Lancashire Butter Pie

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Lancashire butter pie is a new discovery I've made. Like any British person, I do enjoy making good old pie, especially mini British beef and mushroom pies.

Lancashire Butter Pie - A Traditional Recipe With Potato And Onion Filling (1)

The general problem when it comes to preparing delicious British pies is making the pastry. Making the pastry is an art and requires a lot of patience and practise.

So much so, I recently came away defeated and can honestly say that making my own pastry is my Achilles' heel in the kitchen. Luckily, I did find my way with completing this Lancashire butter pie with some store-bought pastry. Phew!

In the end, I managed to create an excellent version of the Lancashire butter pie. Being another one of my delicious hearty meals for this cold weather, it is an excellent dinner if you’ve got a hungry family.

It’s easy, cheap, and filling. Plus, it stores so well, it can keep for days in the fridge, if it lasts that long. Best served with a side salad or some roasted vegetables.

By the way, if you love potatoes, you simply must try boulangere potatoes.

lancashire butter pie with original cottages

While I was making the Lancashire butter pie I thought about where I’d spend my holidays this year. Do any of you have any special plans for Christmas or New Year’s Eve?

I recently stumbled upon Original Cottages and I seem to have found some inspiration, wink wink. Suddenly, I imagined making pies in a wonderful cottage by a fireplace, with a window overlooking the country side.

Hidden from all the city stress and filled with special family moments, passing your holidays can’t be more relaxing.

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Wouldn’t it be great to take the edge off in a cosy cottage? You too can find the perfect retreat. The best part is, that you can find a cottage that suits you perfectly in many parts of the UK.

You can discover the beautiful coastline with Coastal Holiday Cottages. Or, you can bring your entire family with you, even your pooch.

Original Cottages offers lots of dog-friendly cottages, which is great because your pet can enjoy the countryside as well. Lastly, just because you stay in a cottage doesn’t mean you should be in total solitude.

about original cottages

The Original Cottage Company Ltd (TOCC) is family-owned company that started initially as Norfolk Country Cottages in 1992. They offer various types of cottages in most regions in the UK, so you can select your favourite part of the country.

Just check out all their UK Original Cottage destinations here. Surprise surprise, I have my eyes set on the destinations in Lancashire.

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For my non-English readers, this region of the ‘red roses’ is located in north-western England. Have you ever heard of the Roses Tournament?

It’s an old university competition between York (white roses) and Lancashire (red roses). This university competition is rumoured to be older than competitions between Harvard and Yale. Fancy that!

In any case, Lancashire is an absolutely gorgeous region and definitely a great place for a holiday stay with UK’S Original Cottages. For now I'll imagine being there while eating Lancashire butter pie.

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the pastry

Now, I’ve got a secret to confess. At first, I was extremely excited to make my own pastry from scratch for this Lancashire butter pie. However, Murphy’sLlaw came into play and, of course, I stuffed it up.

Making my own pastry didn’t work, so I rushed into the store to buy short crust and puff pastry. Oops! I admit, I am not the best baker in England and my pastry skills need fine tuning.

If you do have the confidence to make your own pastry, then you should blind bake the short crust first. This is done so that the crust comes together and is less likely to be flabby at the end of the cooking process.

Again, if you don’t feel like faffing with making short crust pie lining from scratch, just go for a store bought one. Next, I recommend putting the cooled down filling in next and then covering it with puff pastry.

Feel free to decorate the top of the puff pastry to your heart’s desire. As you can see, I’ve made small leaves. Don’t forget to brush the top layer of the puff pastry with egg wash for that beautiful golden colour on the Lancashire butter pie!

filling

This traditional pie calls for potato and onion filling. It's vegetarian friendly and omnivores can have some meat on the side. The pie can easily be spruced up though.

Personally, I would add bits of bacon or smoked ham for that nice umami flavour. Also, the f you’ve got a meat lover at home, they will enjoy a bit of meat inside.

The best part about any pie is that you can tweak the filling in any way you wish. Sometimes, I like to make a ‘quiche lorraine’ type of filling with eggs, cream, tomato and bacon.

Sides

While your Lancashire butter pie is in the oven, you can use this time to prepare a light side dish. I recommend making something green like a side salad.

A simple green salad with some tomatoes, peppers and olive oil will. Although, I urge you to add a vinaigrette as the acidity won’t make the pie as heavy.

However, if you have more space in your oven, why not roast a couple of vegetables and serve them on the side? I’d go for roasted beetroots or even coleslaw.

If you are looking for more traditional British pies, then try this sweet one. Try my lemon chess pie recipe.

