No-Fail Buttery Flaky Pie Pastry/Crust

By Addie

"I don't think you will find a better pie pastry, not only is this easy to handle but bakes outs flaky and light and has a rich buttery flavor! --- you could use 3 cups all purpose flour but the crust will not be as flaky --- here's a tip, to prevent a soggy pie crust brush a thin layer of egg white over the bottom crust before filling.


NOTE: This can also be made using a processor with great results, which is the way I most always do (see instructions below the recipe) if you are making this on a food processor cube the butter and lard into about 1-inch pieces and then partially freeze." (kittencal's kitchen)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups cake pastry flour ( or use 3 cups all purpose)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, very cold
• 1/4 cup lard, very cold
• 1 egg yolks
• 7 tablespoons ice water
• 1 teaspoon vinegar

Preparation

Step 1

Mix both flours, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

With a pastry cutter cut in the very cold butter and lard until the consistency of tiny peas.

In a small bowl whisk the egg yolk, vinegar and water.

Stir the egg/water mixture into the flour mixture until moistened and dough holds together (usually it takes the full amount of water/egg mixture).

Gather into a ball then divide into two. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for 30 minutes (or the dough may be frozen after the 30 minutes chilling time, just wrap firstly in plastic wrap and then tightly in foil, leave in fridge overnight to defrost).
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PROCESSOR METHOD:

Whirl the flour, sugar and salt for a couple of seconds.

In a small bowl mix the egg, vinegar and water together; set aside.

Add in the partially frozen butter cubes and lard to the flour mixture; pulse until well mixed, then add in the water/egg mixture.

Process/pulse JUST until the dough holds together (do not over process, or your dough will be tough!).
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REVIEWS:

Great Pie crust I did mine also in the food processor and it rolled out great! Was nice and flaky and had great flavor...here's a tip for all you pie bakers out there. Bake your pies on the bottom shelf of your oven that way the bottom crust won't seem raw it will actually be cooked when the pie is done and that way the crust around the edges doesn't seem to get as dark either which can be a problem sometimes.

I thought I reviewed this when I made it several months ago but I must have forgotten. This is the best pie crust I've ever made. It's everything a pie crust ought to be: flaky, flavorful and easy to prepare. I used my trust old Quisinart DLC-7, circa 1984, and it turned out great. I highly recommend this pie crust recipe!

I love to bake but was always afraid of making piecrust. Not any more! This dough turns out wonderful! It`s easy to handle, rolls out well, and the taste and texture are fantastic! Kittencal is fast becoming my go-to girl for great recipes.

I hate making pie crust, but this recipe has changed that. It's perfect as long as you don't over handle the dough and make sure everything stays cold. I made two 9 inch pie crust with this and still had some dough left over. I believe this recipe is the one and only I'll ever use. The search is over.

As usual, Kittencal comes through with a fabulous recipe...again! I've been intimidated by the thought of making a pastry for awhile now, even though the desire has been there. And I gotta say, this was pretty easy, and turned out excellent! Although I used only AP flour and had to add a little more water (1-2 T more), it still turned out flaky and tasty for my chicken pot pie. I'm officially no longer a pie crust noob...thanks Kittencal!

Chalk up another satisfied customer. Finally I can cross "Roll your own pie crust" off my bucket list. Thanks so much. :)

Wonderful pie crust!! I am definitely not an expert pie crust maker, and usually have to roll each crust out twice before I can line my pie dish with it (darn dough always sticks to my surface no matter how much I flour it - any dough, not just this one), and despite probably being a little over-handled, turned out light, flakey and has a lovely buttery flavour! Great recipe!!

I used this recipe to make a chocolate cream pie. It turned out great. Ive been on recipezaar long enough to know that Kittencal has some MEAN recipes, and I mean that in the best way possible Thank you. P.S. I also froze a batch. I will repost when I use it and let you know how it turned out.

Another winner from Kittencal's amazing stash of recipes! My Thanksgiving pies were the best ever, thanks to you, Kitten.

This is the most incredible pie crust. It was amazingly easy to work with, and I had to refrigerate my dough for 24 hours cause I ran out of time to make pies the day i made the crust. It was easy to roll out in spite of that. I made some cinnamon sugar strips with the leftover dough, and my husband said they tasted like danish pastry dough......or cookies :) Everyone who had the pies I made with this dough, loved them! thanks for such a great recipe.

Wow!! I've only pastry a few times and it's been less than an exciting process and result. This was easy (I used the food processor), yummy, flaky and tender. I used shortening instead of lard (no pork in our family) and it turned out great. I made butter tarts and they were fantastic!! Thanks so much, I'll be keeping this recipe forever!!

Wow! I just made a turkey pot pie with this recipe (well, slight variation...I had no lard so used all butter), and it was the best pot pie and the best piecrust I've ever had! This is my new standard. I ended up having to use more water than specified, but no biggie. Great crust!

Oh my goodness Kitten, you've done it again!! The buttery aroma from the kitchen as my apple pie baked in the oven drove me wild - and the flaky pastry tasted even better. My butter was salt-free & I substituted Crisco Golden All-Vegetable shortening for the lard. Since I prefer crumb topped pies, I froze half of the pastry for another day. I've editted this review to say that another day has come & the pastry I froze was just as good as the day I made it! Thanx for another winner Kitten!

I was no good at making pie crusts from scratch until I found this recipe. They were usually a disaster in a pan. I made my first apple pie from scratch using this crust and it not only came out edible but absolutely delicious! Very tender and flaky. The dough was easy to roll out and held together well. With other recipes, the dough would crumble. I'll be making a lot more pies now. Great recipe Kittencal!

Another fabulous recipe from Kittencal. The best pie crust recipe ever...so light, flaky and buttery! Thank you so much for sharing. I'll never use any other pie crust again!

Fantastic Recipe! We used this for our Homemade Pumpkin Pies this Thanksgiving and they were wonderful :) Thanks for sharing.

THE BEST PIE CRUST! Easy to make ( I used food processor method), EASY to handle, and tastes delicious! I also really like the fact that it uses butter and lard instead of shortening which is a REALLY unhealthy fat (hydrogenated vegetable oil). Lard is actually better for you. Pie crust is not health food, but this is a little better and tastes wonderful. Old fashioned simple ingredients turn out to be better for our health too! Raves from all!

Thank you so much for such a delicious pastry! I made this for the first time a month ago (a single crust pumpkin pie, a double crust apple pie, and a double crust chicken pot pie). I made my first one by hand and all the others with my food processor. They all came out perfect! I'm typing up this review as I'm making my pumpkin & pecan pies for Thanksgiving...no need to ever try another recipe again! This is "THE ONE"!

Five-Stars and then some! I am throwing my 40 year old pie crust recipe out the window. At least that is how long I can remember making crusts, since a teen. I am an excellent pie crust maker but this beats them all! It is incredibly easy to work with. Made it in the food processor. The ingredients are spot on! I omit the sugar and add extra salt cuz I like a savory crust with pies.
Awesome Kitten, thanks a bunch!

Beautiful and flakey, this is my favourite pastry now! I made one batch by food processor and one by hand and both were successful. I had to refrigerate it overnight. I only had all-purpose flour and used lard. I used this pastry for a double batch of Award Winning Butter Tarts and everything was simply delicious. Lovely pastry.