Super Flaky Pie Crust

'Tis the season for pies! It's often argued that the crust is the make or break part of a pie. Whether you are making Thanksgiving classics like pumpkin and sweet potato pies, fruit pies, or handheld turnovers, this pie is perfect for you. This recipe uses more shortening instead of butter because it's high melting point contributes to the flakiness, however, the butter adds flavor. It's also imperative to keep the fat cold because if it is warm, it will form a paste with the flour in the mixing process, which will prevent those micro layers from forming, creating a hard super solid crust. Small visible spots of butter in the dough are a good thing, and will not be visible once the dough is cooked. Also, make sure that you're using ice water, otherwise, you will ruin the flakiness of the dough.

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of crust alone, but, this is from a pie I made recently

Prep Time: 20 minutes Servings: 1 pie crust

Ingredients

1 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp White Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

7 tbs Shortening/Crisco, chilled

2 tbs Butter, chilled

1/4 Cups Ice Water

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and water.

2. To make it easier, cube the fats before adding them to the bowl.

3. "Cut" the dough by rubbing the flour into the fats until it is a coarse, sandy looking mixture about the size of pea.

4. Mix in the water, and stop when the flour starts clumping, and can form a cohesive dough ball.

5. Once the flour has formed can form into a dough ball, wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before use.

6. When using, dust a clean surface with flour, then gently roll from the middle outward until it's 1/8 inch thick.

7. When cooking, make sure to use a lined/grease tin.