Summer Strawberry Pie

It's summertime, and that means one thing: LOTS of strawberries! I love anything strawberry-related, but my absolute favorite is a pie. In my opinion, this is the BEST strawberry pie recipe out there.

I use a deep Pyrex pie dish to make mine, so if you're using a standard-sized pie dish, just cut this recipe in half, or make 2 pies.

First, we'll make the flakiest crust you've ever had, then we'll make the filling.

What You Need for the Crust:
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into chunks
1/2 cup very cold buttermilk

What You Need for the Filling:
6 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced into quarters
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

What You Need for the Topping:
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup granulated sugar

How to Make the Crust:
1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt.
2. Add in the butter, using your fingers to work the flour and butter together until the mix is crumbly. Make sure to leave pieces of the butter in tact.
3. Pour in the buttermilk, and mix with a spoon or fork until you have a ball of dough.
4. Dump your dough out onto a floured surface, divide it into 2 equal-sized lumps, and pat them into a disk shape.
5. Wrap each dough disk in plastic wrap, and put them in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour, while you make the filling. Chilling the crust will help the butter to firm up, making it flaky as it bakes.

How to Make the Filling:
Add all of the filling ingredients together in a bowl, and toss together until the cornstarch 'disappears'. Let this rest for 10 minutes so the juice will start to be drawn out of the berries.

Put it Together:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Roll one of the dough disks out on a well-floured surface until it is about 12 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick. Place it in your pie pan, and trim the edges so they are flush with the edge of the pan.

3. Roll out the other dough disk in the same manner, and cut it into 1-inch wide stripes using a pizza cutter. Spoon the filling into the pie dish, and lay the dough strips out onto the pie in a lattice design.

4. If you want to get fancy, use fondant cutters like these to make flowers and leaves as decorations.

5. Brush the top of the dough with the egg, and then sprinkle with the sugar.

6. Bake on the center rack for 35 to 40 minutes, until the crust is golden.

NOTE: To keep the outer rim of the crust from burning, cover it with a strip of aluminum foil, or use these edge protectors.