Pie crust

This makes enough crust to line a 9 inch pie dish with some dough to spare, for decorations, extra rim, and so on.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 stick butter, cold, cut into small chunks
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp ice water

The flour can be general purpose white wheat flour, whole wheat, 50/50 white and whole wheat. I've used various combinations and it doesn't seem to matter.

Mix the flour and the salt, then add the butter chunks.

The goal is to incorporate the butter and the flour without melting the butter. The result should be a gritty-looking mix that looks like crumbles.

This can be done by hand, by rubbing the flour and the butter together. Or with two knifes, by scissoring the butter chunks until they are very small. Both of these methods take a long time.

My favorite method is to use an electric mixer (I use a Kitchenaid) with the whisk attachment. Start it slow and slowly increase speed one step at a time until you see little pieces fly out, which means it's going too fast. Reduce speed by one notch and let it go for a few minutes.

Drizzle the ice water over the flour and press it together to make a dough. Place the dough ball over a lightly flour surface, flatten it by hand, then stretch it with a rolling pin. If it sticks too much or seems to fall apart, place it between two sheets of parchment paper and stretch it out that way.

Lay the crust on the pie dish. It's best to put it in the freezer for a while before using it, but it can also be used right away.