adapted from Cook’s Illustrated | Makes enough for a double-crust 10-inch pie.
Just for a day, put aside all thoughts of diets, waist sizes, and cholesterol and make a pie with this marvelous lard crust. You may never go back.
convert Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
13 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
8 tablespoons cold lard
4 to 6 tablespoons ice water
Directions
1. Mix flour, salt and sugar in food processor fitted with metal blade.
2. Cut in butter cubes with five 1-second pulses. Add cold lard and continue cutting in until flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal with butter bits no bigger than small peas, about 4 additional 1-second pulses. Turn mixture out into a medium-sized bowl.
3. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of ice water over mixture. With a fork, fluff to mix thoroughly. Squeeze a handful of dough — if it doesn’t stick together, add remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
4. Divide dough into two balls, one slightly larger than the other then flatten into 6-inch discs. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling. Fill with your favorite pie filling recipe.
Note: To make Cook’s Illustrated’s original recipe, substitute cold vegetable shortening for the lard.
Recipe © 1993 Cook’s Illustrated. All rights reserved.
