Easy Pie Crust

This recipe is so easy!  The mixer does all the work.  In my high school home ec. class we learned how to make pie crusts.  We used two butter knives and a criss cross pulling motion to "cut" the butter into the flour.  When I was first married I used a hand-held pasty blending tool to accomplish the same goal.  Now, I let my Cuisinart mixer do it all for me.  I use my stand mixer at least 4-5 times each week, I love it!

Easy Pie Crust (Betty Crocker recipe)
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter, cut into cubes
9 Tbsp. cold water (put ice into a cup and fill with water, measure 1 Tbsp. at a time from cup)
          In your mixing bowl add the flour and salt and stir together.  Next add the butter. With the whisk attachment mix on medium-low for about 5-6 minutes or until the butter has been reduced to pea sized clumps in the flour.  

         Remove the wisk attachment from your mixer and add the dough hook.  Turn the mixer onto low speed and add the ice cold water 1 Tbsp. at a time.  You might not need all of the water.  Don't over wet the dough.  For my altitude (high) and weather conditions (dry) 9 Tbsp. is usually just right.

When the dough has begun to pull away from the sides of the bowl turn the mixer off.  Remove the bowl from the stand.  Form the dough into a ball.  Drop it back into the mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before rolling into pie crust.

This batch of dough was used to make blueberry handpies.  Yum!  It yielded 18 little pies.