Whoa nelly, have I got a recipe today for YOU!
I know you. You have been thinking about Thanksgiving, haven’t you?
You want to make a stellar pie crust, but you just aren’t sure where to look.
You want your family to be amazed. You want praise, maybe even a light applause.
I mean, you’ll act humble, of course. But inside you’ll know you really are kind of a big deal. After all, you’ve just made the perfect pie crust. I mean, is there anything BETTER than that?
I submit that there is not!
The Perfect Pie Crust
Now, what makes a perfect pie crust, you ask?
#1 – LARD or TALLOW. Yep, that’s right. Good old fashioned lard or tallow is the KEY to making a great pie crust. Lard is the rendered back or internal fat from pigs and tallow is the rendered kidney fat from cows or lambs. Now, before you start thinking of the words “cholesterol”, “weight gain” or “heart disease”, why don’t you read my article here on the TOP 3 Reasons Why YOU Should be Eating Lard. That should clear up your worries in a jiffy. If that doesn’t help, you can read my other article, How long did your Ancestors live while eating Bacon, Lard, & Whole Milk? That’s right folks. Traditional fats like lard, butter, & tallow are healthy, and modern factory-made fats like Crisco, Canola Oil, & Margarine are no bueno. Muy no bueno.
#2 COLD EVERYTHING. Cold lard, cold butter, cold water, & even cold flour are the keys to keeping your pie crust light and flaky. I use cold lard & butter straight from the fridge, ice cold water, and I am sure to freeze my flour in the freezer the night before to make sure it’s freezing cold. So, we’re all on the same page now, right? Cold everything, got it? Okay, let’s get bakin’.
Start with 1 1/4 cups of cold sifted flour and 1/4 tsp. of salt. You can use whole wheat flour if you like,
but I prefer to use half white flour, and half sprouted wheat flour.
Next, you’ll add 2 TBS. of butter and 3 TBS. of Lard or Tallow. I’ve found this ratio works the best. You don’t want to make a pie crust with ONLY butter. Using butter as the only fat will make it TOO flaky and it’ll fall apart when you try to slice it.
Now it’s time to “cut” your fat into your flour. Use can use a pastry cutter or a fork, but either way you’ll want to cut it in until you have small pea sized chunks.
Now you’ll add 6-8 TBS. of ice cold water and mix together with a spoon until it comes together. Add just enough water until it comes together. Start with 6 TBS. and then evaluate. Use your hands to form it into a ball. If you aren’t planning on baking your pie right away, then you need to refrigerate your dough until you’re ready to bake it.
Now this is my Grandma’s tip for rolling out the perfect pie crust. Take a fine dishcloth or just a scrap of cotton fabric and dump a handful of flour on top of it. Yep right on top of it. This will prevent your dough from sticking to your counter top. TRUST me, you’ll LOVE this method!
After you’ve rolled out your dough, you can hold your pie plate right above the
rolled out dough to make sure it’s big enough.
When you’re ready to transfer it to your pie plate, simply used your rolling pin to roll it all the way up,
(it won’t stick together) and then unroll it in your pie plate.
Form the edges with your fingers to make everything smooth.
And now you and make any pretty edge you want. Here’s my fancy pancy design.
Now, if you’re making a custard pie, you’ll need to pre-bake the pie crust before you add the filling. You’ll also need to add a weight to the bottom so it doesn’t rise while baking. You can purchase these pie weights, or you can just use some parchment paper and some dried beans.
A typical custard recipe will have you pre-bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees and then let cool for 15 minutes before filling.
If you’re making a fruit pie with a top crust, you’ll need to double this recipe and then you can just bake it straight away.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup white or wheat flour (cold)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter (cold)
- 3 tablespoons lard or tallow (cold)
- 6-8 tablespoons water (ice cold)
Instructions
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Sift flour into a bowl and add salt.
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Add butter & lard and "cut in" using a pastry cutter.
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Add ice cold water and mix with a spoon, then form a ball using your hands.
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Flour a fine cotton towel or piece of fabric, and roll out your dough using a rolling pin.
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Once your dough is rolled out to the desired size, use your rolling pin to roll up the dough and transfer to your pie plate.
