Basic Pie Crust with Butter Recipe - Making Life Delicious (2024)

FAQs

What are 2 disadvantages of using all butter in pie crust? ›

Butter is prized for its sweet, rich flavor and is our preferred fat for pie crust recipes, but its low melting point and overall makeup can make it difficult to work with. Unlike shortening or lard, butter is not 100% fat.

Cold butter is the key to flaky crusts. Do not skip this step. You must put your butter in the freezer to get it nice and cold. Many people do not like working with frozen butter, but it makes all the difference in the world when you create your pie dough.

Pie and tart doughs have so much butter in them that they almost self-grease as they bake. The butter melts and turns into steam and browns the bottoms making them crispy. If you add more grease into that situation, the texture of your pie crust may change in the oven. So you definitely don't want to overdo it.

All things being equal,” she says, “there's more fat per ounce of shortening than butter, and because shortening has a higher melting point than butter, it's more forgiving to work with, so it might give the appearance of more tenderness.” But any pie crust should have enough fat, no matter the source, to produce a ...

The cons: Butter can be harder to work with than lard or shortening because of its lower melting point, so the dough temperature has to be just right. If it gets too warm, it will be too soft to handle and will tear easily. Butter is a firmer fat, so if it's too cold, your dough will be more difficult to roll out.

In pie crust, you don't want gluten to form so you don't want to mix too much and overwork the dough. For a flaky crust, cut the butter so that chunks of butter about the size of walnut halves remain. The chunks of cold butter create the layers in the dough.

The acid in the apple cider vinegar tenderizes the dough by slowing the gluten production in the dough. This prevents it from getting tough and elastic like bread dough. Love me tender. If you've ever bitten into a slice of pie with a tough crust, you know the value in a tender, flaky pie crust.

You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie. you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking.

If your recipe doesn't have instructions and you're wondering how long to pre bake the pie, here's what I do: I pre bake the prepped pie crust at 350°F. If the crust is homemade from scratch, I pre bake for 35 minutes. If the crust is store-bought, I pre bake for 30 minutes.

Try a light spray of cooking oil or line the pan with parchment paper if it's a persistant problem. If you have followed a popular pie crust recipe it should not stick. A lightly greased pan with veggie Crisco may solve the problem if the sticking is with your pan not errors in your recipe.

Can I use butter instead of Crisco in pie crust? ›

Pie Crust Made with Butter vs Shortening

What makes the best pie crust–butter or shortening? Butter of course! A pie crust's flakiness is created by steam produced from the water (remember, butter is 20% water) while it bakes. As well, butter lends a rich flavor to your finished pie crust.

You can use half butter and half plain Crisco to get more butter flavor but the texture will be slightly different due to the fact that butter has a percentage of water in it and Crisco doesn't. OR…… you can use 100% butter, which will work too.

Lard makes a tasty crust, but is not recommended for health reasons. Try using half butter and half Crisco. It yields a nice, flaky crust with a butter flavor. This combination works well for single crust pre-baked pie recipes.

Disadvantages of Using Butter

Cookies made with butter can spoil more quickly than those made with shortening. If you want your cookies to last as long as possible (and who doesn't?), you should opt for Shortening.

Fat helps make pie crust flaky. Getting the ratios right is very important to a flaky pastry as opposed to a tough pastry or crumbly pastry. Butter is highly preferred for flavor and how it helps brown which develops the caramelization that tastes so good.

However, since butter has a lower melting point than margarine, baked goods made with butter may spread more during baking. This can result in cookies that are flatter and wider than intended. To prevent this from happening, it's important to chill the dough before baking.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using butter in a pie crust? Advantages : excellent flavor and forms distinct flaky layers. Disadvantages: Expensive and butter melts easy bettween 82.5 and 96.8 degrees F. It takes more time to make pastry because it must be refrigerated.