Vodka Pie Crust
Whether you're making a dessert for the holidays or a simple quiche, there's no better pie crust than a homemade pie crust! This one has a special ingredient: Vodka. With the right technique, this vodka pie crust from scratch is easy peasy!
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Vodka Pie Crust recipe
I love love love pie. Pumpkin pie, raspberry pie, old fashioned pecan pie, all of it! I've been making my own pies from scratch for a few years now but I'll be honest, they used to be quite ugly. No one usually cares as long as they taste good, but as a food blogger, I know that people 100% eat with their eyes first.
So a while back, I decided to fix that - once and for all. I took a perfect pie baking class at a local shop. I was so excited about the class so I could learn more about making great pies!
One major secret I learned is putting vodka into the crust! The alcohol makes the crust extra flaky and so decadent.
Now I can't even remember the last time I bought a store-bought crust, especially for holiday pies. Whenever possible, I like to do everything for my pies from scratch, from the pie crust to the whipped cream on the side.
Why you'll love this recipe
This vodka pie crust recipe is so good - you'll never go back to store-bought crust, I promise!
- Homemade pie crust makes a huge difference, whether you're making pie or quiche.
- Vodka is the secret ingredient that makes this pie extra flaky. (No vodka? You can use cold water instead.)
- No need for elbow grease and a pastry cutter - you can make this recipe with a food processor or stand mixer.
Quick tips for the best pie crust
One of my favorite components of taking the cooking class was learning some of the science behind pie crusts and why certain ingredients and techniques are important.
There are four important factors when it comes to making great pie crusts from scratch:
- Temperature: You want a HOT oven and COLD butter.
- Time: Pie-baking is not something you can rush through.
- Technique: Having the right tools is key to making a pie crust.
- High quality ingredients: Good ingredients help you make a crust that tastes good AND is easy to work with.
Now I'll get into these a little more in-depth! Pie baking is full of nuance, and I'm not holding anything back.
The Best Temperature for Pie Crusts
Temperature is HUGE in making flaky, tender pie crusts. Always remember HOT oven, COLD butter.
I struggled with pie crusts being difficult to work with or cracking in the past because my butter wasn't cold enough. Living in Arizona this is especially difficult, but no matter where you live, the same thing is true:
Your hands are warmer than refrigerated butter, so each time you interact with the dough, you're heating up that butter which will change the way that the pie crust bakes.
I recommend using a food processor. The plastic, glass or metal bowl will help keep the dough cooler as it works. You can also turn the AC up (or heat down) a few hours before you make your pie, so the kitchen colder.
Some people use marble rolling pins because they stay colder than wooden ones, helping to keep your pie crust cold to the end.
How to Time Baking Pies
Pie-baking is not something to rush. To have the best pie crust, give yourself lots of time for the dough to be properly refrigerated, keeping that butter super-duper cold.
You can also make your pie crusts ahead of time (like up to months ahead of time!), freeze them and roll them out the day you make your pies.
For Thanksgiving, I always make my pies the day before or even two days ahead our big feast. In the past, I've tried to make them the morning of, and it's always bad news!
The Best Tools
Okay, let's talk about technique now. There are a few ways you can make a pie crust happen, and it all comes down to tools.
The first is by hand with a pastry cutter. It takes a bit of elbow grease because you are using a hand-held tool to manually blend the butter and flour together.
The other way is with a food processor. This method works great too and it's a lot quicker without sacrificing the quality of your pie crusts. It's also nice to save you some elbow grease, since a food processor can do a lot with just a few quick pulses.
I've done both and usually prefer the pastry cutter method but that's mainly just because I like getting my hands in on the action! Both methods work great.
Whichever method you use to combine the flour and butter, ensure you only combine them until you have PEA-SIZED pieces of butter. If you break the butter down smaller than that, your pie crust will be stickier and more difficult to handle.
Vodka Pie Crust Ingredients
Finally, the quality of the ingredients you use is SO important in making pie crust. It's not just about making a good-looking pie crust, it's also about making one that tastes good AND is easy to work with.
You have three main ingredients in a pie crust: Flour, butter and a colorless, odorless liquid, like water or vodka. You will also need sugar and salt for your pie crust. If you are making a savory pie like a breakfast quiche, you should leave out the sugar.
