How to Make a Lattice Pie Crust

The quintessential summer pie always has that perfectly woven lattice pie crust topping. I love how rustic it looks, and how it creates windows to the fruity filling underneath. But how do you make that coveted crisscross pattern? It’s hard to figure it out just by looking at it, so we’ve put together a guide on how to make a lattice pie crust, complete with detailed step-by-step pictures and our best tips and tricks. You’ll nail it immediately, and then you can spend the summer and fall making all the best lattice pie recipes.

What is lattice pie crust?

Lattice pie crust is a type of decorative pie crust that crisscrosses a pie in a woven pattern. People love to use this pie crust technique on fruit pies because the strips leave room for steam to escape—a must for pie fillings that have a high moisture content. Plus, it looks absolutely professional!

Tools for Lattice Pie Crust

• Food processor: It’s always helpful to make a pie crust in a food processor so you don’t accidentally warm up the dough too much with your hands. Remember: The colder the pie dough, the flakier it will be!
• Rolling pin: Use a sturdy rolling pin to roll out your pie dough into 1/8-inch-thick circles.
• Storage wrap: Also called cling wrap, storage wrap prevents pie dough disks from drying out in the fridge and becoming crumbly.
• Ruler: It’s not necessary, but it’s helpful to have a ruler to measure out the strips.
• Pizza or pastry cutter: To cut the strips of dough, use a pizza cutter for straight lines or a pastry cutter for fun jagged lines.

Ingredients for Lattice Pie Crust

• Lard: If you’ve never worked with a lard pie crust before, you’re in for a real treat! Lard makes pie crusts super flaky and very easy to work with—two key characteristics you want when learning how to lattice a pie crust.
• Butter: Butter is one of the most common fats used in pie crusts. Our Test Kitchen loves a basic butter pie crust for its undeniably rich flavor. Combined with lard, it makes for the perfect-tasting pie crust with the ideal workability.
• Flours: We use a mixture of all-purpose flour and cake flour in the pie dough. Why? All-purpose flour is strong and sturdy but still tender. Cake flour has the lowest amount of gluten, so it’s easier to bite through. No one wants to gnaw on a thick, strong crust.
• Baking powder: While optional, baking powder gives the pie dough a little puff and rise, making it pillowy.
• Sugar: We use a little sugar to brown the pie crust when it’s in the oven.
• Ice water: Whenever I need ice water for pie dough, I always fill a bowl with water and ice and measure out the tablespoons directly from there.
• Egg yolk: The yolk helps bind everything together, making the strips more pliable and easier to work with.
• Pie filling: You can use canned pie filling or whichever filling is used in the pie recipe you’re following.

Directions

Step 1: Freeze the butter and lard

Cut the lard and butter into 1/4-inch chunks. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze them for 30 minutes to harden them.

In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, salt, baking powder (if using) and sugar. Whisk to combine them. Freeze the flour mixture for 30 minutes.

Editor’s Tip: For the flakiest crust possible, it’s important that every pie dough ingredient is thoroughly chilled. Yes, even the dry ingredients!

Step 2: Make the pie dough

In a food processor, combine the lard, butter, and flour mixture. Pulse them until the butter and lard are pea-sized. In a small bowl, combine the ice water and egg yolk.

While pulsing, stream the water and egg mixture into the food processor until the dough begins to hold together when pressed. Add additional ice water as needed if the dough is not holding together when pressed.

Step 3: Knead and refrigerate the dough

Remove the dough from the food processor, and knead it lightly to combine it. Divide the dough into two disks, then wrap each disk well with storage wrap and refrigerate them until they’re chilled, about one hour.

Step 4: Roll out the first disk

On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out one disk of dough to a 1/8-inch-thick circle. Place the dough in the pie plate. Fill the pie crust with the filling from your pie recipe.

Step 5: Cut the next dough into strips

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Roll out the remaining disk of dough to a 1/8-inch-thick circle. Using a pastry or pizza cutter, cut the rolled-out pie into 3/4-inch to 1-inch strips.

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Lay half the strips of pie dough over the pie filling, going in one direction, leaving at least a 1/2 inch of space between each pastry strip. This will give the pie some definition and allow steam to escape.

Editor’s Tip: To prevent the blades from sticking to the dough, dust the edges with flour.

Step 6: Start the weave

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Fold back every other pastry strip about halfway. Lay the next strip perpendicular to the first strips.

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Fold the pieces back over the top of the perpendicular piece. You’ve got your first woven section!

Step 7: Repeat the pattern on the rest of the pie

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Now that you’ve got the hang of folding over and weaving, repeat this process with the rest of the strips, alternating strips as you go.

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Eventually, you’ll fill the entire pie.

Editor’s Tip: If your strips break or crack, don’t worry. You can patch them up using a bit of water as glue (or hide any cracks under the weave—we won’t tell).

Step 8: Trim the edges

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Once your lattice is complete, trim the crust to a 1/2 inch beyond the rim of the plate.

Step 9: Flute the edge of the crust

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Finish up the pie by fluting the edge. Pop the pie in the oven and bake your pie as directed!

Editor’s Tip: You can try other methods, too, like a rope finish or braiding. If you want to try one of these, we’ve got the details on how to make other decorative pie crusts.

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Lattice Pie Crust Tips

How should you use lattice pie crust?

The best pies to top with a lattice crust are fruit pies, since double-crusted fruit pies usually need vents to let steam escape during baking anyway. Instead, the lattice works as a natural vent. Plus, the color contrast between the fruity filling and the neutral dough will make the lattice that much more striking.

What do you do if the lattice pie crust is browning too quickly and the filling isn’t done yet?

Prevent your lattice from browning too quickly by covering the whole pie loosely with tin foil to keep it from getting too dark. This is called a pie crust shield. Our Test Kitchen doesn’t usually have problems with lattice crusts browning too quickly, though, so you likely won’t need to worry about it unless your oven is too hot.

Can you use store-bought pie dough for a lattice crust?

Yes, you can use store-bought pie dough for a lattice crust; it’s certainly quicker and more convenient. Follow the same cutting and weaving steps as described in our guide. Just make sure you buy one of the best store-bought pie crusts so your pie looks and tastes great.