Lard Pie Crust
The flakiest, most flavorful crust for all your sweet and savory pies. This recipe uses a blend of high-quality leaf lard and butter for the perfect texture.
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 tablespoons lard ideally leaf lard (recipe note #1), chilled
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter ideally high-fat, European style butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 4 tablespoons ice water or up to 5 tablespoons
Instructions
To Make With a Food Processor:
- Add flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor with knife blade attached. Pulse a few times to combine. Add lard and butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form (a little larger than peas). Sprinkle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing after adding each one, until just moist enough to clump together when squeezed. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Shape dough into a 1-inch thick disc and wrap tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate one hour or longer.
To Make by Hand:
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add lard and butter and cut in with a pastry cutter /pastry blender or two butter knives until you have irregular coarse crumbs (the size of peas and a little larger). Sprinkle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, while fluffing with a fork, until just moist enough to clump together when squeezed. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Shape dough into a 1-inch thick disc and wrap tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate one hour or longer.
To Roll Out Pie Crust:
- When ready to roll out dough, generously flour work surface. Place dough in center and sprinkle with flour. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll into a 12-inch round starting at the center and rolling out toward the edges in every direction. (Dough should be cool, but pliable. If it feels hard, let it stand at room temperature until it has some give, 15 to 30 minutes. Alternatively, if it feels warm or looks greasy, return to the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before continuing to roll it out.)
To Pan and Chill
- Gently fold dough over rolling pin and ease into a 9-inch, deep dish pie pan. Carefully adjust dough, gently pressing to cover bottom and sides. Trim dough edges with a sharp knife, leaving at least a 1-inch overhang to offset shrinking. Flute pie crust edge using the index finger of one hand to press between the thumb and index finger of the other hand to form a V or U shape all the way around. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or until ready to bake.
How to Blind Bake or Fully Bake Pie Crust
- To bake the pie shell, preheat oven to 425 °F (218 °C).
- Line pie crust with parchment paper or foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 12 minutes. Remove paper or foil and weights and prick bottom and sides of crust all over with a fork. Bake 8 to 10 minutes more for a partially baked crust, or for a fully baked crust 10 to 12 minutes longer until golden brown.
Video
Notes
- Lard: My one non-negotiable rule is to look for good quality lard (ideally rendered leaf lard), not the highly processed, hydrogenated lard that is sold in some grocery stores.
- Storage: Refrigerate this pie crust for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before baking.
- Baking: Partially bake the crust for recipes where you'll fill the crust and continue baking (like quiche), fully bake and cool completely for no-bake fillings.
- Double Crust: For a double-crust pie, increase all ingredients by 50% or double the recipe and make pie crust crackers or cinnamon sugar crisps (Coat rolled out dough scraps with cinnamon and sugar and bake until crispy) with the extra!
Nutrition
Calories: 208kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 51mg | Potassium: 25mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 175IU | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg
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