{delightful} flaky pie dough - thanks julia

Pie dough is something that many of us fear. Well I am here to say fear not! Really spend one afternoon making dough (many of which you may toss) and you will have it down. And once you do... the possibilities are endless. Not only can you make sweet pies but savory pies as well. So fun!

When I started making pie I went directly to the pro - julia. I figured she would have a good dough recipe. She does. This one has both shortening and butter which gives you stability and lots of flavor. I wonder how many pies Julia made over the years - wow!

my favorite flaky pie dough (thank you Julia)

5 1/4 cups pastry flour or all purpose flour

1 tbls kosher salt

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 3/4 cups solid vegetable shortening, chilled

1 cup ice water

Make your ice water and set aside. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter and cut into the flour using a pastry cutter until it looks like coarse crumbs. Break up the shortening and add it in bits to the bowl. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture. The mixture should be in small clumps. Add the ice water in and stir with a wooden spoon. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and fold it over a few times. (don't play with the dough too much.) Shape into discs and refrigerate.

**This recipe is enough for 3 crusts. The original says 4 but I feel more comfortable with more dough to work with. Then with the left over yummy curst you can make cinnamon dough swirls. They are the best. We had these topped with some pumpkin butter. Yum!

dough swirls by ann west

take extra dough and roll it flat

brush with extra melted butter

sprinkle generously with sugar

and a little cinnamon

roll the dough and cut into bite size pieces. Cook along with your pie for 25 min or so.

don't forget the pumpkin butter!