This is my favorite pie dough to make at home (as long as I don’t have vegetarians coming for dinner), and it’s perfect for the holidays. A lard pie crust yields the flakiest, crispest crust you will ever make. I use lard along with butter because I want the flavor of butter, but the qualities of the lard. I purchase leaf lard from a small butcher online, and I keep it in the freezer all cubed and ready to use. Supermarket lard works fine, but it doesn’t seem as natural and fresh to me.

This crust is consistently delicious and easy to roll. It’s great for double-crust pie, single crusts, and gallettes. The 1st video below shows the process for creating the pie crust dough, and the 2nd will show you how to roll out your dough. Scroll down for the written recipe. Enjoy, and happy Thanksgiving!
 

What You’ll Need: 

1 ½ cup all purpose flour

¾ cup pastry flour

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

12 tablespoons salted butter, chilled

6 tablespoons leaf lard, chilled*

½ cup buttermilk

Steps:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and lard. Cut them in using your hands or a pastry blender. (I am a hands-on person, but I prefer a pastry blender or two knives to cut in butter and lard.) Blend it till the mixture resembles a coarse meal the size of peas.         

2. Add the buttermilk and mix until the mixture is just moistened, but not wet.         

3. Press the dough together and divide it in half. Wrap each piece in clear film and chill it for 1 hour.         

4. Roll out one half of the dough on a lightly floured surface, in a circle 3 inches larger than the pie pan you plan on using. Fit the round dough into the pie pan and either flute the edges by folding the excess down around the edges on a rim, or leave as is for a double crust pie.

5. For a top crust, roll out the second half the same size and shape and place it over the filling. Seal the edges; trim and flute the dough.

To pre-bake the pie shell:  

1. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork to vent it. Use a piece of aluminum foil to cover the bottom and sides of the pastry, forming the same inside shape. Fill the inside with small dried beans. (These can be used over and over again.)

2. Bake it in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans, re prick the bottom crust, and continue baking until it is golden brown.

Yield: 2 nine-inch single crusts or 1 nine-inch double crust