•  Please make note that this recipe is enough to cover the bottom of a large pie, and allow enough for decorating the top with moderate-coverage lattice technique.
• First, be sure that the butter, or substitute/combo you're using is cold. Beforehand, I recommending cutting the butter it into pats that are about tablespoon sized, and place them in the fridge for when you are ready to make the dough.
• In a large bowl, place all the dry ingredients. Next, put the butter pats on top, and use a pastry blender to push the butter into the flour mixture, cutting it all into ams, pea-sized pieces.
  
• Place this mixture into the bowl of a standing mixer with a standard, metal paddle attachment. Add the water a little at a time, and mix at low-medium speed until the dough has combined and completely lifts from the bowl. Use your hands to form the dough in to a ball.
• At this point, you can choose to work with the dough to make a pie crust, or completely cover the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for later use.
• If you're ready to roll, place the dough onto a silapt mat or parchment paper that has been dusted with gluten free flour.
• With a rolling pin, roll the dough flat, until it's smooth and about 1/4" high all around.
  
• Using the mat or paper, invert the rolled-out dough into your pie pan.
• The dough is very similar to shortbread so it's elastic and super easy to work with. You can fill in any spaces or mistakes with your hands and like magic, it comes together beautifully and seamlessly.
• Once your pie pan is prepared with the dough, set it aside. Form another ball with the remaining scraps of dough and re-roll out the rest, that will be used for the top of your pie.
• If you like to use an egg wash, for a golden-brown finish to the crust, simply take one egg white and whisk it in a small bowl. Use a kitchen safe brush to apply it onto the inside and all around the crust. It would be best if you do this just before pouring in the prepared pie filling. If you need your recipe to be vegan or free of animal products, do not use the optional egg wash and use the butter substitute options as mentioned in the attached recipe notes.

Baking pie crust notes and techniques, based on the type you're baking

• Tips on the kinds of pie you're baking. If you're baking a fruit pie like cherry, apple, blueberry, etc. You won't be baking the crust in advance. You'll put the pie together - top and bottom and bake. I recommend putting some aluminum foil at the bottom of your oven, or placing the entire pie onto a cookie sheet - so that the sugars that may overflow and drip down, don't get into the oven itself. If they do, they'll burn and cause some smoke in your oven that you'd want to avoid. 
• If you're baking a pie with the filling already prepared or chilled - like lemon meringue or chocolate mousse, or banana cream, you'll be baking the pie crust first and separately and allowing it to cool before you'd put in your filling. If you're going this route, you'll need the help of pie weights to hold own the bottom of the crust. 
• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes. This will be the golden time. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees. At this point, you have the option to cover the entire pie loosely, with aluminum foil or just the outer crust portion, so that your edges and top does not get overly brown. Bake for 30 minutes. At this point, you can check if you need additional baking and browning. If so, completely remove the aluminum foil covers. If not, keep them on for an additional 10-15 minutes of baking. This is pie babysitting time. You'll want to stay close by the oven in the last portion of baking your pie.
• If you are baking an apple pie, 10-15 minutes before your pie is baked, you'll want to hold it firmly, and slightly tip the pie it into a sink or bowl to remove some of the extra juices that could be over-cooking the apples. This is a slight motion and the juices will flow right out. Don't overly tip or you'll lose your pie all together. This takes practice, so if you're not feeling it or don't have the arm strength, don't do it. This is something my mom has shown me as a master apple pie maker and I wanted to share this tip with you. 
• Once your pie is smelling and looking absolutely gorgeous and browned, and had a 50-60 minute baking time, set it out and allow it to completely cool. You can store it at room temperature for up to 3 days (If it lasts that long) or in the fridge for a chilled pie, for up to five days.