Mossy Life

Flaky Pie Crust (Lard + Butter)

This is a simple pie dough recipe that I use in my other recipes. The combination of lard and butter gives you the flakiness of lard with the flavor of butter. It's reliable and works well.

Why Lard + Butter?

Lard creates a flakier crust because it has larger fat crystals than butter. Butter tastes better. Using both gets you flaky and flavorful results.

I use half the lard amount from traditional recipes and substitute butter for the rest. This gives you most of the flakiness without the all-lard flavor.

Ingredients (Single Crust)

• 187g all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt
• 55g cold lard
• 55g cold butter - use homemade cultured butter if you have it
• 45ml (3 tablespoons) ice-cold water (more if needed)

For a full pie (top + bottom): Double everything.

Equipment

• Large bowl
• Pastry cutter or two knives (or your hands)
• Plastic wrap or parchment paper
• Rolling pin

The Process

Step 1: Keep Everything Cold

This is the most important rule. Cold fat = flaky crust. Warm fat = tough, greasy crust.

• Cut your butter and lard into small cubes
• Put them back in the fridge or freezer while you measure flour
• Use ice water (literally put ice cubes in the water)
• If your kitchen is hot, chill the flour too

Step 2: Mix Dry Ingredients

1. Put flour and salt in a large bowl
2. Whisk to combine

Step 3: Cut in the Fats

1. Add cold lard and butter cubes to the flour
2. Use a pastry cutter (or two knives, or your hands) to cut the fat into the flour
3. Work quickly - you don't want the fat to warm up
4. Stop when the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces of fat

What you're looking for: The fat should be in small pieces, coated with flour. Some pieces will be tiny, some will be pea-sized. That's what creates flakiness.

Step 4: Add Water

1. Drizzle 45ml (3 tablespoons) of ice-cold water over the mixture
2. Use a fork to mix it in
3. The dough should start coming together but still look shaggy
4. If it's too dry to hold together, add more water 5ml (1 teaspoon) at a time

How much water? Depends on humidity, flour type, and how you measured. Start with 45ml. Add more if needed. The dough should hold together when you squeeze it, but shouldn't be wet or sticky.

Step 5: Form and Chill

1. Dump the shaggy dough onto a work surface
2. Use your hands to gather it into a ball
3. Flatten into a disk about 1 inch thick
4. Wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper
5. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days)

Why chill? This lets the flour hydrate fully and firms up the fat again. Chilled dough is also easier to roll out.

Step 6: Roll Out

1. Take the dough out of the fridge
2. If it's rock-hard, let it sit for 5-10 minutes until slightly softened
3. Flour your work surface and rolling pin
4. Roll from the center outward, rotating the dough as you go
5. Roll to about ⅛ inch thick
6. It should be about 2 inches larger than your pie pan

If the dough cracks: It's too cold. Let it warm up a few more minutes. If it gets sticky or greasy, it's too warm - put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Step 7: Transfer to Pan

1. Roll the dough loosely around your rolling pin
2. Unroll it over your pie pan
3. Gently press into the bottom and sides
4. Trim edges, leaving about 1 inch overhang
5. Fold the overhang under and crimp the edges

For a Blind-Baked Crust

If your recipe calls for a pre-baked crust (like for cream pies or custard pies):

1. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork
2. Line with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (or dried beans)
3. Bake at 375°F for 15 minutes
4. Remove weights and parchment
5. Bake another 10-15 minutes until golden brown

Storage

• Unbaked dough: Refrigerate up to 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months (wrap well)
• Rolled-out crust: Freeze in the pie pan, wrapped well, up to 1 month
• Baked crust: Room temperature for 1 day, or freeze up to 1 month

Troubleshooting

The crust shrinks when baking

You overworked the dough (developed too much gluten). Next time, handle it less and make sure it's well-chilled before baking.

The crust is tough or chewy

Either too much water, too much mixing, or the fat got too warm. Keep everything cold and handle the dough as little as possible.

The crust isn't flaky

The fat pieces got too small. You want visible chunks of fat in the dough - they melt during baking and create the flaky layers.

The bottom is soggy

Blind-bake the crust before adding wet fillings. Or brush the unbaked crust with egg white before filling - it creates a moisture barrier.

Why This Ratio?

Traditional pie crusts use all butter (tasty but not super flaky) or all lard (very flaky but some people don't like the flavor). This 50/50 split gives you:

• Flakiness from the lard - creates those distinct, crispy layers
• Flavor from the butter - especially good if you use cultured butter
• Easy to work with - lard makes the dough more forgiving than all-butter

You can adjust the ratio based on preference. More lard = flakier but less buttery. More butter = more flavor but slightly less flaky.

Remember: Double for a Full Pie