How to Make a Lattice Pie Crust

It's said that you feed the eyes before you even take a bite. If that's the case, then you want your food to look as appealing as it tastes.

With pie, especially double crust pies (like Apple Pie or Blueberry Pie), you can decorate the top crust with fancy slits or pie crust crimping. And if you want to take that pie to the next level, consider making a lattice topped pie.

Weaving the top crust might seems daunting, but it's much easier than you think. Just follow this simple step by step tutorial, and you'll be making gorgeous double crust pies in no time!

What you need

For the pie crust itself, you can use any pie crust recipe you'd like. I recommend my flaky all butter pie crust (using a double crust 12 : 8 : 4 recipe ratio of flour, fat, and water, by weight). That will make enough for the two crusts needed here.

You can also use a store-bought pastry crust.

How to lattice a pie crust

Step 1: Lay out dough strips

The first step to making a lattice pie top crust is to roll out the chilled pastry dough to about a 12-inch circle, less than ¼-inch thick. That will be about the height of two quarters.

Using a straight or fluted sides of a pastry wheel (or other cutting tool), cut the rolled-out dough into strips 1- to 2-inches wide, or to your desired width. You'll need about 10 to 12 pieces for a standard 9-inch pie (photo 1).

Starting in the middle of the pieces you just cut out, transfer every other strip of dough and lay them beside each other on top of your filling, at whatever spacing you want.

Step 2: Turn back strips

Turn back every other strip of dough a little more than halfway, then take the longest strip left of the ones you cut out and lay it crosswise across the top of the strips not turned back (photo 2).

Step 3: Straighten and turn back alternate strips

Straighten out the turned-back strips and turn back strips you didn't touch the first time (photo 3).

Step 4: Straighten and turn back original strips

Lay the next smallest strip of rolled out dough next to the first crosswise strip at your desired spacing. Straighten those turned-back strips, and turn back the original strips (photo 4).

Step 5: Repeat pattern

Repeat alternating turning back the parallel strips to finish the current side, then turn the pie around and repeat the process for the other side (photo 5).

Step 6: Press and crimp edges

Press the ends of the strips into the bottom pie crust, then fold the edge under itself and press down. Smooth around the edges for a neater appearance, then crimp the pie crust with a fork or your method of crimping (photo 6).

You can cut shapes with the leftover crust dough to decorate the top of the lattice if you wish.

Step 7: Glaze and decorate the lattice

To create a shiny glaze on the finished crust, brush the lattice and edges with milk or an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water). If you made decorations, place them on top of the lattice and glaze them as well.

Sprinkle coarse sugar all over the top of the pie for a nice crunch, then place it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up the crust (photo 7).

Bake the pie according to your recipe directions.

Questions asked and answered

Here are some questions you might have...

A beautiful pie is at hand

Yes, you can lay rolled out dough on top of your favorite double crust pie, cut a few slits, then bake it. However, giving yourself the time to weave a lattice pie really shows that you care about how your pie looks, not just how it tastes.

It's easy and fun to play with lattice designs, and your pies will look all the better for it!

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