I bake pies weekly for a group of veterans, and I was curious about this crust. I have always made pie crust with just lard, flour, salt and water, like my mom did, so I tried this one day. The crust was a dream to roll out, but I was skeptical as to how much shrinkage there would be because the crust was so light and delicate. Well, I decided to bake two pie shells to see what happens. What happened was that I was pleasantly surprised. Wonderful tender, flaky crust and not much shrinkage at all. My guys said I outdid myself that week, so I guess this will become my crust of choice. Sorry mom! Hint: Shortening and butter are good for crusts, but lard can't be beat. And a little trick for those having tear problems. When you get the dough rolled to the desired thickness, lay your rolling pin on the edge of the dough farthest from you. Using a tender touch, roll the dough up over your rolling pin, then using your hands, not the handles, GENTLY roll the pin towards you rolling the dough over the pin. Put your pie pan directly behind the dough covered pin, and using both hands lift the pin and dough onto your pan, then roll away from you. Your dough will go into your pan beautifully, and your top crust will set perfectly.

This was my first attempt at a home made crust. Thank you Molly. I used Crisco's butter flavored shortening for the lard. ~kim

My grandma always told me practice makes perfect when it comes to most things especially pie crust, but I could not master a good pie crust, so it seemed. I doubled this recipe and made 3 pies over 4th of July and everyone raved about the pies and especially the crust! Tender and very flaky, they melt in your mouth. Thank you! I had plenty of dough left over to cut into strips and some I salted the others I put cinnamon and sugar on and baked to perfection! Thanks again.

I doubled this recipe and made several pies for a meeting I had. This was my FIRST TIME making pie crusts and it turned out wonderfully. No fail, even for me!