This sourdough pie crust is so simple and quick to throw together, I like to keep one in the fridge or freezer for last-minute recipes. Yet it’s delicious, flaky and tender. Not to mention all that sourdough goodness!
Pie crusts are an underrated meal-planning component in my humble opinion.
Not only can you make a classic dessert without much notice, but think of all the savory meals you can pull together.
Meat-and-potatoes meals are simple and satisfying, but sometimes what makes the difference between a groan when you answer the “what’s for dinner” question, and everyone coming to the table with smiles, is just one yummy component.
Compare a plate of chicken and veggies to a buttery chicken pot pie and you’ll know what I mean.
You can grab my chicken pot pie recipe here.
How To Make Sourdough Pie Crust
- Measure 280g (2 cups) all-purpose flour into a medium bowl. Add 1 Tablespoon (13g) sugar and 1 teaspoon (6g) salt.
- Use a cheese grater to grate in 2 sticks of very cold, preferably frozen butter (you can pop them in the freezer 30 minutes before if you need). Do one at a time, leaving the second stick in the freezer as you grate the first.
- Toss with the flour mixture and work through with yours hands, rubbing together with your fingertips until the largest pieces of butter and pea-sized. Don’t overwork.
- Then add 280g (1 1/4 cups) sourdough starter. It doesn’t need to be fully active, but fed within the last day is best.
- Stir in with a wooden spoon, then work through with your hands until a shaggy dough starts forming.
- Turn out onto a counter, lightly flouring surface if needed. Knead and press until it forms a smooth dough. Work quickly and keep everything as cold as possible.
- If dough is too dry and crumbling apart after a couple of minutes, add 1 Tablespoon of ice water at a time until it comes together. If it it sticking to the counter, sprinkle a bit flour.
- Once it’s a smooth dough, divide in half and form each into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap or beeswax wrap, being sure to leave nothing exposed. You can then add covered discs to an airtight bag or container to be sure pie crusts don’t dry out.
- Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or up to 3 days!
How To Get A Flaky Crust
- Freeze your butter. I actually keep a few pounds of butter in the freezer that I rotate to the fridge as I buy so I never run out. Butter is a serious staple in this house! If you find it’s too hard to grate, let it sit out for 10 minutes and try again.
2. Keep everything as cold as possible! You don’t want your butter melting into the crust.
3. Don’t overwork the dough when rubbing in the butter. This one’s crucial. It makes a huge difference. It’s ok to have lots of chunks of butter, as long as the largest ones are around pea-size. I used to work mine until it was “coarse sand texture” but that’s how you end up with tough pie crust!
5. Bring your pie crust together by stacking up and pressing down. Here’s what I mean:
6. Wrap really well, get it right into the fridge, and chill for at LEAST 4 hours. For sourdough, it’s better to wait 24 hour to allow some fermentation and flavor development, but it’s not essential.
Following these steps should get you a beautifully flaky pie crust!
Can You Long-Ferment Sourdough Pie Crust?
So this is a tricky question.
Yes, you can leave it in the fridge overnight or up to 3 days, but it’s unclear how much fermentation is taking place.
Any recipe with lots of fat will prohibit a full fermentation like you get with an artisan loaf, for example. If you’re very sensitive to gluten and ferment your sourdough recipes for that reason, I wouldn’t recommend relying on any fat-heavy recipe like cookies, brownies, or yes, pie crust.
But if you’re using sourdough because you love it and it adds benefits and nutrition to your recipes, then this a great one!
We’re replacing some of the normal pie crust ingredients with already fermented flour (your sourdough starter).
And so we’re getting benefits from that, plus the amazing flavor.
Freezing, Storing, Using Your Pie Crusts
My goal with this recipe is to give you all the info you want to know about sourdough pie crusts so you can implement them in lots of different ways.
Like I said before, I think they’re a great tool for adding something special to a meal, rather than just using them for dessert pies (though those are amazing, too!)
The fridge and freezer are both great assets for sourdough in general. I was always tell anyone who will listen that if you’re intimidated by the timing and scheduling of sourdough, to remember, “When in doubt, stick it in the fridge!”
This also of course applies to the freezer. The only time you can’t hit “pause” on a sourdough recipe is after the second rise has begun, which isn’t a thing with pie crusts, so we’ve got options.
