Easy Flaky Pie Pastry Dough Recipe

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt, stirring with a fork until well blended. This way, your dough will have an even taste throughout.

Add the chilled, cubed butter to the dry mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, quickly cut the butter into the flour until it is well combined and the mixture looks like coarse sand. There might be some larger, pea-sized chunks of butter, and that’s fine. Those bits of butter create the flakiness in your pie crust once they melt during baking.

Gradually add the ice water, a tablespoon or two at a time, stirring and tossing with the fork, just until the dough begins to clump together. Don't add more water than needed. Too much water will make your dough tough.

Gently gather the dough into a ball, then divide it in half, shaping each half into a disk. Wrap each disk securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling out. This resting period assures a tender, easy-to-work crust.