All Butter Pie Crust

adapted from Simply Recipes

This creates one pie crust. If you need a top and a bottom, double the recipe. This crust is great and flaky, so much better than store bought.

1 1/4 cup Flour

1/2 cup butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Sugar (increase to 1 1/2 tsp for a sweet recipe)

2-4 Tbsp Ice Water

1. Cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes, and place into the freezer for about 15 minutes, or until thoroughly chilled

2. Combine flour, salt and sugar until mixed. Then add butter, and mix roughly, until just combined and clumpy. Then add the ice water one Tbsp at a time until the dough begins to stick together. Take care not to over mix. You want to have small irregular chunks of butter scattered about the crust because that is what makes it flaky. Then gently form it into a ball (or multiple balls if you have doubled the recipe) sprinkle it with flour, wrap it with plastic, and put it in the fridge for at least one hour.

3. Pull it out and roll it to on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 of an inch thick. Carefully place it into a 9-inch pie plate, pressing it down so that it lines the bottom and sides, and trim around the edges.

**If you want to prebake your crust (a good idea for fruit or juicy pies), put pie weights on the bottom of the crust and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 (176 C)

4. Add pie filling, add the other crust on top (if needed) and pinch the two together around the edges using your fingers or a fork. Pierce the top pie crust several times so the steam can escape.