Pie Crust that will change your life. No joke.

Alright friends, you should punish me in so many ways for waiting to share this recipe with you. Michael and I found what is, in our opinion, the best recipe for pie crust or any pastry dough that you will ever need or will ever come across. Thanks to Smitten Kitchen and her recipe for Homemade Pop Tarts. And seeing she got the recipe from King Arthur flour, we should thank the King for the genius of his creation! 

Anyway, we LOVE this and use it for all sorts of recipes that require a pastry shell of some sort, whether it be savory or sweet. It's flaky, buttery, and just plain perfect. Hope you'll give it a try. It's well worth it and I'm sure you'll grow to love it just as much as we do!

The Best Pie Crust/Pastry Dough EVER

Ingredients:

2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pats

1 large egg

2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk




Directions:
Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter with your fingers, pastry blender or food processor until pea-sized lumps of butter are still visible, and the mixture holds together when you squeeze it. Add egg and milk and into the dough, mixing just until everything is cohesive. Knead briefly on a well-floured counter if necessary.



Divide the dough in half (approximately 8 1/4 ounces each), shape each half into a smooth circle, about 5 inches in diameter. You can roll this out immediately or wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate for up to 2 days.



Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until it turns a light brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Insert desired filling, then bake according to specific recipe directions. 

Whole Wheat Variation: Swap out 1/2 cup of the flour with whole-wheat flour. It will be delish.

Here's last night's application of the recipe. Spinach Bacon Mushroom Quiche. LOVE Quiche. It's so easy and healthy. And you can basically put whatever you want into it and it always comes out yummy!