Anna Olson’s Classic Pie Dough

This classic pie dough is a foundational recipe — the kind every baker returns to again and again. Its buttery, flaky texture makes it ideal for everything from fruit pies to elegant tarts, and it’s a technique trusted by professional bakers as well as home cook. This is how Anna Olson describes her recipe: “An all-butter pie dough delivers a rich taste and a tender flakiness to any pie, savoury or sweet. This is my staple pie dough that I have been using for at least 10 years, ever since I discovered that adding a little oil before the butter protects the flour and that the butter does not have to be ice cold, contrary to popular belief.”–Anna Olson

Anna Olson's Classic Pie Dough

Anna Olson shares her easy recipe for a classic, perfectly-flaky all-butter pie dough.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup cool unsalted butter cut into pieces (does not have to be ice cold)
• ¼ cup cool water
• 2 tsp white vinegar or fresh lemon juice

Instructions

 

• Combine the dry ingredients by stirring the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the oil. Using a pastry cutter, electric beaters or a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend until the flour looks evenly crumbly.
• Add the butter and cut in until the dough is rough and crumbly but small pieces of butter are still visible.
• Place the water and vinegar (or lemon juice) in a small bowl, stir together and then add all at once to the flour mixture, mixing just until the dough comes together. Shape it into two discs, wrap well and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

Notes

If you are not making a pie immediately, refrigerate the dough, well wrapped, for up to 2 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge before rolling. 

Recipes that start with Anna Olson’s Classic Pie Dough

Bacon, Mushroom and Gruyère Quiche

You won't be disappointed with Anna Olson's take on a quiche Lorraine. Thick-cut bacon, cremini mushrooms and grated Gruyère add flavour to the rich filling, and Olson's famous pie dough recipe is used to create the flaky pie crust.

Get the recipe

Anna Olson's Brown Butter Pecan Pie

Brown butter and perfect syrupy filling is the secret to this perfect pecan pie.

Get the recipe

Want to learn more about Anna’s baking philosophy and career? Read our interview with Anna Olson

Excerpted from Anna Olson’s Baking Wisdom: The Complete Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Make You a Better Baker (with 150+ Recipes) by Anna Olson. Copyright © 2023 Olson Food Concepts Inc. Photography by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.