Notes about Recipes in this book

• Traditional Art of the Pie leaf lard and butter dough

  • Smokeydoke on February 22, 2017

    Unbelievably flaky and easy to work with, the leaf lard makes a huge difference.

  • jenmacgregor18 on August 01, 2018

    This was my first crust with leaf lard. It is easy to work with. I made a double batch for 2 double crust pies. I used the pastry blender/cutter method. I found the batch that I cut up a little bit more (no pieces the size of almonds) was a little easier to handle than the other. But they both turned out great.

  • PQPantry on February 15, 2019

    The best crust recipe

  • bching on May 31, 2019

    Delicious crust--bakes up crispy. I prefer the all butter crust in this book but I would definitely use this lard/butter combo for savory pies.

  • Cookie24 on December 28, 2020

    First time I've used leaf lard in pie crust. Rolled out well, easy to handle and baked up crispy and flaky. Made it by hand, but next time I'll probably use the food processor.

  • Lepa on November 16, 2025

    I finally got some leaf lard and tried this dough, which was easily the flakiest dough I have ever made. It was so easy to roll out! I added a bit of sugar so it didn't taste savory.

  • JuneHawk on November 30, 2025

    Excellent dough. For a deep dish pie, however, I'd make about 1.25x at least because the dough amount as written is cutting it very, very close.

• Traditional Art of the Pie all-butter dough

  • Katielang on March 08, 2017

    A delicious pie dough and the secret is to follow the instructions exactly and always keep everything chilled, especially yourself. :)

  • bching on May 28, 2017

    The instructions are a joy to read and the crust itself may be the best I've ever made. No more Rose Levy Beranbaum crusts for me!

  • Rutabaga on July 02, 2017

    I've been using the Smitten Kitchen all-butter pie pastry recipe for awhile, but tried this one since I just bought the book. It's more or less the same dough, with great instructions both here and on Smitten Kitchen. Today's crust wasn't the flakiest I've ever made, but that was likely because it was a fairly warm day and not all of my ingredients were as cold as they could have been. It was still pretty great, and there's not much that can beat good homemade pie pastry.

  • hirsheys on June 22, 2018

    Yummy and flaky, plus easy to work with . So far this is my favorite all-butter crust. ETA: here in Chicago i usually need an extra T or two of water.

  • NicoleBrown on August 31, 2024

    It had been years since I’ve made pie dough. I was nervous! Followed the food processor instructions. Froze the dough until I was ready to use it. Just baked it today - wow! So flaky and delicious! I’m feeling super proud.

• Traditional Art of the Pie butter and shortening dough

  • hirsheys on July 22, 2018

    This crust worked well, though I'm not sure I prefer it to the all-butter. Very easy to work with. (It got a little tough because I moved it around a bit - forgot that it was a deep dish pie, so put it in the wrong pie plate at first...) I use a pastry cutter, rather than my hands to smoosh.

• Gluten-free all-butter dough

  • rionafaith on January 05, 2019

    I've had lackluster results with gluten-free crusts before but this one was actually quite good! It handles a bit differently than standard pie crust (much softer, yet still prone to cracking), but despite the very detailed warning-like instructions I had no problem rolling it out. Used it for the Cranberry Pie from the same book. One of the guests said she wouldn't have known it was GF if I hadn't said anything, so that's a win!

• Slab fruit pie

  • senzler on August 07, 2022

    My niece and I made 4 for son’s graduation. All were excellent!

• Little tasties

  • Maefleur on July 29, 2018

    I made the savory version of these little treats. Fun and delicious!

• The quintessential apple pie

  • lou_weez on April 23, 2017

    YUM! This was a great tasting apple pie. Can't wait to make it again.

  • mattyjaco on October 21, 2017

    Would like this to be slightly sweeter might try additional 1/4 cup of sugar next time

  • vickster on February 26, 2018

    It IS the Quintessential Apple Pie. A wonderful classic that is good any time. The only change I made is to double the cinnamon.

  • Lsblackburn1 on November 29, 2019

    This was perfect. I’ve never realized you could leave the peel on the apple, but I guess you can! So much time saved, which is great because this has a lot of apples.

  • Lepa on October 06, 2020

    I made this pie with apples from our tree at our new house. It was delicious and I also had the best luck ever with her butter crust so it was extra special. Love this pie!

• Apple quince pie

  • Lepa on November 16, 2025

    The flavors were good but the filling shrunk a lot, leaving the pie hollow, and it wasn't quite sweet enough.

