This sour cream pie crust is flaky, smooth, and sturdy enough to hold heavy fillings. Even beginners can make this easy fool-proof homemade pie crust recipe!
If you're intimidated by making your own pie crust, I promise you this homemade pie crust is SO easy to make!
6 simple ingredients come together to create the most tender and flaky pie crust, perfect for your favorite pie fillings.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Buttery and flaky, but sturdy and pliable! Some fillings, like pecan pie and chocolate, can be really heavy, which can cause the pie crust to tear. There's an egg yolk in this recipe to help prevent that.
- Freezer friendly. Save time during the crazy holiday baking season by freezing a bunch of crusts to bake later. They freeze well for up to 4 months!
- Tastes better than a store-bought crust. I don't know how you feel, but in my mind, nothing tastes better than a homemade sour cream pie crust!
Ingredients
See ingredient substitutions in the next section. ⬇️
- sour cream: Adding sour cream to pie dough makes it extra moist (for a flakier crust) and adds a slight tangy flavor that you won't get with an all-butter crust.
- egg yolk: Just one egg yolk makes a huge difference in the structure of the pie dough. It will be sturdier, smoother, and easier to roll out without crumbling.
- all-purpose flour: I prefer to use unbleached flour, but bleached flour is fine, too.
- white granulated sugar: The sugar caramelizes, giving the pie crust a golden color.
- coarse salt: Be sure to use a coarse grain like Kosher or sea salt, not iodized table salt.
- butter
Helpful Pie-Baking Tools
- Pie Weights - These pie weights are great for blind baking a crust. If you don't want to invest in weights, you can use dried beans instead.
- Pie Crust Shields - This lays over the dough to prevent the edges of the crust from burning.
- Parchment Paper Liners - These liners are wonderful because they are sized to fit perfectly inside of the pan. You can cut a square of parchment paper to use for holding the weights, but the liners are more convenient.
- Rolling Pin - This is my favorite because it comes with discs to adjust the thickness of the dough!
Substitutions and Recipe Variations
- all-purpose flour: If you'd like to make gluten-free pie crust, substitute the AP flour with a cup-for-cup variety of gluten-free all-purpose flour. Two popular brands are Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur Flour.
If you'd like to use pastry flour in your pie crust, it will work. Just keep in mind that it doesn't have as much gluten in it, so the crust will be soft, but not as sturdy. - white granulated sugar: To reduce the calories, you can substitute the sugar with any cup-for-cup variety of granulated sugar substitute. Monkfruit sugar is a good option.
- unsalted butter: If you need or want to use salted butter, just omit the ¼ teaspoon of salt this recipe calls for.
Although I haven't tested with plant-based butter substitutes, I think they'll work fine. Another suitable butter substitutes for pastry dough are vegetable shortening and lard. - egg yolk: The yolk is important for creating moisture and structure. I do not recommend using an egg substitute.
- sour cream: Plain Greek yogurt and creme fraiche are good substitutes.
How to Make Sour Cream Pie Crust
Summary only. The complete recipe instructions are in the card at the bottom of this post ⬇️
- Combine the flour sugar and salt.
- Incorporate butter by pulsing 10 times.
- Add half of sour cream and egg mixture.
- Add remaining sour cream mixture.
- Gather the dough together into a smooth ball, wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
Liz's Tips for the Flakiest Crust
- Use very cold ingredients to create the flakiest crust. Dough that is too warm will cause the butter to melt, which can slump the crust.
- Avoid overworking/overmixing, which can cause the crust to be dry.
- Lightly dust your entire work surface with flour before rolling out the dough.
- To make the crust without a food processor, use a pastry cutter for each step in place of the food processor. Switch to using your hands after the second addition of sour cream mixture to bring the dough together.
How to Prevent Pie Crust from Shrinking
- Don't use too much water. While baking the water will evaporate and could cause the shrinking of the crust.
- Use pie weights. To prevent shrinking during a blind bake, fill the shell with parchment paper and pie weights. If your recipe doesn't require blind baking, prick the dough several times with the tines of a fork. This allows excess moisture to escape.
How to Roll Out Pie Dough
Knead the dough until it reaches a nice consistency and doesn’t stick to the side of the bowl anymore.
