In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and toss with the flour mixture. Pinch each piece of butter between your thumb and finger and toss again. No need to cut the butter in or mix it yet. Place bowl in fridge for 10-15 minutes.

Remove bowl from fridge and add the cold water (I use water straight from inside my fridge so it’s extra cold). Stir the dough with a rubber spatula, pressing against the sides of the bowl till you form a shaggy ball. Return bowl to the fridge for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Generously flour a clean counter and place dough in center. Roll out into a roughly 10×15 inch rectangle. Fold the longer sides so they meet in the center to form a now roughly 10×7.5-inch rectangle. Fold this now in half, hamburger style, and cut, just down the middle, in half with a sharp knife or a bench scraper. Put halves back in fridge for another 15 minutes before rolling them out.

Generously flour the counter again and roll out into a roughly 14-inch circle. Your dough should be easily picked up and moved to a 9-inch pie plate. If it doesn’t you should put it back in the fridge.  Gently lift and nestle the dough into the corners of the plate. Trim the dough with a knife or scissors so it has about a 1-1 1/4 inch overhang. Tuck the overhang under the dough sitting on top of the edge of the pie plate and crimp with a fork or shape in desired way. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to about 3 days before baking.

If your pie needs a crust on top, roll the second piece out the same as the bottom piece but place on a parchment lined sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hour or up to about 3 days. Remove from fridge and top your pie when your pie recipe instructs you to put the second pie crust on your pie.

Blind Baking-

If your recipe for pie instructs you to blind bake, use a fork to pierce the dough several times along the bottom and the sides of the crust. Line the pie closely so it conforms with the pie shell with foil and fill with dry beans or dry rice or pie weights and bake at 350 for 60-75 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and the rice, beans, or pie weights. Return to oven for a few minutes longer if the bottom isn’t brown yet.