Pie Crust

Yesterday I promised you the pie crust recipe we used. It's one that I had been wanting to try for quite awhile now, ever since I found it one day on the internet. It has butter and lard in it and it is so flaky and so good!

If you're worried about the butter and lard you might want to read here and here first.

Butter and Lard Pie Crust
3 cups all purpose flour
1&1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
Mix together the dry ingredients. I used the food processor.
3/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
3/4 cup lard, chilled and cubed
Add the butter and lard and pulse until crumbly. It should look like coarse corn meal. And don't over mix.
4-5 tablespoons ice water
Dump the flour mixture into a bowl and add the water (4 tablespoons, then more if needed) and mix it with a fork until it just comes together. Divide the dough into two sections, turn it out onto two pieces of plastic wrap and shape into discs and wrap well. At this point the dough will be crumbly. Refrigerate until very cold and then you will be able to roll it out.

Once the dough is very well chilled you can turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it.

If you are going to bake it "blind" (without filling), chill the crust again once it is in the pan and then poke holes all over.

Set foil or parchment paper over the crust and fill with dried beans to weight it down.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Let the crust cool, remove the beans and bake for another 10 minutes, until golden brown.

If you bake it with a filling start it at a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes and then turn it down to 350 degrees and bake until done. This will keep the bottom from getting soggy.

For filled pies a metal pan is best. For "blind" pies you can use either glass or metal.

Try this, I think you will really like it!