The Best Flour
There are two options for flour, either all-purpose flour or pastry flour. I usually stick to all-purpose flour, but either will work well.
With either option, you want to choose a high-quality brand of flour. Some of my favorite brands are King Arthur Flour, White Lily Flour, Bob's Red Mill and Hayden Flour Mills (local to Arizona).
The Best Butter
The second important ingredient is butter. The right butter makes a huge difference. Unsalted butter is key to a pie crust because you'll be adding salt. If do you end up buying salted butter, simply skip the added salt in this recipe.
I used to follow the school of thought that all butter is created equal, but after making pies with regular, cheap butter and high-quality butter, there is definitely a difference in the taste and texture.
In general, European butter has a different butterfat content than American butter, so it melts faster and is ideal for baking. I have switched now to using unsalted Kerrygold Irish Butter in my pie crusts and I'd highly recommend using either that brand or something of similar quality.
Vodka vs. Water for Pie Crusts
The third thing I mentioned is a liquid ingredient. Ice-cold water will make a great pie crust, BUT you can also use vodka in place of water for even better results.
Vodka helps to create a perfectly flaky crust. It helps the dough to be more moist and malleable to work with. The ethanol in the vodka prevents the gluten in the flour from binding to the butter, giving the final crust a more flaky, tender texture.
Gin, bourbon, rum or tequila can be substituted for vodka, if needed. Make sure to use an 80-proof alcohol.
Whether you use alcohol or water, make sure they are COLD. Remember that temperature makes a big difference, so plop in some ice cubes or place it in the freezer while you make the pastry. (If using water, check occasionally to make sure it's not freezing!)
Why Vodka Works
While using vodka is not necessary and water will work just fine, vodka is totally worth experimenting with! When you're baking pies, you are looking for steam in the pie crust, which is how the pies are actually cooked.
The basic scientific reason for choosing to use vodka in a pie crust is that it has a lower boiling point than water. Because vodka has a lower boiling point than water, steam forms faster, meaning you get a more tender and flaky pie crust.
And don't worry - you can't get drunk from eating vodka pie crust. All the alcohol bakes out of the pie dough.
How to Make a Vodka Pie Crust
Alright, now that we know the hows and whys about pies, it's time to make our own! Here's what you'll need to do:
- Cut butter into ½-inch cubes. Place in a small bowl and put in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
- Measure vodka and put in the freezer until ready to use. (If using water, check frequently that it isn't freezing into ice.)
- Measure flour into a food processor.
- Add in salt and sugar and pulse three times to blend.
- Add cold butter to the food processor.
- Pulse until there are pea-sized butter pieces.
- Slowly stream in water or vodka.
- Continue to pulse until the dough comes together. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Transfer dough from the food processor to plastic wrap. Shape your dough into a round 4-inch disk, using the plastic wrap to form it, NOT your hands. (If you are making a double-crust pie, double the recipe and divide dough into two disks.)
- Once your dough is formed into a disk, wrap it up completely and stick it in the freezer for 20 minutes.
If the dough is still frozen, leave out at room temperature for just a few minutes until the dough is thawed enough to work with.
- Remove from the freezer and plastic wrap onto a lightly floured workspace. You just want sprinkles of flour on the workspace. Sprinkle flour on a rolling pin and roll until the dough is about ⅛-inch thick.
- Place into a greased pie pan and trim the overflowing edges of the pie crust. Follow the fluted edges of the pie pan or create your own flutes by hand or with a fork.
- Fill with filling and bake per instructions for pie filling.
How to blind bake a pie crust
If you need to blind-bake or par-bake your pie crust for a cream or custard filling, like a quiche or a whipped cream pie, you can! This vodka pie crust recipe would be perfect for that. Amy at House of Nash Eats has a great blind-baking tutorial, but here's the gist:
- Roll out the pie crust and place it in a greased pie dish. Trim the overhanging edges and flute the edges with your fingers or a fork, if desired. If you are baking a fully-cooked crust, dock the bottom with a fork.
- Chill the pie crust in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Then add a large piece of parchment paper over top that covers the inside of the pie crust.
- Fill the parchment with something heavy, such as dry rice, beans or ceramic pie weights.
