Sourdough Pie Crust [sweet or savory sourdough pastry]

This is your go to recipe for making a sourdough pie crust for sweet pies or savory pies. This pie dough will be enough for a top and bottom pie crust (you can easily adjust it to suit your needs). It's buttery, it's got flaky layers and is oh so full of flavor, it's going to rock your world!

The best thing is - it could not be easier to pull this sourdough pie crust recipe together - even if you've never made pastry before! Whether you want to make a pumpkin pie, an apple pie or a chicken pot pie, this simple sourdough pie crust will give the perfect pastry.

You can use sourdough discard or sourdough starter and I've added some information on how using either affects the pie crust pastry further down.

If you love comfort food, you're going to love baking and eating sourdough chocolate chip cookies, sourdough chocolate brownies, sourdough dumplings and sourdough banana fritters!

Why Use Sourdough Starter in a Pie Crust?

Using sourdough starter or sourdough discard in your pie crust is a fantastic way to avoid food waste. But there are even more reasons to use sourdough in your pastry because it actually has a positive effect on the outcome of this recipe! It affects both flavor and texture.

Using active sourdough starter or sourdough discard in a pie crust will:

• give you a more flavorful crust than using flour alone (especially if you allow it to ferment and develop flavor).
  
• will give a flakier pastry crust due to the yeast in the sourdough starter.
  
• bacteria in your sourdough starter work with the vinegar to break down gluten and give you a more tender crust (no hard pie crusts here!).

Sourdough Discard or Active Starter?

You can use either active, bubbly starter or sourdough discard (unfed) in this recipe. Make sure whatever you use is 100% hydration. You'll get the best results using sourdough starter that has been fed within the last 24 hours, but you can use discard that's up to a week old.

Sourdough discard is the portion of unfed sourdough starter you remove from the jar before you feed your starter for making sourdough bread. You can find 60+ recipes for using your sourdough discard here.

You'll find more information on sourdough discard here and a resource for the best time to use sourdough starter here.

How To Make Sourdough Pie Crust (for sweet or savory pie filling)

Many people are scared to try making their own sourdough pastry because it seems so complicated. But in fact, the opposite could not be more true!

Making a sourdough pie crust is really easy. There are only a few ingredients, no kneading and very little hands on time.

My best advice is to have all the ingredients ready before you start the process and make sure you've read through the recipe a few times so you understand exactly what you need to do.

If you want a recipe for filling this sourdough pie crust, this sourdough apple pie recipe is perfect.

Here's how to make a simple sourdough pie crust for a sweet or savory pie:

1. This dough makes enough pastry for a top and bottom crust. If only need the top or bottom, just halve the amounts listed (or freeze some for another day).
   
2. Add all purpose flour, salt and sugar to a large mixing bowl and stir together until well combined. Set aside for now.
   
3. Grate the cold butter into a bowl. If the butter starts to melt or is very soft once grated, place the bowl into the freezer. This will help to firm the butter up and make the next step much easier.
   
4. Place the cold, grated butter into the bowl with the flour, salt and sugar and use a spatula, pastry cutter or simply your finger tips to coat the butter in the flour. You want the butter to stay cold, so try to touch it as little as you can.
   
5. Now, add the sourdough starter or discard and vinegar and bring the mixture into a dry, shaggy dough. It's best just to use your hands to squeeze the pastry dough together. It will be a rough, dry dough.
   
6. If the dough really isn't coming together at all, add a little cold water until you are able to bring it together.
   
7. Tip the rough dough out onto the counter, divide the dough into two pieces and bring each piece into a rough ball. Wrap each ball of pastry dough in parchment paper and squash it down into a disc shape. Wrap each disc in cling wrap and place both discs into the fridge.
   
8. If you prefer to just refrigerate as one ball, that's fine too. You can just divide the pastry into two pieces when you want to roll it out.
   
