• Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Then cut the cold butter or lard into small chunks, and add it to the dry ingredients. Work the butter into the flour with your fingers, breaking it up and rubbing it in. Work quickly so the heat from your hands doesn't soften the butter too much. If you start to see any shine on your fingers or if the butter squishes easily (lard will generally be a bit squishy, but still look for it to get shiny), put it in the fridge for 30 mins. After a few minutes, you should have a crumbly mixture with pieces of butter no bigger than almonds (smaller is ok).
  1 ½ cups flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ Tbl sugar, 12 Tbl unsalted butter or lard, cold
  
• Add the water and stir to hydrate the flour and butter mixture. When the water seems well incorporated, give it a few quick kneads just to bring it together into a ball. If the dough seems too dry and you have lots of excess dry flour, add 1-2T more of cold water and mix again.
  ⅓ cup and 2-4Tbl water, cold.

Laminated (Puffy) Dough

• Laminating dough will create many more layers in your pastry, and will cause it to puff up when baked. If you're making something like danishes or pain au chocolate, this is a good method. Ensure you keep the dough cold at all times.

  "Roll and fold:" Sprinkle the counter with flour and roll out the dough to ¼" thick. You can add small additional sprinkles of flour on sticky spots. Try to make it into a rectangle. Fold the dough in half, then in half the other way. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15-20 mins.

  Repeat the "roll and fold" 1 to 2 more times (2 more times will be extremely puffy). Then roll out to ¼" thick again and transfer it to your baking pan.

Regular Flaky Dough

• This is a good option for pot pies, hand pies, galettes, etc. Sprinkle the counter with flour and roll out the dough to the appropriate dimensions for your recipe, and transfer to your baking pan when ready. If the dough is too warm, put it back in a covered bowl and let it rest in the fridge for 20 minutes before rolling out. Work quickly to ensure the dough stays cold enough, but it should not be so cold that you struggle to roll it out. Don't put this dough directly on top of hot pie filling unless you will be ready to put it in the oven right away.

Par-Baking

• For par-baking, bake at 425℉ for 12-15 minutes with baking beans on parchment. The crust should barely have a little color. Then remove the beans and parchment, dock the crust (prick with a fork) and continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes or until lightly golden. If it still puffs up in the oven, just poke holes in the bubbles to help it flatten back down.

Full or Blind Baking

• For full or blind baking, bake at 425℉ for 12-15 minutes with baking beans on parchment. The crust should barely have a little color. Then remove the beans and parchment, and dock the crust (prick with a fork). Turn the heat down to 400℉, and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes more, until golden. If it still puffs up in the oven, just poke holes in the bubbles and gently help it flatten back down.
• Most of the time, if you're blind baking a crust, it's because your filling will be some kind of custard or other thick liquid. I often recommend sealing the bottom and sides of your pie crust with a little egg wash to ensure your filling will not seep into the crust, creating a soggy pie even though you've baked it fully.

  Just whisk together one egg with a splash of water, and brush a thin layer of the egg wash onto the pie crust as soon as it comes out of the oven. Then put it back in the oven for 1-2 minutes just to set the egg.