• Pear pie

  • hillsboroks on October 01, 2018

    What a disappointment! I had the last of the Bartlett pears and wanted to put them in a really nice pie. This recipe, despite some interesting ingredients, ended up incredibly bland. I used Clear Creek Pear Brandy and Pear Champagne Vinegar. I think a bit of lemon juice and a bit more sugar would have helped. Plus I followed her tip to leave the pears unpeeled and this was a big mistake as the pieces of peel would stick to the roof of your mouth. For the first time ever I tossed an almost complete pie into the garbage.

• Blackberry pie

  • Rutabaga on September 15, 2020

    This recipe made an excellent blackberry pie filling with a nicely balanced sweetness (my berries were moderately tart on their own). It thickened well without being gummy. My only disappointment was that my crust wasn't as tender as usual (I used the all-butter recipe from this book). I'm not sure why that was, but guess I overworked it a bit.

  • bching on September 19, 2021

    delicious and fragrant. Used the butter and lard crust recipe from this book.

• Blueberry pie

  • Smokeydoke on February 22, 2017

    Delicious! My favorite pie from the book.

  • Hippos4all on March 08, 2017

    Only used a half cup sugar and it was great. You really need to wait until the pie cools so the sauce thickens before you cut it.

  • hirsheys on May 19, 2019

    I'm not convinced that I love blueberry pie. Mine were early season blueberries, so perhaps not as tasty as farmer's market ones from later in the summer would be. Also, the middle took a very long time to finish cooking - I think if I were to do this again I'd try the Fine Cooking method that squishes up about a cup of the blueberries to kickstart the stewing process. That said, it's not bad - just not my favorite flavor. Certainly worked. ETA: I take it all back! After a day or two, this pie was DELICIOUS! I think it just needed to meld a bit. The flavors ended up being wonderful - not too sweet, and the pie wasn't overly thickened. The butter crust also stayed crispy, which was great.

  • TrishaCP on January 01, 2020

    This is a great blueberry pie recipe- you really don’t need another. I agree you can definitely reduce the sugar in the pie and I think 1/2 cup would work per a previous reviewer. I used frozen blueberries so needed an extra 10 minutes to bake it.

  • Lepa on December 29, 2020

    This is a simple, lovely pie that highlights the slightly herbal flavor of blueberries. I didn't have quick cooking tapioca so I used the same amount of arrowroot powder and that worked fine.

  • senzler on May 19, 2022

    Delish though I do not understand why there is nutmeg in all the fruit pies in this book. To my mind it is an overpowering spice. For this pie I omitted and added some lemoncello

  • JuneHawk on November 30, 2025

    This makes slightly too much filling for a 9" pie, even deep dish. Plus, there's too much thickener in the filling for my liking. It does make for very clean slices. I'd reduce it a little bit (the tapioca, mostly). Otherwise good, though I didn't use the nutmeg.

• Raspberry pie

  • Samjbutler on February 18, 2020

    This is an incredibly delicious recipe. Made lattice top, with butter/shortening pastry. Substituted corn starch for tapioca flour. Farmer's market raspberries.

• Triple berry pie

  • Lepa on March 28, 2020

    This filling was delicious. It wasn't too sweet and it was especially good with some plain yogurt for breakfast!

• Gooseberry pie

  • bching on July 13, 2021

    Did not thicken well. Excellent flavor, though.

• My favorite peach pie (the short tidy version)

  • Katielang on March 08, 2017

    Made with the all butter dough from the same book, at least two people separately said this was one of the best peach pies they've ever had. It's the first peach pie I've ever made, thus the magic of Kate McDermott. Used frozen peaches and added an extra spoon of tapioca starch and the lower amount of sugar.

  • Rutabaga on October 04, 2017

    This was probably the first peach pie I've made, and it turned out very nicely. Since I baked it in the morning, the filling was well set by the time I served it after dinner. The only thing I would do differently is roll out the crust thinner. My pie plate is on the smaller side, so I find that the standard pie pastry recipe is really more than I need for one pie. Next time, I'll try to remember to thin the crust a bit, and bake the extra dough scraps sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar, rather than use up all the dough for the pie.

  • lou_weez on December 02, 2018

    As a first time peach pie maker, this recipe was wonderful. My peaches weren't particularly ripe so I used 1/2 cup of sugar and threw in some berries that were lingering at the back of the fridge.

  • MollyPellecchia on August 19, 2021

    Made this with the crust from Midwest Made. Took a few extra minutes in the oven to bubble. Smells amazing!

