1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.
2. Add the cold butter and shortening and combine with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture is the texture of coarse sand.
3. Add the ice water and mix by hand until the dough comes together. If the dough is still too crumbly, add an extra tablespoon of ice water and mix again.
4. *this dough can be made in the food processor but be careful not to over-blend the dough or it won’t be light and flakey
5. Place the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. This dough can be made 2-3 days ahead and can be frozen for up to 3 months.
6. After 1 hour, remove the dough from the fridge, unwrap and place it on a lightly floured surface.
7. Roll out the dough with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 12-inch circle. The circle does not have to be perfect since it will be trimmed once in the pan.
8. Spray a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray or rub with a bit of butter.
9. Roll the dough on to the rolling pin then unroll it right on top of the pie pan. Gently push the dough into the pan.
10. Using kitchen shears, cut the edges of the dough that hang over the pan and fold the edges of the pie dough for a pretty design or keep it simple and rustic. If you use cut-out shapes of extra dough to decorate the pie edge, brush the dough with water then stick on the extra dough.
11. Refrigerate the prepared pie crust for 30 minutes.
12. Preheat the oven to 375 °F

Blind Baking

1. Prick the base of the pastry case all over with a fork. Line the dough with parchment paper and fill with ceramic baking beans or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is firm, then remove the beans and cook for about 5 minutes more, until golden brown.
2. Let cool completely before filling. Some filling examples are chocolate mousse, custard, pudding, banana cream pie, etc.

Bake with Filling

1. No need to pre-bake the crust. Fill pie crust with you favorite filling and follow recipe directions to bake. Some filling examples are berry pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, etc.