Lattice pies look complicated, but making a beautiful lattice for pie is easier than you think. You can weave an easy basketweave pattern, or create different looks for the pie lattice by your choice of strip thickness and spacing. Use these clear step by step instructions and photos to make your favorite fruit pies look amazing!
Prepare your double pie crust. Ease the bottom layer into your pie pan and fill as your recipe requires.
Roll out the dough for your top crust 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.
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.
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.
Straighten out the turned-back strips and turn back strips you didn't touch the first time. Lay the next smallest strip of rolled out dough next to the first crosswise strip at your desired spacing. Straighten those turned-back strips.
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.
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. You can cut shapes with any leftover crust dough to decorate the top of the lattice.
To create a shiny glaze on the finished crust, brush the lattice and edges with milk or an egg wash. 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 while the oven finishes heating.
Proceed with baking your pie as your recipe instructs. Enjoy!
Notes
While 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.