  • senzler on May 19, 2022

    Delish. I added an extra cup of peaches (Colorado peaches) and omitted nutmeg

  • NicoleBrown on August 31, 2024

    My first pie from this book. Turned out delicious! I chopped the peaches without bothering to skin them since the instructions didn’t mention it. I think that was just fine! My only regret is that after weighing I was just a little short on peaches. Excited to try more pie recipes now!

• Apricot pie

  • Rutabaga on July 02, 2017

    Very good; I used slightly underripe apricots, which gave the pie a nice tartness. Riper apricots would have given it more sweetness and juiciness. This was my first apricot pie, but I will definitely make it again. Apricots are easy to quarter, making this an easy filling to prepare.

  • hillsboroks on July 11, 2025

    I used very ripe sweet apricots but even so this pie was quite tart. A scoop of vanilla ice cream fixed that problem! But next time I might up the sugar to 3/4 cup. Other than that this pie was delicious!

• Apricot raspberry pie

  • hillsboroks on July 19, 2020

    In this recipe apricots and raspberries meld together into the most amazing flavor. I only had about a cup of raspberries but that was still enough to add the bright raspberry flavor. To boost the raspberry flavor I used Chambord raspberry liqueur instead of Cointreau. I also used 3 tablespoons of tapioca flour instead of tapioca and the regular flour and it thickened perfectly. I will make this again whenever I can find both fresh apricots and raspberries.

  • Lepa on May 16, 2021

    This was a fine pie but I didn't love it. The apricots make it a bit too tart.

• Plum pie

  • senzler on May 19, 2022

    I am a pie baker but have never made a plum pie. I made it with frozen plums that I received from a friends tree and it was a huge hit when I brought it to a dinner party. Again I omitted the nutmeg as the flavor is too strong.

• Sour cherry pie

  • vickster on February 15, 2017

    Proclaimed by my husband to be the best pie I ever made! Kate McDermott's instruction on making pie crust, in addition to her wonderful recipe, are responsible. I will definitely be trying more recipes in this book.

  • vickster on November 24, 2017

    I made this pie for the second time, for Thanksgiving dinner. The filling is delicious and easy, and the dough from "Art of the Pie" is always easy to roll out.

  • rebecca_1tb9ks on March 03, 2026

    Best cherry pie recipe, hands down. I cut the sugar in half and it still was amazing.

• Cranberry pie

  • rionafaith on January 05, 2019

    Nice change from the pie classics, just the right balance of tart and sweet. The filling was a bit on the liquidy side, but that may be because I used frozen cranberries -- though I didn't thaw before using per her instructions, I'm sure they defrosted somewhat in the fridge when chilling the assembled pie, so maybe I should have chilled in the freezer instead. May need a bit more cornstarch in the filling to remedy that if I make again. I did not include the optional walnuts. This did take a bit of a longer bake than indicated to fully brown the crust (almost an hour), but that may be because I used the gluten-free crust and I'm not sure if that one browns at the same rate.

  • bching on November 29, 2019

    Not the best cranberry pie I've made. Unlike the previous reviewer, I did not have issues with runniness. I appreciated that the berries still had some firmness. Still, the sweet /tart balance just wasn't right.

• Old-fashioned rhubarb pie

  • hirsheys on July 22, 2018

    This was another in my long line of attempts to verify that my mother's is, in fact, the best version of rhubarb pie. (So far, hers is still winning...) This is such an incredibly charming book - I really need to bake more from it. The filling was also nice - a bit tart (I used the highest amount of rhubarb and probably should have gone just a tad heavier on the sugar), but still quite tasty. My one big critique was that it was a bit overly thickened - the recipe calls for both flour and tapioca, and I think pure flour would have been enough. Still, the pie came out just gorgeous, and my office mates were thrilled with it.

  • senzler on May 19, 2022

    It is so hard to find a regime for a straight up rhubarb pie and this one ticked all of the boxes. I did omit the nutmeg and added vanilla

• Raspberry rhubarb pie

  • Lepa on April 23, 2020

    This filling was pretty good but has a dingy color because it's mostly rhubarb. Despite several attempts I'm still having problems with the all butter crust, which ends up very hard. I'll keep working on it.

• Rhubarb custard pie

  • jenmacgregor18 on June 07, 2017

    Excellent! Used 1/2 and 1/2. I would add more nutmeg next time; maybe 3/4 tsp; but that's a personal preference. Butter/veg shortening crust turned out well too. I'll try a 10' / deep dish plate next time. I used a standard Pyrex and couldn't quite get all the custard in.

