How to Cut Butter Into Flour (4 Ways + An Easy Trick!)

You don’t need a pastry cutter to cut butter into flour when making pie crusts or biscuits! There are actually 4 easy ways to cut butter into flour, so pick whichever works best for you.

How to Cut Butter Into Flour (4 Methods)

There are a few great pastry blender substitutes you can use when cutting butter into flour. My top choices are to use either a food processor, two knives, or a fork. Let’s review all of the methods at your disposal.

Option 1: Use a Food Processor

1. Cut your butter into 1 tablespoon sized pieces.
2. Add the butter and the flour to the food processor.
3. Pulse until you have the crumb-like mixture that your recipe calls for. Be careful not to blend the butter with the flour. You want to keep cold bits of butter, about pea sized, throughout the flour. This is how recipes like pie crusts and biscuits become tender and flaky.

Katie’s Tip: The only downside to this method for cutting butter in flour is that you have a bulky kitchen appliance to wash afterwards. I tend to only use this method if I’m going to be using the food processor for something else afterwards or if I’m making a large batch of flour + butter.

Option 2: Use Two Knives or a Fork

1. Start by slicing the butter into tablespoon sized pieces.
2. Then, toss the butter in the flour until each piece is coated.
3. Now, its time to begin the cutting process. The knives should criss cross as you cut through the butter, forming an X pattern when they meet in the middle. As you work the butter, it will become smaller and smaller and you’ll end up with tiny bits of butter throughout the flour.
4. The butter pieces should be about pea sized by the time you’re done cutting all of the butter into the flour for your recipe and they should be evenly distributed throughout the flour.

Katie’s Tip: If using a fork, simply mash the butter into the flour until pea-sized crumbles form.

Option 3: Use a Pastry Blender

1. First, you’ll place the flour into a mixing bowl.
2. Then, you’ll add the butter to the flour and toss the butter until coated in flour. Be sure to cut the butter into 1 tablespoon sized slices first because this makes the whole process much easier. It will take less time and that will help the butter not become too soft as you work.
3. Then, you’ll press down on the pastry blender, pushing the thin metal blades or tines into the butter and rocking back and forth. Then, pick the pastry blender up and repeat in a different area.
4. Keep doing this until all the butter has been cut into small bits, about the size of peas, and is evenly distributed throughout the flour.

Secret option 4: Use a box grater

This next little trick is my personal favorite! You can work with the butter while it’s frozen (I store extra butter in the freezer), thus keeping the butter as cold as possible. This method is great if you are wondering what you can use if you don’t have a pastry blender.

1. First, freeze the butter overnight or for several hours until very cold and hard.
2. Take the frozen stick of butter and grate it using the largest holes of a box cheese grater, as opposed to cutting the butter using other methods such as a food processor or pastry cutter. You will end up with a pile of cold grated bits of butter that are perfect for mixing into flour.
3. After you’ve grated the frozen butter, mix the cold, grated butter bits into the flour mixture for your recipe.
4. After you’ve mixed it all up, stick the bowl of the flour and butter mixture in the freezer for a few minutes to get the butter really, really cold again.
5. Finally, proceed with the rest of the recipe according to the instructions. There you have it! You’ve learned all of the different ways to cut cold butter into flour.

Katie’s Tips for Cutting Butter Into Flour