The best pie crust ever

so. my grandmother was a pie woman, i mean, the lady could bake a pie. REALLY REALLY WELL. and i've worked most of my life (since 5th or 6th grade) trying to make a good pie crust of my own. pie crust is the perfect combination of fat, salt, flour, and cold water. i like to use butter for flavor and softness AND crisco for flakeyness

my favorite go to crust is the lion house recipe that i've slightly altered (you can also add spices to the crust to make it flavorful like cloves, or nutmeg, if your a coffee flavor fan, you can add that... have fun with it)

1/2 C butter
2/3 C crisco
3 C flour
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 T nonfat dry milk
1/2 - 1 C COLD COLD WATER

cut butter and crisco in and add the dry ingredients one at a time,
make SURE the dough doesn't get warm- and dont worry about mixing the butter and crisco completely in- it's okay to have chunks, that's what makes the crust seperate while it cooks and makes delicious layer-ey flakeyness. (i used to work my dough to death, and it just makes it chewy-rubbery and tough!!!!) try to touch the dough with your hands as little as possible, you can use wax paper to roll the dough out and DONT BE AFRAID TO KEEP PUTTING IT IN THE FRIDGE THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS SO THAT THE CRUST STAYS AS COLD AS POSSIBLE before baking. this SERIOUSLY is the secret to great pie crust and there's a science to it i promise.

find pie fillings you like and tadah.
the BEST pie crust ever. ever.
another great pie is my mom's icebox berry pie... i'll have to add that one too. A healthy and tasy alternative to this recipe is to substitute whole wheat flour in the ratio of two cups reg flour and one cup whole wheat, I've found it gives the crust a nice nutty flaky texture and flavor.