Flaky Yogurt Pie Crust Recipe: Worthy of Your Favorite Pie Filling
Sneak Peek: This buttery, Flaky Yogurt Pie Crust is the perfect match for any pie filling. Yogurt adds a tender touch, creating layers that melt in your mouth.
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Do you love pie crust? Are you picky about it? Or maybe you just enjoy the process of making it? You’re in the right place if you answered yes to any of these.
Years ago, as a young County Extension agent, I appeared on a TV cooking show at 5:30 a.m. to teach “How to Make a Perfect Pie Crust.” Ever since that early-morning brush with fame, pie crusts have been my obsession.
This flaky, buttery yogurt pie crust is my absolute favorite—and I think it will be yours, too.
What Makes This Crust Special
- Secret Ingredient: Unflavored yogurt, creates a tender, flaky crust.
- Versatile: Works with sweet or savory fillings
- Easy Ingredients: Uses kitchen staples like flour, butter, and yogurt.
Speaking of favorites, check out my favorite pecan pie, my grandma’s Magic Pumpkin Pie, and this Deep Dish Chocolate Pecan Pie. This crust is perfect for any of these pies.
Happy Cooks Speak Up
“Absolutely amazing! I used it for chicken pot pie and everyone loved it!”—KAREN
Recipe Inspiration
A few years ago, I ran across a crust recipe in a magazine (remember those?) calling for sour cream in addition to butter. Reading that article gave me an idea.
What if I replaced the sour cream and water with yogurt?
I tried it, and It worked.
Why Does Yogurt Make a Pie Crust Flakier?
My research revealed why sour cream is a little-known secret to flaky pie crust. The same principle seems to apply to yogurt.
“The acid in the sour cream slows down the development of gluten (the structure-forming protein in flour), which makes for a more tender and flaky crust.”
The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book
Why Yogurt Works
- Magic Touch: Creates incredible layers and enhances flavor.Yogurt’s acidity works like vinegar or lemon juice, while also replacing water as a binder. Sugar and egg yolk add richness and promote browning. Somehow, the yogurt works magic, creating a crust with incredible layers and flavor.
- Acidity: Acts like vinegar or lemon juice to slow gluten development for a tender crust.
- Binder: Replaces water to hold the dough together.
- Richness: Sugar and egg yolk add flavor and help with browning.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- FLOUR:
- Use all-purpose flour, bleached or unbleached
- A high-protein flour (such as bread flour)may cause toughness
- SUGAR:
- Granulated sugar adds flavor and helps the crust brown
- Optional
- SALT:
- Salt is optional
- Enhances flavor
- BAKING POWDER:
- Inspired by the Kitchn, I add baking powder. You won’t taste it, but it adds a slight lift and prevents shrinking.
- BUTTER:
- Use cold butter for maximum flakiness
- Skip the added salt if using salted butter
- Can substitute shortening for less flavor
- YOGURT:
- Although I use my homemade unflavored yogurt, this recipe also works with store-bought yogurt, vanilla-flavored yogurt, and Greek yogurt.
- Thin thick Greek yogurt or skyr with milk before measuring
- EGG YOLK:
- Skip the yolk if preferred
- Use 1/3 cup yogurt instead
How To Assemble a Buttery Pie Crust with Yogurt
How To “Smoosh” the Crumbles (aka Fraisage)
Don’t miss the video showing how to do this.
There should be no significant, visible pieces of butter. If the butter pieces are too large, they may melt as the crust bakes and drip onto the oven floor. Not good.
How To Roll Out a Buttery Pie Dough
Note: I’ve learned to put the crust back into the fridge for about fifteen minutes after I place the crust into a pie plate and before I crimp the edges. This allows the crust to relax and makes it easier to make a decorative edge. It also helps to keep the crust from shrinking as it bakes.
How To Blind-Bake a Yogurt Pie Crust
Update 11/12/21: Influenced by Erin McDowell’s “The Book on Pie” (paid link), I’ve updated the par-baking instructions.
- Chill rolled-out pie crusts in the refrigerator instead of freezing.
- Freeze dough (up to 3 months), but avoid freezing rolled-out crusts or baking them directly from the freezer.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F for quicker baking and less shrinkage.
- Dock the crust and use weights in the shell, as shown below.
After testing her tips, my pie crust improved, and the recipe has been updated!
Chill a prepared pie crust while you preheat the oven to 425˚ F.
After docking the pie crust with a fork:
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- Cover the pie crust with non-stick aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- If necessary, use two pieces of foil to cover the entire crust.
- Press it snugly into the shape of the pie shell.
Kitchen Secret for Cheap and Handy Pie Weights
My favorite is a heavy chain, which you can purchase by the foot at your local hardware store. There’s no reason to chase beans or pie weights around the kitchen.
Parting thoughts: If you need ideas for a pie to fill this crust, check out my entire collection of pies and mini-tarts here.
Need help troubleshooting? Email me: Paula at saladinajar.com—photos welcome!
Flaky Yogurt Pie Crust Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup (150 g) all-purpose, unbleached flour
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup (114 g) unsalted butter, cold
- ¼ cup (70 g) unflavored regular yogurt or Greek yogurt
- 1 (18 g) egg yolk
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine 1¼ cup (150 g) all-purpose, unbleached flour, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon baking powder at low speed for 5 seconds.
- Cut ½ cup (114 g) unsalted butter, cold into 16 pieces, and add to the flour mixture. Mix on low speed for about 45 seconds. (I count it off).
- Combine ¼ cup (70 g) unflavored regular yogurt or Greek yogurt and 1 (18 g) egg yolk. Add all at once to the flour.
- Mix on low speed for 12-15 seconds. All particles should be barely moistened but not yet coming into a ball. You’re going for a shaggy mess that will hold together if you squeeze it between your fingers.
- Dump the dough onto a big piece of plastic wrap or a floured tea towel.
- Take the palm of your hand and slide it face-down from the middle toward the side of the pile to smoosh the crumbs together and flatten out the big pieces of butter. Work around the pile as you gently press the dough into one big flat clump. There should not be any large and visible pieces of butter. If the butter pieces are too large, they may melt as the crust bakes and drip onto the oven floor. Not good.
- Fold plastic wrap up around the dough, pressing gently to form a smooth round patty approximately an inch thick.
- Wrap and chill the dough at this point for at least 1-4 hours. When ready to roll out, allow to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
- Using a well-floured pastry cloth or a silicone pastry mat and a pastry sock-covered rolling pin, roll out pie dough to a diameter about 1-1/2 inch larger than your pie plate.
- Place a 9-inch pie plate upside down on the dough and flip the dough into your pie pan using a pastry cloth to hold on as you invert dough.
- Peel the pastry cloth off the dough and carefully fit the dough inside the pan being careful not to stretch it. If dough sticks to the cloth, use a knife to loosen it carefully and lightly dab it with flour to repair.
- Trim crust about a half-inch past the rim of your pie plate. Turn under any excess dough, so it is even with the side of the plate. Form decorative edge as desired. (If the dough seems too soft to work with, refrigerate until firm.)
- Place the shaped pie crust back into the refrigerator until ready to bake. It should be well-chilled (not frozen) when it goes into the oven.
Notes
Nutrition
All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com
Paula Rhodes, owner
As a retired home economist, I created Saladinajar.com to share my belief that you don’t have to be a chef to find joy in creating homemade food worth sharing. Bread machines (used in an unconventional way), homemade yogurt, and quick microwave recipes are my specialty.