A friend of mine gave me this recipe to use as my first attempt at a pie crust. It rolled out seamlessly and had a very good flavor and cooked up nice and flaky. It is an excellent dessert pie crust. You may substitute all butter instead of butter and shortening. Reduce the sugar by half if you are making a non-desert pie such as a pot pie. This recipe yields 4 crusts.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups unbleached flour
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup ice water

1. Place flour in a large bowl. Cut in shortening and butter until mixture is crumbly.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, sugar, salt, and lemon juice. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Pour in all of egg mixture and half of ice water. Stir gently with a fork, adding more water as needed, just until mixture forms a ball.
3. Turn dough onto a floured surface and cut into 4 equal portions. Knead each piece briefly and shape into a disc. Chill 1 hour before rolling out.