you ever gone to bake your beautifully crimped and shaped pie crust, only to have it come out of the oven too shrunken and shriveled to even use? If not, be thankful you’ve avoided that level of disappointment. What could have caused this?

1.) You have overworked your dough.

When your pie crust shrinks in the oven, that is a very good sign that you have, once again, overworked your dough and allowed too much gluten to form. (See the section on tough pie crust for more information on gluten development.)

When your dough is very stretchy and full of strong gluten strands, introducing those gluten strands to high heat can cause them to “spring back” on themselves, tightening the strands and shrinking your pie crust in the process. The outcome of this will be a small, shriveled, tough pie crust that doesn’t have enough room inside for your fillings.

To avoid this, make sure you are only working your dough until it begins to come together. A light touch and light mixing will do wonders to avoid gluten development.

2.) You have added too much fat.

This possibility will cause more to happen than just a shrunken crust, but I wanted to go ahead and mention it here too because it definitely can cause your pie crust to come out smaller than anticipated.

If you add to much fat (such as shortening, butter, lard, or whatever it is that you’re using), you will greatly compromise the structural integrity of your pie crust, causing the fat to leak out in the heat of your oven and your pie crust to nearly melt into a puddle. The walls will collapse, and you’ll be left with a mess.

So, if your pie crust shrinks and has an oily look to it, chances are, you mismeasured your fat component and compromised the structure of your crust. This goes hand in hand with my next pie crust question.

Why is my pie crust leaking butter?

Uh oh.. Your pie is swimming in melted butter and is a soggy, bubbly mess. What went wrong?

If your pie crust is leaking butter, there are 3 possibilities that you should look at.

1.) You’ve added too much fat.

When it comes to measuring your fat ingredient (butter, shortening, etc..), if you slip up and end up adding a little bit on the heavier side, it could overload your dough to the point that it starts melting out in the oven. This will cause your crust to shrink up and come out of the oven with an oily sheen to it.

To avoid this, make sure to accurately measure all of your ingredients to keep the baking ratios in check!

2.) Your oven temperature is too low.

When baking your pie, you always want to make sure you are baking it at a relatively high temp (between 350 degrees F and 375 degrees F. You can even go up to around 425 degrees if you are blind baking your crust for a cream pie.). Your pie crust requires a high temperature to begin crisping up and browning. Anything lower than the recommended temperatures, and your pie crust is just going to sit in the heat and begin to melt down before any of the changes begin taking place.

If your pie crust is leaking butter, chances are, your oven temp is too low. To avoid this, make sure you are baking your crust at a high enough temperature!

3.) Your dough was too warm before you put it in the oven.

When working with pie dough, you’ll find that one of the most commonly given pieces of advice is to make sure you’re working with cold ingredients at all times. Cold butter, ice water, chilled dough.

If you find that your dough is leaking butter in the oven, it very well could be because you used warm ingredients instead of cold.

Cold butter will quickly release steam once subjected to a hot oven, which is what causes those beautifully flakey layers of crust to form. On the flip side, if you use warm or room temperature butter, the butter is going to start melting out of your dough before the steam even begins to form, creating a solid dough with an oily layer around it and no flakiness to be tasted.

This is why it is usually the best practice to make your dough and allow it to chill before putting it in the oven. This allows your butter to solidify and will lock in all of that fatty goodness.

Why is my pie crust cracking?

The last pie crust question I’m here to answer for you is the question of a cracked crust. Ever wonder why your fruit pie can go into the oven looking beautiful and come out with huge split right down the middle? If this has been your reality, there are a couple things to keep in mind!

1.) You didn’t cut air vents into your top crust.

When assembling your pie, it can be easy to slap the top crust on over the filling and stick it right into the oven as quickly as possible. The quicker the pie is in the oven, the quicker it comes out and you get to enjoy it, right?

While that is true, if your pie keeps coming out with a cracked top, take a second to slow down and cut 5-10 small slits in the top crust that will allow the steam to escape. If you don’t, I assure you, the steam will force it’s way out one way or the other, and you will not be happy with the results. Steam vents are a very important addition to your full-crust pies. You always want to add them to avoid a split top.

2.) Your filling had too much liquid in it.

While adding steam vents to your top crust can work wonders to keep it from splitting, there is no amount of venting that will contain a filling that had too much un-stabilized liquid (done by adding flour or cornstarch to thicken the liquid).

If your pie has cracked, it could be because you allowed too much liquid into the filling. The more liquid you allow into your pie, the higher the level of steam it will create. If your filling is particularly juicy, consider leaving some of the juice out to minimize steam build up. While steam vents help, they can’t always solve the problem completely.

3.) You overfilled your pie.

Lastly, if your pie crust has cracked, it could be because you overfilled your pie.

Heat will cause your pie filling to expand, and if you filled your pie too full, it could expand past its breaking point, causing a crack to form in the top of your pie.

To avoid this, never fill your pie crust completely to the rim. Always allow for about a one-inch space between the top of the filling and the rim of your pie pan. This will give your pie plenty of room to expand in the oven without causing the crust to rip apart.

So, there you have it! Hopefully you found this list of pie crust problems valuable enough to start considering tackling your very first home-made pie! I’d love to hear what your biggest hurdles have been in terms of overcoming fear of pie crust in the comments!