How to Make Flaky Pie Crust Video + Apple Pie Recipe
A demonstration with baking tips and a delicious recipe
The art of achieving a golden, flaky pie crust can be a challenge for many bakers. In this easy pie crust baking demonstration video, I share tips for how to make a delicious apple pie with a golden, flaky crust that would make any grandmother proud. My 3-2-1 recipe is simple–it’s all about the types of ingredients, the techniques and temperature. We hope this apple pie recipe makes its way into your kitchen this season. Also, watch my mini apple pie tutorial, if you would like your guests to have their own individual pie. Cheers!
View Flaky Pie Crust Recipe
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About the Author
I’m reviewing these old videos pre-holidays, and this reminds me of my mom’s recipe. The advice is perfect, down to the keeping the butter cold due to the chemistry of the water separating from the fat in the heat, adding the flakiness. I’m smiling because her dough is the same as my mom’s biscuit recipe, besides the water becomes milk and the addition of baking powder for the rise. But those scrumptious southern buttermilk biscuits are basically this same chemistry. She did an excellent description of baker’s chemistry, which I learned from my mom. Bravo.
yummi B-)
i cnat seem to fidn the recipe for the apple pie and i looked hard
Hi Judi,
In the blog post above, it says VIEW FLAKY PIE CRUST RECIPE. You click on those words, and it takes you to: https://www.jordanwinery.com/culinary/recipes/wine-country-flaky-apple-pie.
I have cooked in restaurants for years, had a catering business for 30 years, have always been nervous about pie crust. Have tried every fraisage/rough puff/fool proof/ heaven knows what else recipe. This one is the best marriage of quality and convenience.
Thanks
Tyra
Hi Tyra,
Thank you! I’ll make sure to share this with Cristina.
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Hi, I loved the video. I tried using 1/2 the dough for a single pie crust. It just SLUMPED down into the pie plate and is a glob of goo. (argh!) Any suggestions?
I’m so stoked to have come across your recipe today. I’ve tried to make short crust pie pastry on a number of occasions, with varying results. Never been happy with the result though. That is until today, by following your easily explained directions.
I picked some apples direct from the tree on the road verge across the road, and added fresh picked blackberries from the garden before putting the top pastry on the pie.
The pastry turned out soft, flakey, absolutely delicious. I don’t see the pie lasting through the night, the family is having seconds. Thanks for your awesome lesson on making pie pastry. I will enjoy this and share it for years to come.
Thank you for sharing, Daiden! The addition of blackberries sounds delicious.
My 1st attempt at making this pie turned out pretty good. The only thing I changed was the amount of cinnamon. I used 1 tablespoon instead of 1 teaspoon. 1 teaspoon for 8 Granny Smith apples was just not enough. Everyone like the pie.
Not too bad for a 76 – year old man.
Ben
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thank you for this great video. I do have a question. when I was rolling my dough it tended to spring back a little. is this maybe because my dough was too wet? I also thought that maybe my water was still too warm when I put it into my flour mix
any suggestions ?
Loved the video on pie crust… may not have done something right with the sugar and corn starch, maybe too low of heat. I salvaged that by putting the apples in a colander and getting the liquid. I reheated the liquid till it was thick! Combined both when the sauce was thick. YUMMY. Hope this helps if anyone has had this issue. Thanks for some great information! PS:) DELICIOUS RECIPE
Thanks for sharing your tip.
Cristina,
I would like to thank you for this pie crust recipe. I’ve struggled with pie crusts since I first started cooking and frankly never knew what a real pie crust was supposed to taste and look like. I watched your video and followed your recipe and Bam! The first time out of the shoot it turned out perfect. I’ve been told for years that you can’t make a pie crust with a stand mixer and you proved them wrong and I’m so appreciative of your tutoring skills in the kitchen. Thank you!
Leo
I will pass your kind note to Cristina. Thanks for taking the time to write.
