Top Pie Crust Recipes

Buttery Flaky Pie Crust — The Spruce / Cara Cormack

From icebox to chiffon to jammy fruit fillings, we all have our favorite slice of pie. Behind every pie, one one detail still rings true: the crust is key. Between traditional, double crust, cookie crumb, and even vodka-infused, this curated list provides you with all the pie crust recipes you need.

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Easy Hot Water Pie Crust

The Spruce / Cara Cormack

A hot water pie crust flips the ordinary conventions of using ice-cold water, but it provides some welcome advantages. First, the dough will generally be easier to work with, though you should still work quickly. Also, while the baked crust will still be plenty tender and crispy, it’s strong enough to hold heartier fillings and even be unmolded. Use it in this tasty and traditional pork pie recipe.
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Graham Cracker Pie Crust

The Spruce / Abby Mercer

For recipes like cream pies, icebox pies, and cheesecakes, a graham cracker crust should be your go-to. This recipe is a traditional take, but you can also go for gluten-free or sugar-free graham cracker pie crusts, depending on your preferences.
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Pâte Brisée

Eugene Mymrin / Getty Images

French pie crusts are often referred to as shortcrust doughs and pâte brisée is one of the 3 main varieties. This will yield you a flakier crust and is actually quite similar to a classic American style recipe, save for one detail: it doesn’t include sugar. This means you can readily use pâte brisée for both savory and sweet recipes.
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Double Pie Crust

MEDITERRANEAN / Getty Images

A double pie crust implies that aside from the bottom layer of crust, there’s enough leftover dough to make a top layer of crust, too. This is where the beautiful lattice pies, galettes, and traditional double crust pies come in.

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Buttery Flaky Pie Crust

The Spruce / Cara Cormack

This buttery, flaky pie crust recipe is American by design, as we often turn out pie crusts with more of a flake than a crumb. Using butter in the dough as opposed to another fat poses two main advantages. First, it provides that delicious buttery flavor and aroma. Second, it has a higher content of water than other fats so when it bakes, it releases steam and puffs up the pie crust.
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Easy Oil Pie Crust

The Spruce

An oil pie crust is a great alternative to using butter or shortening in a recipe for several reasons. First, it’s vegan friendly, and second, you can choose from a variety of oils for different resulting flavors. Want to bake a coconut pie? Try using coconut oil. Or for a more neutral flavor, choose safflower or canola oil.
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Chocolate Pie Crust

baibaz / Getty Images

For chocolate lovers, it’s hard to find a dessert that has “too much” chocolate. This chocolate pie crust allows you to truly layer on the chocolate for an intense experience. While you could use it for chocolate forward recipes, you don’t have to. Try it in a cherry pie or a peanut butter pie, too.
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Keto Pie Crust

Kristina Vanni

At times a keto lifestyle can feel very restrictive, so it’s useful to have as many keto-friendly recipes in your arsenal as possible. This keto pie crust uses coconut oil and coconut flour but if you wanted a more buttery taste, try ghee instead.

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Vodka Pie Crust

Kristina Vanni

Although it may sound like a strange science experiment, a vodka pie crust makes perfect sense. Vodka is composed of about 60/40 water to ethanol, so you can use more liquid to help you form the dough while trusting that the ethanol will burn off in the oven. This means that you can have your cake, or pie and eat it too.
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Pâte Sablée

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Pâte sablée adds almond flour and sugar to its mix for a pie crust that’s crumbly and lightly sweet. It’s particularly popular for fruit tarts, like the classic French lemon tart, and the dough can even be rolled out into shortbread cookies.
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Flaky Vegan Pie Crust

The Spruce

This flaky vegan pie crust uses a combination of margarine and oil to achieve a similar result to butter or shortening loving recipes. Use it in a savory recipe like vegan pot pie or a sweet one, like quick and easy vegan chocolate pie.
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Almond Flour Pie Crust

Kristina Vanni

Baking with almond flour often yields a light crumb and delicious, nutty taste. An almond flour pie crust is no exception and this recipe proves even better as it can be pressed right into the pan. It buddies-up with a range of sweet tarts, like a fig and honey tart or a pear frangipane tart.

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Food Processor Pie Crust

Lemon Meringue Pie. Diana Rattray

If you prioritize saving time in the kitchen, a food processor pie crust is your best friend. Just be sure to keep in mind exactly how quick this recipe comes together, since it may be easy to overwork the dough while you pulse it. If your interest is piqued but this uncharted territory, check out our guide on what to consider before you buy a food processor.
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Pâte Sucrée

The Spruce

As the last of the 3 main French style pie crusts, pâte sucrée uses the most sugar, so it’s another popular option for sweet tarts. The crust is made by first beating eggs, butter, and sugar together, then folding flour into the mix. It’s a bit easier to work with than pâte sablée since its resulting texture is less crumbly.
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Peanut Butter Pie Crust

The Picture Pantry/Getty Images

This peanut butter pie crust acts like a graham cracker crust but has a generous serving of—you guessed it—peanut butter. Use it for an extra flavorful peanut butter cup pie, or replace the peanut butter with any other of your favorite nut butter for a customized crust.
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Gingersnap Pie Crust

Armstrong Studios/Photolibrary/Getty Images

Cookie pie crusts are a delicious alternative to traditional crust recipes and they come together much more quickly. A gingersnap pie crust is perfect for a spicier pumpkin pie or for any filling you feel fits the warming character of ginger.

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