Perhaps the most important component of a perfect pie crust is butter, per Land O'Lakes. Many people pinch butter into their flour when baking their crust, which involves mixing cold butter with flour to ensure that it forms small clumps, creating a perfectly flaky crust.

All you have to do to pinch butter is to rub the cold butter into the flour with your fingers, per BBC Good Food. When cold butter melts, it forms gaps in the crust, resulting in the formation of flaky layers, so be sure to use the butter when it is cold and avoid melting it with your fingers before you bake the pie.

To avoid melting the butter, you might want to use a utensil, such as a fork, to pinch or cut in the butter, via Land O'Lakes, or you could substitute butter for lard or vegetable shortening. However, lard can be difficult to find, and vegetable shortening doesn't offer as much flavor.