Hi Jordan, I would like to make a cherry, and apple pie ahead of time and bake them on thanksgiving in the firehouse. Do I just freeze, then pull them out, egg wash then bake? If so what temp? and how long?
Thanks,
Dave.
Please put me on your blog list.
I’m a little confused where the 3-2-1 comes in…I see 3 cups flour (12.75 ounces), 8 ounces of butter, and 8 ounces of water. Her pie obviously turns out great but for the 3-2-1 why wouldn’t the water be closer to 4 ounces? Am I doing my math wrong? I’m trying the recipe out today and so far so good!
The 3-2-1 is 3 cups of flour, 2 cubes (8 oz) of butter, and 1 cup of water. The only reason I know is because I watched her YouTube video. 🙂 https://youtu.be/FC87gs1V-Gc
I absolutely love this recipe for the crust. I made a pumpkin pie and will definitely make the apple pie next. The video was very informative and taught me a lot. Thank you. Looking forward to the next lesson.
Hi, beautiful video!
I enjoy how you talk. No big fuss and fake annoying smiles like other people on youtube.
I am trying to make couple peach pies and freeze them for a longer period. Is that possible?
Tank you
I made this pie Christmas Holiday 2014 I loved it, the best. Friends and Family could not stop talking about it, especially Flaky Crust.
My family wants it every year for holiday.
Thank you so much and my God Bless you.
Hi there, Christina mentioned freezing the dough before baking so that it retains its’ shape better, may I know if the dough needs to be wrapped for freezing or you can just chuck it in as it is without any wrapping? Thanks!
I can cook just about anything really well … except pie crust … despite years of trying. I finally resorted to You Tube. This video taught me so much that is missing from the recipes I’ve used. 3-2-1 for me! (I can’t imagine how a pie crust recipe can work with just 3 tsp of water. Definitely explains the sand texture of my dough and difficulty rolling.) I especially liked Lisa’s balance between science and simple “don’t be too fussy” technique. Can’t wait to bake a pie tomorrow with fresh rhubarb from my garden. Thanks so much!
This is great to hear. I’ll let Cristina know. Thanks so much!
Note to myself for next time. The apples cook much faster than I thought. They’re a little mushy. Watch them carefully. Wish the recipe would have given an approximate time frame.
Hi William,
Sorry for the delay in responding. An approximate cooking time is 7-10 min depending on how thick the apples have been cut. If cut thin it could even be 4-5 min.
This will be my first time making pie crust and it will be for a strawberry feeling. Would you tell me temperature of oven and how long to bake, if I want to bake just bottom pie crust by itself?
Hi Jane,
Sorry for the delay in responding. We recommend baking at 425*F for a single shell. Make sure your pie shell is very cold before baking and perhaps line the shell with parchment and beans to ensure the pie crust doesn’t sink too much while cooking. You can take the beans out once it seems like the shell is stable; approximately 15-20 minutes.
Finally nailed this one, the best pie crust I have ever made! Also her cooked apple filling is a revelation.
I love Cristina’s videos, I really hope she’s going to put some more out soon!
I love the video and the recipe! It helped me so much to make my first Apple Pie. I mistakenly put not enough butter in the dough (I’m German and still get little confused with the ounces etc.) But nevertheless the pie turned out very delicious! Thank you!
Can you tell what depth the 9 inch pie pan should be? Is there a standard depth? I have heard range from 1-1/4 to 2″
also makes big difference in amount for filler right?
1-1/4 inch deep
First time making this pie crust ,,I am going to put a cold filling in it after crust is baked , I am going to bake at 450 deg for 10 to 15 min hope all go’s well ,dough is in the ice box chilling right now , will try to roll out in 30 min . Thanks for sharing recipe per video really helped ,Gregory
Well I must say it is a flaky pie crust ,Not the flake I was looking for , good recipe
Hi Gregory,
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe and video. We have a few more videos from Cristina debuting this spring and summer. Stay tuned.
I can’t wait to try out this recipe 🙂 being that my first pie crust wasn’t all that great. I’ll be making 2 pies and they don’t require a top crust. How many ounces does each crust need to be? Or is just approximate and I can just cut it in half?