More potato recipes

boulangere potatoes
rosemary potatoes
parmentier potatoes

📖 Recipe

★★★★★4.9 from 7 reviews

Author: Michelle Minnaar
Total Time: 1 hours 30 minutes
Yield: 6 1x

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Ingredients

UnitsScale

320g (11oz) shortcrust pastry sheet, ready rolled
320g (11oz) puff pastry sheet, ready rolled
5 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
100g (3oz) butter
1 egg, whisked

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Instructions

Remove the pastries from the fridge and let them rest at room temperature.
Parboil the potatoes in salted water for 5 minutes and drain.
Gently fry the onions in the butter until softened then add the potato and stir.
While the potato mixture is cooling down, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
Lightly oil a 30cm (12in) pie dish.
Line the pie dish with the shortcrust pastry and trim the edges. Line with baking parchment then pour in baking beans. Bake blind for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool down a bit. Remove baking beans.
Adjust the oven temperature to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
Fill the pie shell with the potato filling and evenly distribute the contents.
Top off with the puff pastry and crimp the edges. Poke the top with a fork or knife so that air can escape during the baking process. Decorate to your heart’s content.
Brush egg on top then bake for 15 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden.
Remove from the oven and serve with salad.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Category: Main Course
Cuisine: English

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 554
Sugar: 6.2 g
Sodium: 166 mg
Fat: 22.7 g
Saturated Fat: 6 g
Carbohydrates: 78.4 g
Fiber: 9.3 g
Protein: 10.7 g
Cholesterol: 28 mg

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P.S. This post has been created in partnership with Original Cottages.

Lancashire Butter Pie - A Traditional Recipe With Potato And Onion Filling (2024)

FAQs

What is a butter pie made of? ›

It is, quite simply, a pie filled with potatoes, onion and butter; it has flaky pastry on the base, sides and top, and given the simplicity of its contents, a generous amount of salt and pepper. It is traditionally eaten with braised red cabbage.

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How to make a simple butter pie? ›

Cooking Instructions

Sift your flour into a bowl.
Add baking powder,salt and sugar and mix.
Rub in your butter until coarse.
Gradually add in water and mix to form a stiff dough.
Cover and allow to rest.
Roll out dough,cut into logs and arrange on a greased baking sheet.
Wash with egg wash and bake until golden brown.

May 28, 2020

Tell Me More ›

What does butter do to pies? ›

Once you've rolled out and folded your pie dough, those distinct bits of butter will steam as the dough bakes, creating the pockets of air that puff up into distinct layers. If the butter is too warm, it will combine too well into the flour, making the dough hard to work with and the final crust tough or cracker-like.

Why do you put butter under a pie crust? ›

Fat helps make pie crust flaky. Getting the ratios right is very important to a flaky pastry as opposed to a tough pastry or crumbly pastry. Butter is highly preferred for flavor and how it helps brown which develops the caramelization that tastes so good.

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What is Elvis Presley pie? ›

Chef Paula Haney shares with Duff the bakery's recipe for the Fat Elvis Pie, which was inspired by Elvis Presley's love of peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches. The pie includes chocolate pastry cream, peanut butter filling and slices of banana in a crust made of graham cracker crumbs, dry roasted peanuts and pretzels.

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Why is my butter pie crust hard? ›

Tough pie crusts are typically the result of working the dough too much (again, gluten). You don't need to make sure it's a perfectly uniform ball. “As long as the dough is mostly holding together, you don't need to spend a lot of time kneading it,” Susan Reid wrote for King Arthur Baking.

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Why is a butter pie called a butter pie? ›

With a history as rich as its' filling, (like us!), butter pie is synonymous with Lancashire. Also known as Friday Pie, it was originally created by Catholics in Preston who did not eat meat on Fridays and chose to substitute their beef with butter.

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Which is better butter pie crust or shortening? ›

Shortening is better at crumbly crust, butter is better at flaky. But you can get either from both. There are obvious differences in flavor, and butter can give you a very nice chewiness in a crust while still being tender. Butter also tends to shrink and lose shape/detail more when it bakes.

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Which butter is best for pies? ›

The higher fat percentage in European butters, like Kerrygold and Plugra, is ideal if you're working with pastries where the quality of your dough is directly effected by the quality of your butter. Both Kerrygold and Plugra scored high when making pie dough and had a luscious mouthfeel when tasted solo.

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What does dot with butter mean? ›

Dot with butter means to literally, place "dots" of butter on top of the filling and under the top crust. This extra step makes the pie's filling a little bit more delicious and rich, but doesn't do much else. Your Grandma did it and you should, too.

Read On ›

What happens if you put too much butter in a graham cracker crust? ›

If you have too much butter, the crust will sink down into the pie plate while baking. Third, always use a little sugar. You can use as much as 1/4 cup sugar if you like it sweeter, or the 2 Tablespoons I suggest. The sugar helps the crust bind together when it bakes.

What is done on the bottom crust before adding the pie filling? ›

After dough has rested, crimp the edges of the dough, and prick the bottom and the sides of your pie shell at least 15 times. Line a piece of aluminum foil around your crust and fill with pie weights. Place your pie crust on the pre-heated sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes.

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What are 2 disadvantages of using all butter in pie crust? ›

The cons: Butter can be harder to work with than lard or shortening because of its lower melting point, so the dough temperature has to be just right. If it gets too warm, it will be too soft to handle and will tear easily. Butter is a firmer fat, so if it's too cold, your dough will be more difficult to roll out.

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Do you have to refrigerate pie dough before baking? ›

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Tip: Chilling hardens the fat in the dough, which will help the crust maintain its structure as it bakes. And the short rest before rolling relaxes the dough's gluten, helping prevent a tough crust.

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Where does butter pie originate from? ›

Lancashire

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Is butter pie crust better than Crisco? ›

“My preferred fat for pie crusts will always be butter. To me, it is all about flavor, and no other fat gives flavor to a crust like butter does. Other fats, even though they have great pros, lack flavor,” De Sa Martins said. “The more flavorful the butter, the more flavor your pie crust will have,” Huntsberger added.