Homemade Pie Dough

Homemade pie dough is a breeze to put together and the results, especially if you use this particular recipe is fantastic! The combination of the cold butter and lard gives this pie dough an especially flaky texture -which you can see in the side profile of the hand pies in the Raspberry Balsamic Blue Cheese Hand Pies.

All you need is 5 ingredients to make your own homemade pie dough! It is super important to have your butter and lard cold! One tip is to let the butter and lard soften up enough for you to cube them into chunks and then place them back into the fridge or freezer (if you are running out of time). I often keep some water chilled in the fridge for these sorts of recipes so preparation and and a bit of planning will definitely help you have a successful dough.

This will make enough dough for two 9" pie crusts (including the top crusts) or around fifteen hand pies (3" squared). The amount depends on how thin you roll out your dough as well. While both butter and lard are used as the "fats" inside this dough (to puff up the dough and add flakiness), I feel that the 50-50 ratio gives the taste that I want (just the right amount of butter flavour) while at the same time not being overly oily.

Ingredients:

• 227g (1 cup) cold butter cubed 
• 227g (1 cup) cold lard cubed 
• 445g (3 ½ cups) All Purpose flour 
• ¾ tsp table salt 
• 171g chilled water

Directions:

1. Measure flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
   
2. Cube the lard and butter. To keep them cold, after cubing place both the lard and the butter back into the fridge until you are ready to use them.
   
   
   
3. Add the lard and butter into the flour mixture and gently squeeze the butter and lard into the dry mixture.
   
4. Using your fingers, break the butter and lard into smaller pieces.
   
5. Add all the chilled water at once and use your hands to gently incorporate the water throughout the dough.
   
6. Turn the dough on a floured surface. Gently shape dough into a rectangular block. It should still have streaks of butter and lard. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
   
   
   

Once you have finished making your homemade pie dough you are ready to use it to make some pie! For starters you can make a simple apple pie or my Raspberry Balsamic Blue Cheese Hand Pies. I guarantee you that they are delicious! If you aren't a fan of blue cheese, you could also substitute it with something else or just leave it out. 

Also, if you haven't already please vote for my Raspberry Balsamic Castello Blue Cheese Hand Pies by following this link. Thanks!