Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 4 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Preparation
Part 1

Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer for an hour

Part 2

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and mix, mush and smash it in using your hands until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. Place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Part 3

Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

Part 4

Add filling to the pie.

Part 5

Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Only this time, cut the dough in strips and lay them out across the dough in a lattice.