The Best Way To Add Butter To Your Pie Crust

When it comes to sweet and savory pies, every baker seems to have their own crust recipe, For the most part, finding and preparing the ingredients for your pie crust is fairly simple. Classic pie crust is traditionally made with flour, salt, sugar, unsalted butter, and ice water, explains Simply Recipes. The hard part of making your own crust is combining all those ingredients, which is why many people chose to buy a pre-made crust from the store. Pie crust can be somewhat temperamental to make — it needs to be thin and flaky while also not being tough or dry. That's a lot of responsibility on one crust's shoulders!

The perfect pie crust relies not only on high-quality ingredients, but also on combining the butter and water without warming or overworking the mixture. There are two methods that work well: You can either use your hands or a food processor.

A food processor is a wonderful invention for those with limited time. When using a food processor, it is best to prepare your butter by placing the amount you need in the freezer for a few hours. Chilling the butter before use stops it from melting and activating the gluten in the flower, which makes the dough less flaky, notes Quartz. Once you're ready, cut the butter into a few solid chunks and throw it in the food processor with the other ingredients, then just be sure not to overwork the mixture.

If you decide that the hands-on approach is more your style, Katie Button, chef of Cúrate Bar de Tapas, has some fantastic advice, via People. According to Button, the best way to add butter to your crust is by freezing it like you would if you were to use a food processor. But since it is near impossible for our hands to work apart frozen food, she suggests using a box grater to shred the hard butter into smaller pieces. This makes it easier to work into the flower. Just make sure not to overwork the dough and you've got yourself a beautifully thin and flaky pie crust!