If it’s not sticking together well, knead in a bit more water. Liberally flour a flat, clean surface and the rolling pin. Roll the dough into a large, 10-inch circle. This allows it to fit nicely into a 9-inch pie plate, with enough dough for crimping.
How to Crimp Pie Dough
Gently pick up the crust and lay it over a greased pie pan. Gently coax it into place and cut away the excess dough. Go around the top edge of the dough, pinching it between your thumb and pointer finger making a crimp. Do this all the way around the pie.
Alternatively, you can use a fork crimp. Dust a fork in flour and gently press into the pie crust to leave indents. Try doing a crisscross pattern for another look.
Troubleshooting
If you need to adjust the consistency of the dough, it's easy to do. Just follow this chart:
- Too dry: Add a tablespoon more water at a time if the crust is cracking or isn’t sticking together well. Knead the water in thoroughly before adding more.
- Gooey/wet consistency: Add in 1-2 tablespoons of flour at a time until the dough is smooth and cohesive. Knead it in fully before adding more.
- Sticks to the counter: If your crust is sticking to the counter, pull it up and knead some more flour into it.
Storing and Freezing
Storing: Store an empty pie crust or a filled pie covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to a week. Check out this post on How to Store a Pie.
Freezing Pie Dough: You can store your pie dough disk in the freezer for future pies. Wrap securely in plastic wrap and store one or more in a large freezer bag.
Freezing Unbaked Pie Crust: To have it ready to fill and bake, simply make the dough, place it into the pie plate. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Uses for Sour Cream Pie Crust
- Fruit Pies: Fill your blind baked shell with apple pie filling, peach pie filling, blackberry pie filling, or blueberry pie filling.
- Custard Pies: Make a classic custard pie, sweet potato custard pie, or pumpkin pie.
- Empanadas
- Quiche: Delicious for breakfast or dinner. Try this cheese and bacon quiche recipe!
- Hand pies
- Pie crust cut-out cookies: Just use cookie cutters to create whatever shapes you want. Then, bake them in the oven just like you would regular soft sugar cookies.
Pie Crust Recipe FAQs
Leftover pie crust can be used in and for many dishes. You can make mini pies or tarts, cut shapes out of the dough, air fry, then toss in a cinnamon sugar mixture. or make sweet pop tarts, or a savory pizza pocket.
Either butter or shortening will give you delicious results. Butter creates a flaky, buttery crust, while shortening adds tenderness and makes it easier dough to work with.
Adding an egg yolk helps in a few ways. Eggs add a rich flavor. More importantly, the yolk adds moisture and structure, resulting in a smoother, more pliable dough that's easier to work with.
The ideal thickness of a pie crust is about ⅛th of an inch thick. Any thinner and the dough may rip or tear. If the dough is too thick, it won't bake all the way through.
Other Pastry Desserts You Might Like
- Mini Cherry Pies
- Peach Pie with Fresh or Frozen Peaches
- Blueberry Pie Bars Recipe
- Old Fashioned Pecan Bars
Sour Cream Pie Crust
Ingredients
- ¼ cup sour cream cold
- 1 large egg yolk cold
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons granulated white sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 tablespoons salted butter cold, cut into small cubes
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream and egg yolk to combine, then set aside.
- In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, and salt a few times to combine.
- Add the cold butter and pulse about 10 times, until butter is in pea size pieces. Do not over mix.
- Add half the sour cream and egg mixture and pulse about 5 times to combine. Add the remaining sour cream mixture and pulse/process until it comes together and is smooth.
- Gather the dough together into a smooth ball, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Helpful Notes and Tips From Liz
- Using very cold ingredients creates the flakiest dough.
- Avoid overworking/overmixing, which can cause the crust to be dry.
- Lightly dust your entire work surface with flour before rolling out the dough.
- Too dry: Add a tablespoon more water at a time if the crust is cracking or isn’t sticking together well. Knead the water in thoroughly before adding more.
- Gooey: Add in 1-2 tablespoons of flour at a time until the dough is smooth and cohesive. Knead it in fully before adding more.
- Sticks to the counter: If your crust is sticking to the counter, pull it up and knead some more flour into it.
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