Best Flaky Pastry Dough Recipe for your Pie Crust

All butter and flour give an incredible pastry dough.  Check my best flaky pastry dough recipe – all homemade and nothing artificial. Use it for apple pies, meat pie or tarts. 

If you live somewhere where you don’t find ready-made pastry dough in the supermarkets for your pies don’t get disheartened. You can always make it at home. You can’t believe how easy it is to make. All you need is butter, all-purpose flour and some cold water and voila it’s ready! Can you believe it, it’s that simple! Today I am sharing the best flaky pastry dough recipe that you can do at home under 20 minutes. It’s an all-butter pastry dough recipe you could use vegetable shortening too in case you want to go full vegan.

This is a Jamie Oliver inspired basic pastry dough recipe. I love watching Jamie Oliver shows either on TLC or his Food Tube. He makes things look so easy. This is a step –by-step-photo recipe so follow on.

Best flaky pastry dough recipe

The trick to get softest pastry dough is to use chilled butter and light fingertip work. You will need three ingredients for this best flaky pastry dough recipe – flour, butter and water. The trick is to chop the butter in bite-sized pieces so that it’s easy to incorporate into the flour.

Take a cup of all-purpose flour in a mixing bowl, add 1/3rd cup of chilled butter and mix them with your finger till they resemble crumb like texture.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of chilled water to bring the crumbs together. DO NOT knead the dough, this will activate gluten and make it all stretchy and rubbery. The dough should just come together.

Dust your work surface with some flour and bring it together. This way it will never stick to the surface. But don’t try to roll it out yet. Butter will soften the dough and it would not be pliable. Wrap the dough in a cling film and pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes. 

Best Flaky Pastry Dough Recipe with vegetable shortening

If you are using vegetable shortening then you don’t need to chill the dough back. You can straight away roll it out at this stage. 

Once it has been chilled keep it out for a minute or two to become soft enough to roll out. Roll out on a flour dusted work surface. From here you can use it in different ways. You can blind bake for 15 minutes at 220C/425 for 10 minutes if you are making a quiche or an apple pie in the traditional way. Or use this dough as it is for hand pies, meat pies etc. 

I have used this recipe several times and every time it gave wonderful results. You may want to check these recipes with the Best Flaky Pastry Dough Recipe.

Mini Apple Pies

Leek & Sausage Quiche

Bacon & Sausage Quiche