How to Make Lattice Pie Crust

Overhead view of an unbaked pie with a diamond shaped lattice pie crust sprinkled with raw sugar on top.

Course: Baked Desserts, Desserts, Pies

Cuisine: American, North American

Prep Time: 1 25

Cook Time: 1

Chilling / Resting time: 2 40

Total Time: 5 5

Servings: to make 1 double crust, lattice pie

Calories: 1292kcal

Author: Dini Kodippili

A woven lattice crust is such an easy, decorative way to top your pies! These step by step instructions will help you transform your flaky, buttery pie crust into impressive lattice designs for your favorite pies!

EASY - This is an easy tutorial to make a decorative double crusted pie! You can create different lattice crust designs to decorate your pies in different ways.

Print Recipe

Metric - US Customary

Ingredients

300 g unsalted butter chilled
120 mL iced water
30 mL chilled vodka or substitute with iced water
400 g all purpose flour spooned and leveled when using cup measurements
30 g sugar
¾ tsp fine sea salt

Egg wash

1 large egg I prefer using only the yolk
30 mL milk or cream

Instructions

Make the pie dough

Make the pie dough following my all butter pie crust recipe.
The dough can be made ahead of time, or you can even use frozen, store-bought pie-dough as well.
300 g unsalted butter, 120 mL iced water, 30 mL chilled vodka, 400 g all purpose flour, 30 g sugar, ¾ tsp fine sea salt
Divide the dough into two portions and wrap each in plastic wrap and let the dough chill and rest overnight (you can do this up to 3 days ahead of time).

First dough portion

Roll out one of the dough portions to line the pie plate. You can find more tips on how to do this correctly without ending up with shrinking dough in my pie dough recipe linked above.
Fill the pie dough lined plate with your desired pie filling.

Lattice crust

Start preheating your oven to 400°F / 205°C. Place the oven rack on the bottom position in your oven, and place a half sheet pan on top of this rack. It's important that the oven preheats for at least 45 minutes, so make sure the oven heat is even and isn't fluctuating, and the sheet pan is thoroughly preheated to this temperature as well.
Roll out the second pie dough portion on a lightly floured surface. Make sure to maintain a circle shape as you roll out the dough for a round pie. If you're making a slab pie, roll out the dough into a rectangular (or wide oval), so that it covers the surface of the pie plate.
Once the dough is rolled out, use a ruler or a dough spacing stick to cut evenly wide strips. For narrow strips, I cut the strips 1/2 inch wide, and for regular strips, I cut them into 1 inch wide strips. For thicker strips, I do 1.5 - 2 inch wide.
For a regular pie, cut the dough into at least 11 - 12 dough strips.
Place 5 - 6 of the strips on your pie in one direction, making sure they are evenly spaced out. The shorter strips are for the edges, and the longer strips should be for the center of the pie.
Please refer to the images (or recipe video) in the post to follow the instructions for weaving the lattice pattern, because it's easier to follow with photos or video.
To create the lattice, fold back the strips labeled 1, 3, and 5 (alternating strips). The strips should be folded all the way back OFF the pie surface, but still attached to the bottom crust.
Place a new dough strip at a 90 degree angle to the first set of strips, close to the edge of the pie plate. This is strip 7. Then fold over the first set of strips on top of the newly placed strip (strip 7).
Now fold back the other even numbered dough strips (2, 4, and 6), up to strip 7.
Place another dough strip, evenly spaced out parallel to strip 7. This is strip 8. Fold over the even numbered strips from the first set so that they lie on top of strip 8.
Repeat these steps, alternating between odd numbered strips and then even numbered strips, until the lattice crust is complete. You will end up with a total of 11 or 12 strips forming a lattice pie crust.
Press the dough strips onto the bottom pie crust dough so that they stick together. Then trim off the excess strips to match the overhang from the bottom crust.
Roll the excess crust up to the edge of the pie plate. You can roll the overhang dough over the crust, OR roll it in under the pie crust to create the pie crust edge. I have tried both, and like both methods.
Use extra flour if the crust edge gets sticky while shaping it. Make sure the crust edge is evenly thick as well.
Place the pie in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill the crust again, and for it to harden.

Bake the pie

After the oven has preheated for at least 45 minutes, and the pie crust is chilled, remove the pie from the fridge to prep for baking.
The crust should be chilled enough to create a fluted edge without becoming too soft or sticky.
Then whisk an egg yolk and some milk or cream to make an egg wash. Brush this onto the lattice crust using a pastry brush. I like to make sure I get the whole surface as well as the fluted edge. Then sprinkle raw sugar on top (optional), to create an extra crunch.
1 large egg, 30 mL milk or cream
Place the pie plate on the preheated sheet pan. Bake the pie at 400°F / 205°C for about 10 minutes.
Then reduce the heat to 350°F / 180°C, and bake for a further 50 - 60 minutes, or until the pie filling is bubbling and the pie crust is golden brown and flaky. A deep dish pie will take longer to bake through, than a standard (shallower) pie.
If the crust browns too quickly, use a silicone or aluminum foil pie crust shield to cover the crust.

Nutrition