This Cream Cheese Pie Dough is made with butter. It’s a flaky, tender and reliable pie crust–a recipe you can depend on. It’s a practically foolproof recipe and will make you feel like a pie expert.

If you’re looking for my Whole Wheat Butter Pie Crust recipe–click here.
Click here to PIN Whole Wheat and Butter Pie Dough recipes.
Cold, cold, cold. These are the key words when working with pie and tart pastry. Start with cold butter, use cold liquids, and as you work with the dough, keep it cold!
The butter in the whole wheat oatmeal pie dough is cut in a food processor, in quick pulses, which keeps warm hands from melting the butter. For a flaky crust, you want the butter to melt in the oven, not in your hands.
Cream Cheese Pie Dough making tips:
1. Refrigerate the butter until the very last minute.
2. Make โice-coldโ water with ice cubesโjust fish them out before measuring.
3. Work quickly to incorporate butter, and keep your warm hands away from the mixture until you quickly gather the dough into a disc.
4. Resist the urge to add more water. Work the dough gently picking up the dry pieces with the dough until it all comes together. You want to see some pieces of butter in the dough. (The Cream Cheese Pie Dough recipe here is the exception, since the butter and cream cheese are beaten together.)
4. As with all butter pie crusts, you need to chill dough just enough so that itโs cold, but still malleable, before rolling it out and fitting it in a tart or pie pan. Chilling also lets the dough relax–to calm down the gluten that forms when the dough is mixed.
Pie and tart dough rolling tips for Cream Cheese Pie Dough:
- For pies, roll the dough thinly into a 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick.
- For tarts, roll the dough into an 11-inch circle, a little thicker, but never more than 1/4 inch thick. Donโt feel that you must use the entire dough recipe because this recipe will give you more than enough dough.
- Use enough flour, but as little as possible, to keep the dough from sticking. Train yourself to dust the work surface often, but sparingly. If you see pieces or streaks of butter when you roll, thatโs good. The butter will melt in the oven and create air layers in the pastryโfor that flaky crust.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, using short strokes with the rolling pin. Gently coax both the dough into a circle, as opposed to pushing it. Roll to the edge but not over, so the edge stays the same thickness as the middle. If the dough becomes unruly or doesnโt roll smoothly, you will get a more tender crust if you patch it into the pan as is instead of re-rollingโthe less handling the better.
For Pies:
- Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie pan and trim, if necessary, leaving a 1-inch overlap around the edge of the pie pan. Crimp the edge into a fluted edge. Refrigerate or freeze until cold.
For Tarts:
- Fit the dough into a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, easing the dough into the corners and patching any tears or holes. Use your thumb to break off the excess dough at the top edge. Refrigerate or freeze until cold.
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Foolproof Cream Cheese Pie Dough
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick cold unsalted butter, sliced 1/4-inch thick
- 1 4-ounce package cream cheese, cut into pieces
- 1 teaspoon sugar or coconut sugar
- โ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until it is smooth.
- Add the cream cheese, sugar and salt. Beat well, stopping to scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl.
- Add the flour all at once, and mix just until the dough comes together.
- Gather the dough and form into a disk, about ยพ-inch thick.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
The site’s looking so great! I’ll have to try your pie crust recipes soon. Happy Thanksgiving! · 27 November, 2013
Hi Barbara thanks for the note. Went live about 15 hours ago! can’t wait to get back Monday and get really rolling on it. I am in Oregon for Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones! · 28 November, 2013
I am supposed to teach a group of teen-age girls about pie-making tonight, so I’m looking at as many different pie crust recipes as possible! Good tips! · 4 December, 2013
Valerie,
I just read your Chew and Chat post about the pie-making. sounds like it was best to do it the way you did to keep it to a dull roar of an evening. I bet they learned a lot. · 5 December, 2013
The title says “whole wheat” pie crust but your ingredient list says
“all purpose flour” which sounds like white to me. Confusing. · 14 May, 2017
Oh oh. Elaine, thank you for the edit!! I fixed it right away. I failed to change the flour when I started baking more healthfully. I use white whole wheat flour. · 14 May, 2017