No Fail, Sour Cream Pie Healthy sour cream recipes It’s the easiest, flakiest homemade pie crust ever! No machine required for this longtime reader favorite, a buttery pie and pastry crust recipe anyone can make.

Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University. It is flaky, it is buttery, it is un-fussy, and it needs no difficult-to-clean equipment—just your clean hands and a large bowl. No added water, instead you add sour cream. This method works and it couldn’t be easier.

The recipe comes from my friend, former Zuni Cafe chef Kathi Riley, who has been using it as her go-to pastry crust recipe for 25 years and who graciously shared it with me to share with you. Why Does This Pie Crust Recipe Work? The biggest issue with flour-based pie crusts is toughness. Toughness develops when protein strands in gluten form when the flour and water come together. By rubbing the flour initially with butter, you coat the flour protein molecules in fat. When you add sour cream, you add moisture that is surrounded by fat.