  • hirsheys on May 14, 2018

    Didn't love this - it was a bit too eggy and not enough rhubarb. Delicious crust, though.

• Shaker lemon pie

  • Rutabaga on March 17, 2018

    I really like Shaker lemon pie, but this was my first time making it. Overall, it was quite good, but there are some things I would alter next time. I used three Meyer lemons. They were rather small, but the recipe doesn't specify the size of lemons to be used; it only says two to three lemons. In this case, I think four would have been better. Also, since Meyer lemons are rather sweet, you really don't need two full cups of sugar. Reducing it by half a cup would probably let more of their tartness shine through. It's an easy pie to make, and a good option in winter.

• Grasshopper pie

  • alysekstokes on December 31, 2025

    One of my favorite recipes in the book! Luscious, minty, and with a dreamy texture.

• Chess pie

  • Jviney on April 15, 2018

    Big hit with book club. I added the dark chocolate and it was delicious.

• Chocolate chess pie

  • Jviney on April 26, 2018

    This was a really pleasant surprise - great flavour and I could still taste and enjoy the chocolate. Very good.

• Pecan pie

  • Lsblackburn1 on December 16, 2018

    Yum. The bourbon taste really comes through in this! I used dark corn syrup and this baked up perfectly.

  • hirsheys on October 19, 2025

    I made this twice in two days, because the first time I browned the nuts too quickly and took the pie out too soon, so the crust wasn’t quite cooked through on the bottom. With the full amount of bourbon, it was VERY boozy. When I tried again, I used 2 T, which was perfect, and the pie came out perfect (and is very easy). Consider pretoasting pecans lightly next time, but really great version.

• Chicken pot pie

  • vickster on December 07, 2018

    I don't know what more to say than that this is the perfect Chicken Pot Pie! (But I did make it with turkey left over from Thanksgiving.) And Kate McDermott's half lard/half butter crust really makes it.

  • Lsblackburn1 on November 11, 2019

    I made this with her cheddar crust. This is exactly what you expect a pot pie to be! The recipe for both the filling and double crust ended up being enough for one double crust pot pie plus a smaller single crust pie. We easily could have polished off it all but decided to exercise some restraint!

  • Samjbutler on March 22, 2020

    This is a truly excellent chicken pie; I really appreciated the layering of flavor to make a delicious dairy-free sauce. I added some leeks, and used the butter:shortening pastry recipe. It all made for a huge 10" pie.

  • Maefleur on October 30, 2021

    A very nice pot pie. I used her half leaf lard, half butter dough which was delicious.

  • amandabeck on February 20, 2024

    Yum! This was a fantastic chicken pot pie (which I generally don't care for). I found the filling needed was very under-seasoned, but the consistency was great, veggies cooked just right, and the cheddar cheese crust was to die for!

  • Jviney on March 03, 2026

    Jumping on the bandwagon here. I took several shortcuts: I used a Costco rotisserie chicken, store-bought stock, and I cooked the carrots alongside the onion, celery, and potatoes. Made with her cheddar crust and the bottom crust wasn't completely cooked through but nobody complained at all. Big hit.

• Cottage pie

  • Rutabaga on February 25, 2018

    This is a delicious, well-seasoned savory pie that can easily be made in advance. I replaced the ground beef with ground turkey, then noticed that the recipe following this one, for shepherd's pie, was completely identical to the cottage pie recipe, except for the fact it calls for lamb rather than beef. I'm baffled that two completely separate recipes were needed to convey this single difference, and considering I used neither beef nor lamb, I suppose the pie I made would qualify for yet a third recipe! At any rate, it is good, no matter which meat you choose.

• Shepherd's pie

  • Lsblackburn1 on December 16, 2018

    I love shepherds pie and this is one of the tastiest recipes I’ve come across for it! Added extra cheese, of course.

• Sausage and apple pie

  • Lsblackburn1 on October 14, 2018

    Yum! Perfect for a fall dinner party. The recipe didn’t say to peel the apples but I assumed I should. Made with 3 Granny Smith and 3 honey crisps.

  • Jviney on March 15, 2021

    What a lovely mix of sweet and savory. I made it in the cheddar crust from this book and used two Opals and three Granny Smiths. Would cut back on the brown sugar next time for personal preference and probably try with apple cider. We really loved it.

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