Wagyu Tallow & Butter Pie Crust

Elevate your baking prowess and bring an unparalleled richness to your homemade pies with this exceptional Wagyu Tallow & Butter Pie Crust recipe.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 TBS salted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
8 TBS (112 grams) rendered 100% Fullblood Wagyu Tallow, broken into marble size pieces
1/2 cup ice water plus 1-3 TBS more as needed
Additional flour for rolling out the dough
Sugar (optional for dessert pies)

DIRECTIONS:

Put all ingredients except for the ice water in a large bowl.
With a pastry blender or clean hands, smoosh the mixture together until the ingredients look like cracker crumbs with lumps the size of peas and almonds. This is one time that lumps are a sign of success. They will make your crust flaky.
Sprinkle ice water over the mixture and stir lightly with a fork.
Squeeze a handful of dough to see if it holds together. Mix in more water as needed to form a ball.
Divide the dough in half and make two chubby discs about 5 inches across.
Wrap the discs separately in plastic wrap and chill for an hour.
Once chilled, take out the dough and let them temper until they feel slightly soft to the tough and easy to roll out. Unwrap one disc and place it on a well-floured surface.
Sprinkle some flour onto the top of the disc. Thump the disc with your rolling pin several times Turn it over and thump the other side. Continue dusting, thumping and rolling until the dough is 1 to 2 inches larger than your pie plate.
Brush off excess flour and lay the dough carefully in the pie plate.
Don’t worry if the crust needs to be patched together. Paint a little water where it needs to be patched and “glue” on the patch piece.
Put the filling in the pie and repeat the process.
Bake according to pie instructions.