9. Leave the dough a minimum of one hour to fully hydrate and become cold. You can leave the dough in the fridge for up to 48 hours before you use it.
   
10. When you are ready to use the sourdough pastry to make a pie crust, take the dough out of the fridge and unwrap it. Dust the dough lightly with flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to your desired size. If you have any offcuts leftover you can use a cookie cutter to cut out some little shapes to add on top of the pie crust.
    
11. This recipe makes enough for a top and bottom crust. I have used a pie dish that measures 1.4L (1.47Q) which is 10" (26cm) across and it generously filled the dish with some to spare.
    
12. When baking this crust, follow the directions for the recipe you are using as to whether the pastry needs blind baking (with pie weights) or not. Cooking time will depend on the filling and how thick or thin you have rolled the pie crust dough.

Step by Step Photos

Grating and freezing the butter that is then rubbed or cut into the flour.

Adding the sourdough starter and vinegar to the flour and butter and pulling it together in to a dry or shaggy dough.

Tipping the dough out onto the counter and forming into a round which is then placed in the fridge before being rolled out to fit your pie dish.

Roll the dough out big enough so you can place it into your pie dish, gently easing it down into the base and then cut off the excess pastry with a small knife.

If you are adding a top crust, you can crimp the top crust together with the bottom crust using a fork (or any other method you prefer).

Don't forget the egg wash and to cut a small vent in the top crust for steam. You can also use the excess pastry to make shapes to decorate the top crust.

Sourdough pie crust perfection!

Best Tips for Making Sourdough Pie Crust

You can easily make this sourdough pie crust with little to no pastry experience. It's such an easy dough to work with! But if you haven't worked with pastry before, there are a few things you can do to ensure you have success with this recipe the first time - and every time you bake it!

• The butter MUST BE COLD. Frozen, grated butter is best. If you have time, grate the butter and place it into the freezer 30 minutes before you want to make the dough.
  
• You don't have to ferment this pie crust. You can use it after it has been in the fridge for just one hour, but you will get a flakier, more flavorsome pie crust if you leave the dough in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 48 hours.
  
• This recipe can be made in a food processor or Thermomix. These machines are great for cutting the butter into the flour mixture without warming it up too much. Despite this, I do enjoy making this recipe by hand and you'll get a flakier, buttery, more tender pie crust if the butter is a little more chunky and not completely rubbed into the flour.
  
• When placing your pie crust into your pie plate or dish, make sure you don't stretch the pastry. Gently push the pastry down into the dish from the top rather than stretching it. If you stretch it, the pie crust will shrink while baking.
  
• When using this pie crust for a top crust, make sure you make some small cuts in the pastry before you place it in the oven so the filling can vent.

Can I Use Whole Wheat Flour In This Recipe?

You can swap up to half of the all purpose flour in this recipe with whole wheat flour. Because whole wheat flour absorbs more water than all purpose flour, you'll need to add iced water to bring the dough together into a ball. Whole wheat flour adds a more complex flavor to this already very tasty homemade pie crust and will give a nuttier flavor profile.

How To Use Sourdough Pie Crust

This recipe is enough to make a double crust pie (that is a top and a bottom crust).You can use this sourdough pie crust in the same way as you would use a regular pie crust - it just has the added bonus of sourdough flavor!

I love using this flaky crust to make homemade apple pie - it's a family favorite served with homemade vanilla ice cream! But here are some of the other ways I use this sourdough discard pie crust in my kitchen:

• Savory pies - this works well with any savory filling from chicken pot pies, to beef and gravy pies or even as a quiche base (you would just need to blind bake the base).
  
• Sweet pies - any sweet filling will work with this crust - from pumpkin and pecan pie to cherry pie, apple pie or even peach pie! Really any kind of pie you love!
  
• Hand pies - this pastry is sturdy enough to work as a small pie or hand pie. I love filling it with cherry jam and dusting with icing sugar!

Frequently Asked Questions