- Bake the crust. If you are par-baking (partially baking because you will bake the filling again), bake for 15-17 minutes at 400°F. If you are baking a fully-cooked crust, bake for about 30 minutes at 400°F.
- Add the filling and continue your recipe!
How to Get the Perfect Flaky Pie Crust
Here are my top tips for the flakiest pie crust ever. Remember these and you'll be set with a buttery, flaky pie crust NO one will think for a second is store-bought.
- Use COLD butter that is high quality.
- Vodka makes a flakier pie crust than water. Make sure it's COLD too!
- Use high-quality flour and butter.
- Look for PEA-SIZED butter crumbs in your flour mixture. You don't want bigger or smaller.
How to Store Pie Dough
It's important to keep pie crust COLD so that it rolls out beautifully and to get the flakiest crust. If you aren't going to make your pie the same day, you can make pie dough in advance.
Once you have made the disk of pie dough that is wrapped in plastic wrap, you can refrigerate it for a week or freeze it -wrapped and in a freezer-safe bag - for up to six months.
If you freeze it, you will need to thaw it in the fridge for about 6 hours. (I usually just do this the night before I plan to bake with it.)
Freezing pie dough is one of my favorite hacks. I usually make a few batches and then store the extras in the freezer so I can make pie any time I want!
FAQ
Vodka helps to create a perfectly flaky crust. It helps the dough to be more moist and malleable to work with. The ethanol in the vodka prevents the gluten in the flour from binding to the butter, giving the final crust a more flaky, tender texture.
Absolutely! Water will work just fine, but vodka helps to create an even more tender crust. Make sure they are cold before adding either.
Ice water works just fine! If you want the effect of vodka, you can use any 80-proof alcohol such as gin, rum, bourbon or tequila. Gin is most similar to vodka, but it may leave behind a little bit of its botanical flavor, which may or may not work depending on your pie contents.
Vodka Pie Crust
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 ounces cold unsalted butter cut into ½-inch cubes
- ¼ to ⅓ cup vodka or cold water
Instructions
- Cut butter into ½-inch cubes. Place in a small bowl and put in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
- Measure ice water and put in freezer (check frequently that it isn't freezing into ice) until ready to use. If using vodka, do the same.
- Measure flour into food processor. Add in salt and sugar and pulse three times to blend.
- Add cold butter to food processor and pulse until there are PEA-SIZED butter pieces.
- Slowly stream in water or vodka until the dough comes together. See notes.
- Transfer dough from food processor to Saran wrap. You want to shape your dough into a round disk, using the Saran wrap to form it, NOT your hands.
- Once your dough is formed into a disk, wrap it up completely and stick it in the freezer again for 20 minutes.
- Remove from freezer and Saran wrap onto a lightly floured workspace. You just want sprinkles of flour on the workspace. If the dough is still frozen, leave out at room temperature for just a few minutes until the dough is thawed enough to work with. Sprinkle flour on a rolling pin and roll until dough is about ⅛ inch thick.
- Place into a greased pie pan and trim overflowing edges of pie crust off. Follow fluted edges of pie pan or create your own flutes by hand or with a fork.
- Fill with filling and bake per instructions for pie filling.
Notes
Nutrition
Pie Recipes to Try
A vodka pie crust will make a big difference, whether you make it for a refrigerator pie, a double-crust pie or a filled pie, like a quiche.
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I didn't realize what a different a little vodka could make in my pie crust! (I mean, I know what a difference it makes in my cocktails... haha) This was a perfect recipe for all my favorite fruit pies!
I recently made this recipe and I added just the right amount of vodka. It turned out wonderfully flaky and delicious!
Uhhh~ this is the most amazing and clever baking thing I have ever heard of! I tried it and my crust (for a pear pie) turned out AMAZING! thank you
This vodka pie crust makes pies I already love so much better. i made blackberry pie with it and the flavor was so much more potent.
I am SO impressed at how flaky this pie crust is. I made it over the weekend with a strawberry-apple filling and it was phenomenal. I really appreciated how detailed this recipe post was. Helped me throughout the pie crust making process!
Girl! You go! I tried last year and almost cried. haah. I ran to the store to buy pie crusts! lol. But yours look so good! Maybe I will try again this year!!
XOXO