Thank you so much

Hi Ann, Yes, you can! They’d take 20 to 30 minutes at 375ºF, I think, if you make mini pies using a regular muffin pan. You could also follow the baking directions for the butter tarts where I blind-baked the mini crusts first in a muffin pan to make sure they bake properly before baking with the filling. Here’s the recipe https://bakeschool.com/an-all-butter-crust-recipe-my-love-hate-relationship-with-butter-tarts/

I think crusts made by hand, with bigger chunks of butter, tend to be flakier, but if you do get to try this crust recipe, let me know how it compares!
I have trouble with shortening just because I'm so accustomed to handling butter. I am a little butter obsessed, haha!

Thanks for your thoughts on this! I just got a food processor, so maybe that will solve my problems. I've always worked in the butter by hand, so it's likely that there were bigger bits of butter in the crust.

I can't really remember which pie dough recipes I've used (I don't have a favorite so I tend to switch it up a lot) but I think I generally use a half butter/half shortening crust.

Such a great question, Shira! If you notice puffing, to me that means you had a big piece of butter in that area that melted and the water in the butter forms steam and a pocket in the crust (that's how you get the flaky layers in crusts).
I did this crust in the food processor and pulsed it so the butter pieces were quite small and fine.
I'd love to see your crust recipe because I wonder if you also have more butter in yours. More butter, means more flaking and probably more puffing in areas of the dough.

If your crust were to lose its shape while baking but in a more melty kind of way, I would have assumed that your oven was too low so the butter melts and the dough loses its shape before the crust has time to set and dry.

Well, I hope some of this will make sense and help solve your crust mystery! Let me know what you think!