Here’s a quick tutorial on how to make a lattice pie crust topping. You’ll be a pro in no time! I hope you find this woven pie crust tutorial helpful. Our all-butter Pie Crust is our favorite for making a lattice pie topping, but this also works great with Cream Cheese Pie Crust.
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How to Make a Lattice Pie Crust
1. Start by rolling out the first chilled pie dough disk and line your pie dish with it. Keep the second dough disk refrigerated until you are ready to make your lattice top.
2. Lightly flour your work surface (I use re-used the parchment paper as a work surface because the dough peels off easily. Now roll out the dough for your lattice top. For a 9″ pie dish, roll it out to about 12″ in Diameter. This one doesn’t have to be quite as wide as the bottom layer, but you want enough to go over your pie dish’s rim.
3. Cut the dough evenly into 1/2″-wide or 1″-wide strips (depending on the look you are going for). A pizza cutter makes this job way easier and more precise. You should get 10, 1-inch strips or 15, 1/2-inch strips.
4. Spoon the filling into your prepared pie shell. This was a peach pie. Click here for the filling recipe.
5. Loosely lay out 7 strips of dough, parallel to each other, with about 1/2″ space in between each, over the top of the pie. Note: choose your strips based on the diameter needed. Don’t put your longest strips on the outer edges and keep in mind you’ll also need long strips when making the perpendicular lattice strips.
6. Fold back every other strip. Place one long strip of dough down the center, perpendicular to the rest. Unfold the dough strips over this new strip. Next fold back the strips which are now running under the new strip and lay down the second strip of dough, keeping the spacing the same between the strips. Now unfold the strips again. Repeat step 5 until both sides of the pie are completed.
6. Use Kitchen Shears (if you don’t have a good pair, invest in some. We use our Henckels Scissors ALL THE TIME!) to remove excess dough, leaving a small border so you can make a pretty border. Fold any excess dough up over the edge and crimp the dough with your fingers to get a nice seal.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
You are officially a pie weaving pro. If you get confused, revert back to the pictures. I hope this tutorial helped! Do you make any unique designs on your pies?
Our Best Pie Recipes
We love making pies, everything from Classic Apple Pie to savory Chicken Pot Pie and our go-to pie crust for all of them has been our butter Pie Crust Recipe. Enjoy our all-time favorite pie recipes:
How to Make a Lattice Pie Crust
Ingredients
- Visit NatashasKitchen.com for the Pie Crust Recipe
Instructions
- Start by rolling out the first dough disk and line your pie dish with it. Keep the second dough disk refrigerated until you are ready to make your lattice top.
- Lightly flour your work surface (I use re-used the parchment paper as a work surface because the dough peels off easily. Now roll out the dough for your lattice top. For a 9″ pie dish, roll it out to about 12″ in Diameter. This one doesn’t have to be quite as wide as the bottom layer, but you want enough to go over your pie dishes rim.
- Cut the dough evenly into about 15, 1/2" wide strips, or 10, 1-inch wide strips. A pizza cutter makes this job way easier and more precise.
- Spoon the filling into your prepared pie shell.
- Loosely lay out half of the strips of dough, parallel to each other, with about 1/2" space in between each, over the top of the pie. Put the longer strips in the center and shorter ones towards the edges.
- Fold back every other strip. Place one long strip of dough down the center, perpendicular to the rest. Unfold the dough strips over this new strip. Next fold back the strips which are now running under the new strip and lay down a second strip of dough, keeping the spacing the same between the strips. Now unfold the strips again. Repeat step 6 until both sides of the pie are completed.
- Use Kitchen Shears to remove excess dough, leaving a small border so you can make a pretty border. Fold any excess dough up over the edge and crimp the dough with your fingers to get a nice seal. You are officially a pie weaving pro. If you get confused, revert back to the pictures. I hope this tutorial helped!
Credits: I learned how to weave a pie crust from the best: the Joy of Cooking cookbook and through the visual tutorial on Simplyrecipes.com.