Hi Ashley,
We were closed for the holidays, so sorry for the delayed response. Just cut the recipe by 1/3 if you don’t need the top. You might have a little bit of crust left.
I have been on a seach for the perfect pie crust….This is it…easy to make perfect everytime….Thank you soooo much
She needs to sound a little mire upbeat in her voice…too monotone.
Also…get that hair outta your face!
Cristina prefers to focus on her baking skills, but we’ll be sure to give her your styling tips. Thanks.
Absolutely nothing wrong with her voice and nothing wrong with her hair. I liked the casual but very informative and professional tone. A welcome change from the Food Network Giada’s of the world of cleavage and fake enthusiasm. Good video.
Thank you, Kate! I’ll pass your note to Cristina.
You must a millennial — classic in troll and trolling. Do not wound another to heal yourself! What would ever possess you to make such a rotten comment like that? You’re a piece of work. May we suggest an ‘uptown’ at the end of every sentence?
REALLY?
What do you think this is?…AMERICAS FIRST TOP MODEL?
If you don’t like the sound or level of her voice, or how her bangs look.. find a video you can stomach.
She was nice enough to post this video for those of us that aren’t as talented in the kitchen as she is.
The recipe was AMAZING and I’ve tried many crusts.
This is not a forum for comments like yours.
But I’m sure if look around, you’ll find one.
I love this recipe. I appreciate the time she took to teach me how to make this wonderful crust.
And I thank her.
Hi , i am from Algeria and i’ve searched for a pie dough recipe for forever, i like yours but i need the ingredients in Grams please (metric system), i am not so sure about the flour amount.
Google conversions standard to metric.
Excellent video and the explanation is wonderful !!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.
Great video on the pie crust! I followed the recipe and my crust came out extremely hard, especially the bottom. Any idea why that would have happened? Did I not roll it thin enough?
Hi Jay,
The only thing we can think of is that the dough could have been over mixed or that the oven temp was not hot enough and it baked too slow. And make sure the dough has been refrigerated at least an hour before rolling and baking….
Hope this helps.
OMG I made my first pie crust!!! Great tutorial and my pie came out fantastic. Thank you very much and you have no idea how excited I am. 🙂
That’s great to hear. Thanks, Bree!
one tablespoon you add with the flour and salt,
and the other two for the top of the pie.
Could I use this pie crust for any other pies like a pecan pie?
Absolutely.
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Excellent tutorial. I followed by the book, Wonderful tut! Loved it.
Awesome, I’m going to make this for Thanksgiving. I noticed a typo, though. The filling ingredients call for 1 tablespoon of sugar but the instructions (#3) call for 3 tablespoons of sugar. Clarification?
Hi Jordan,
Glad you enjoyed the video. We re-checked the video and the recipe and both call for 1 tablespoon of sugar. Are you sure you heard 3?
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Jordan and Lisa. In the recipe, the dough calls for 1 tablespoon of sugar. The filling has two parts. One part includes the apples, 3/4 cup sugar, both flavorings and all spices. The 2nd part includes the cornstarch and 3 tablespoons of sugar. These two filling mixtures will be combined together. Could be where the misunderstanding occurs. Not criticizing anyone, but all recipes should be read very carefully. This is indeed a wonderful recipe! The pie in picture looks wonderful! I will be making this apple pie recipe very soon, and will be using the crust recipe (which is what I was searching for today) to make a coconut custard pie. Thank you!!
The 3 tablespoons of sugar is to mix with the starch that you use to thicken the filling. The one tablespoon is part of the crust. You add it to the flour along with the salt before you add the butter (or shortening)
Excellent tutorial! Some wonderful tips, and your estate baker did a great job demonstrating while simultaneously presenting clear, helpful explanations to really understand why certain ingredients and steps are recommended. I’m thinking apple pie for Thanksgiving dessert!
Glad you enjoyed the video!