Rustic Mini Pie Crust Recipe
My mini pie crust makes a 4-inch double-crust for single-serving pies and quiches. Made with a combination of butter and shortening provides a nice flaky crust. Rustic pie dough is made without a food processor or pastry cutter.
My little crust makes a wonderful mini pumpkin pie or a homemade crust for a delicious chicken pot pie for one.
Ingredients Notes
3 tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1 tablespoon shortening, chilled
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon water
- Flour – You want a lower protein content flour when making pie crust. All-purpose is right in the middle and works well. If available you can also use a pastry flour which has a lower protein content of about 8-10%
- Butter – I like an unsalted butter when making pie crust.
- Shortening – Crisco is my go to for the best pie crust. Add it to the butter gives you the best of both and an amazingly flaky pie crust
- Salt – the salt enhances the flavor the crust, otherwise it’s very bland, so don’t leave it out.
- Water I use my filtered water, but tap is also fine.
Note: Recipe can be doubled to make a full pie or crusts for a couple of small pies.
How to Make a Mini Rustic Pie Crust
Add all the ingredients except the water into a small bowl. My cereal bowl works perfectly for making single batters and dough.
Mix the ingredients by flatting the butter between your fingertips until you have a crumbly consistency. If the butter starts to melt, put the bowl in the refrigerator for a few minutes to get a good chill. Add in the water and mix with a fork.
The dough should stay together when forming a ball. Place the dough ball on a piece of saran or plastic wrap and press into a small disc shape, about 3 or 4 inches in diameter. Wrap tight and place in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.
Remove the dough and place it on a lightly floured pastry board or a piece of parchment paper. Roll out to about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Notice the little chunks of cold butter. These butter pieces melt when baking and result in a flaky crust. Lift and turn the crust when rolling out so you have a nice even thickness.
As you can see I’m not a stickler for having a perfectly round crust, the edges get trimmed off anyway.
Lift the crust and place it into the pie or tart pan and gently press it into the pan, then trim off the edges. I like a rustic crust made without a food processor or pastry cutter.
If blind baking lay some parchment paper over the unbaked pie crust and fill it with pie weights. Partially bake for about 15 minutes or for a no-bake pie fully bake the crust for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
At this point, you can add the filling or blind bake the crust, depending on the recipe you are working with. When I laid the crust into the pan a little section tore so I laid down a bit of the crust from the edge piece.
- If making a no-bake pie then let the crust cool completely before filling.
- If using for a quiche let it cool down to just warm before filling.
A few tips to make the best pie crust
- Always use very Cold butter and/or Shortening. When you roll out the crust you want to have a few butter chunks, working with cold butter keeps it from melting into the dough.
- Always work with chilled dough, if it starts to warm put it back in the refrigerator to chill.
- You don’t need much water, just enough to form a ball that stays together without being sticky.
- When rolling out the dough, lift and turn it so it rolls out evenly
What to make with this pie crust
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Rustic Mini Pie Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter chilled and cubed
- 1 tablespoon shortening chilled
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients except the water into a small bowl.
- Mix the ingredients by flatting the butter between your fingertips until you have a crumbly consistency. If the butter starts to melt, put the bowl in the refrigerator for a few minutes to get a good chill.
- Add in the water and mix with a fork. The dough should stay together when forming a ball. Place the dough ball on a piece of saran wrap and press it into a small disc shape, about 3 or 4 inches in diameter. Wrap tight and place in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.
- Remove the dough and place it on a lightly floured pastry board or a piece of parchment paper. Roll out to about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Notice the little chunks of cold butter. These butter pieces melt when baking and result in a flaky crust. Lift and turn the crust when rolling out so you have an even thickness.
- Lift the crust and place it into the pie or tart pan and gently press it into the pan, then trim off the edges. I like a rustic-looking crust.
- For quiche, partially bake the crust in a 425° oven for about 15-20 minutes, the bottom will start to brown. To keep the crust from shrinking lay parchment paper on the crust and fill it with pie weights. If using crust for a no-bake pie then fully bake the pie crust for 25-30 minutes.