Made my first lattice top for your apple pie. I overthought the process and had to start over. When I finished it looked so polished and appetizing! It’s in the oven right now browning nicely. Thanks for the pictures-they really helped. This is the 10th time using your apple pie recipe and it’s the best we’ve ever tasted. Wish I could buy your products but now live in Spain. Please expand into Europe!!!
I’m so glad you loved the recipe! My cookbook is available in Europe. For my favorite cooking tools, click on “shop” from the menu above and you can visit my Amazon affilUte shop. Some of those items may be available for purchase in Europe too.
Thank you for your time in reviewing and listing the steps to making an apricot pie.
My 98 years old mother would have been sooooo pleased to read your recipe…even though I Wonder if she would have needed it.
She was a fabulous cook/housewife raising 11 of us the best she could…which turned out to be pretty darn good.
Between her Italian father and French mother and my father’s Canadian family she combined some of the best dishes trying her best to satisfy all the hungry mouths raising us into adults…who many have continued to carry on their own wonderful cooking.
She was one of the first students of PBS’ Julia Childs, following her shows on Saturday afternoons, along with taking cake decorations classes which prepared her to produce many wedding cakes for years all through our childhood.
Well, anyway I guess I regressed…back to the apricot pie, well one could say it’s always was my favorite and sometimes it was just shared between myself and one sister Jackie…for reasons I have no idea.
And now this Thanksgiving I am trying to introduce my favorite pie to some opened minded friends up in Maine.
I can’t tell you who has her cookbooks or recipes but I think you should be able to help me just fine.
Thanks again!!!
Hi Albert, thanks for sharing that with us. I’m sure your mother was a great cook too! I hope you and your friends will love all the recipes that you will try.
Do you recommend not baking the apple pie, before freezing it?
Hi Nancy, I think making this ahead and freezing it will work but I’m just not sure how far in advance you can make this as I’ve always made and consume it right away.
Add far in advance can I make this and do I freeze or refrigerate?
Hi Margie, I think making this ahead and freezing it will work but I’m just not sure how far in advance you can make this as I’ve always made and consume it right away.
Thanks for the great tutorial! You took all the fear out of attempting a lattice top and made it so easy! My lattice top apple pie is in the oven now!
I’m so glad that was helpful, Nancy! Thank you so much for that wonderful review!
I made my first lattice crust. Thanks Natasha your tutorial really helped.
You are very welcome. I hope you loved it!
Natasha, I need a mac and cheese recipe that taste like mac, cheese! can you help?
Hi Bridget, sure. You can check out my Creamy Mac and Cheese recipe.
Thank you, I will look it up, I made that cherry pie and, the pie crust turned out great but the cherries, didn’t break down enough for me! still held there shape and the color was purple, not red like a cherry should be, other then that it was ok, a little disapointed. but thank you anyway. have a GREAT 4th Natasha.
Hi Bridtget, it could be the type of cherry. I have gotten some firmer, meatier cherries at the grocery store before.
Hi! How thick should the rolled out dough be? Thanks.
Hi Andrea, it’s probably about 1/8″ thick when rolled out. Also, check out our most popular all-butter crust if you haven’t already.
I love your blog. Your videos and the way you explain each step is great. Thank you. My pie dough came perfect and it was very easy to make.
So great to hear that Lucia. Thanks for sharing that with us!
I just wove my peach pie! Looks awesome! (have never done this in my 60 plus years on this planet!) I’m making and freezing for my upcoming wedding where we are having a PIE BAR instead of wedding cake. Friends and family are helping to make pies and I’m making a few myself.
I’m glad it turned out nicely! What a unique idea, PIE BAR, I love it!
Great tutorial…you make it easy to follow your great photos! Will be trying this soon. Pinned. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for pinning and for the great compliment. I really appreciate it 🙂
It would be nice if you would make this a video tutorial.
Oh, good idea. I’ll put it on my list of video ideas. Thanks 🙂
Beautiful pie and amazing technique! I always wondered how to achieve this basket weave look and your photos are super helpful! It looks so easy! 😉 Will definitely make a pie like that soon.
Glad to help :), let me know how it turns out.