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If you are making a custard pie, pre-bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Be sure to add pie weights during this pre-bake time.
Hello, Would this dough hold up well for making homemade savory pies/hot pockets that I can freeze and then air fry?
I love the rolling-it-out-on-a-dish-towel trick! I think my grandma used to do something similar with a canvas cloth but I haven’t found it referenced elsewhere. Anyway, it’s a great trick for not having to wash a cutting board. I’m new to off-gridding and we don’t have running water, so fewer dishes is a really big deal! Great recipe, been looking for how to use beef tallow in a pie.
Yes, thank you very much. I just got my first Leaf Lard, wanting to step up my pastry game. I have been making butter crust for year.
I did make this, used it as a hamburger pie/tart recipe. worked great!
It is a stand-up crust, and I will be making this again.
I hope it doubles well!!!!
This looks great. I have lots of grass fed tallow that I render and stock pile, you can fry anything in it and make pemmican! I remove all the moisture from it so it’s very hard and waxy, even more so when it’s cold. I think maybe I should melt it and the butter together first and then let them congeal together in the refrigerator so the fat is easier to work with.
By all means avoid any enriched flour, it’s bad for you, get organic or whole wheat that doesn’t say enriched.
I love titis recipe and am going to make pop tarts out of it. I froze my butter and grated it with a cheese grater instead of cutting it in with a pastry cutter and it was the best thing I have ever done. I will never make pie crust the other way again. Thanks for the recipe!!
Hi,
Is there a way to make this crust gluten free? I recently tried a recipe using lard and gluten free oat flour and it didn’t turn out quite right. I wonder if doing it using your cold method would help? Would love a gluten free lard pie crust recipe. Thanks
Hi Jenny,
I’m sure using this method with a gluten free recipe would work!
Hi DaNelle! Love your site 🙂 Any chance you have worked out a longrise sourdough crust? I don’t want to reinvent the wheel if you already have a recipe! Thanks 🙂
Ah, not yet Cydney:)
I would like to know that as well but until that day sprouted spelt will have to be good enough
I’ve made all-butter crusts many, many times. I’ve never had a problem with it “fall[ing] apart.”
I used bacon lard and screened the pieces out while still hot and let the fat congeal to lard. My problem is the pie crust was very hard and not flaky at all. I had everything cold like stated. Any suggestions?
Hi Tonya,
You may have overworked the dough. Pie crust dough needs to be worked with very minimally to keep it’s flakiness
I was unable to find unrendered lard at the store (or any lard, for that matter) so I used ghee (for kid’s dairy allergies) and coconut oil. It had the right texture. I should have gone half wheat though instead of whole wheat. Next time I’ll try the splash of vinegar trick!
Awesome!
What kind of lard do you use??
I found a local source for pig fat and I rendered it down into lard. I have an article about this coming soon!
Totally bookmarking this recipe. Not making a pie for Thanksgiving, (I’m providing the Cranberry element for the feast we’re going to using a fabulous looking recipe from Primally Inspired) but when Chriatmas rolls around I’m definitely making a couple pies! Eeep! Thanks for sharing your expertise and
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
=D
Can you use almond flour?
I’m not sure, I haven’t tried almond flour for this recipe. Try it out and let us know how it works!
My husband is a vegetarian. What can I use besides lard or tallow?
You can try coconut oil and butter:)
Where can I purchase organic lard or tallow, without chemicals (preservatives)?
You can try to find a local meat shop, or visit this website here…
https://thrivemarket.com/
How do you think coconut oil would do as a substitute for lard?
I think it would work well. Try it out and let us know!
what if u wanted it to be soaked flour but don’t have sprouted flour? just use white flour?
Hi Dawn,
I wouldn’t try to soak this recipe. But you can use white flour and it’ll work just fine:)
I recently started making pastry with our home grown, home rendered lard, it’s wonderful! Even with whole wheat flour it’s been flexible and delicious. My mum’s ratio is half fat to flour so if you are using 500g of flour use 250g of fat, it works beautifully : ) Also a splash of vinegar in with your water helps make the pastry flaky and stops it becoming tough.
Oooh, great tip!