- Flatten into discs and wrap, as above, but stick in the freezer instead of the fridge. Again, just be SURE it’s very airtight. You can stash a pie crust like this for up to 3 months! Move to the fridge the night before you want to roll it out and use in a recipe.
- Freeze in a pie pan. Roll it out and press into your pie pan and crimp the edges. Then cover securely and store it all in your freezer. The advantage with this one is you can go straight from freezer to oven. Just make sure you have a pie pan that can handle the temperature change. 3 months for this one as well.
- Blind bake and freeze as a shell. Roll out, press into your pan, prick the bottom with a fork to allow steam to release, then bake according yo your recipe. Allow to cool completely then wrap securely and freeze. This one’s great for pies like coconut cream, lemon meringue, and other cream pies. Just let it thaw before you add your filling, and you’re good to go. A pre-baked shell is good for 1 month.
- Combine 1 and 2: If you want to be able to make a pie with a double crust like chicken pot pie, a lattice pie, etc., you can follow option 2 for the bottom crust and option 1 for the top crust. Then just take out the disc the night before, assemble your pie, and let the bottom crust thaw so they bake evenly.
Pin it for later
Grab your printable recipe and let me know how it goes! I’d love to hear what sorts of pies you make 🙂
Sourdough Pie Crust
Tender, flaky, healthy and delicious. You'll love how easy this pie crust comes together, without sacrificing all the benefits sourdough has to offer.
Ingredients
- 280g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 225g (2 sticks, 1 cup) butter, cold (frozen is best)
- 13g (1 Tbsp) sugar
- 6g (1 tsp) salt
- 280g (1 1/4 cup) sourdough starter (fed within the last 24 hours)
Instructions
- Place butter into freezer at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
- Add flour, salt and sugar into a medium mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
- Take butter (one stick at a time if in sticks, keeping other stick in freezer until first one is grated to keep as cold as possible) and grate into flour mixture.
- With a pastry cutter or your hands, work butter into flour, crumbling and rubbing between fingers until the largest pieces are pea-sized. Don't overwork the mixture, taking care to keep as chilled as possible.
- Add active sourdough starter to mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until mostly incorporated. Shaggy dough should be moldable and not sticky.
- Turn out onto counter (cover with flour if crust seems sticky) and press together. Flatten with hands, gather together, press again. Do this until the dough just comes together, keeping as cold as possible and being careful not to overwork the dough. If dough is too dry to come together, add 1 Tablespoon of ice water at a time until it does. If dough is sticky, add 1 Tablespoon of flour at a time.
- Separate into two equal parts, and flatten each into a disk. Wrap in beeswax wrap or plastic wrap and ferment in fridge for 24 hours, or chill for at least 4. You can also freeze it like this.
- To blind-bake shell, preheat oven to 375 F, roll out thin until circumference is large enough to go up the sides of your pie pan, about 1/8" thick. Drape into pie pan, flute edges, add parchment paper and pie weights. Bake for 15 minnutes or until edges are beginning to brown. Remove parchment and weights, prick all over the bottom with a fork for steam to release, then return to oven. For par-baked shells (like for quiche or pumpkin pie, your pie recipe will tell you) bake an additional 7 minutes without weights for the bottom to begin to lightly brown. For a full-baked shell (like for cream pies) bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until entire pie crust is lightly golden brown.
Notes
You can use pie weights or plain dry beans to hold the crust down when blind-baking. Use a piece of parchment paper between the crust and the weights/beans.
I recommend brushing the crust before baking with a beaten egg for a beautiful golden finish. You can do this around the edges of a blind-baked pie shell, as well as on a top crust like in the photo here. I also recommend turbinado sugar sprinkled on after egg wash for dessert pies!
You do not have to ferment this recipe, but you do have to chill it after incorporating the butter. I recommend waiting 4 hours after shaping into discs and placing in fridge.
To roll out pie crust, unwrap disc, lay out on a clean and lightly floured surface and roll with a rolling pin. The dough will be a little stiff but it's best to do this right out of the fridge to ensure the most tender and flakiest crust. You can hit it with the rolling pin several times to get it to start flattening out. If you find it's still too stiff, wait 5 minutes and try again.
If you're doing a flat top crust and not a lattice, be sure to slit the top with a few small slits or one longer middle slit to allow steam to release.
Don't forget to leave a 5-star rating if you enjoyed this recipe!
Did you love this recipe? Please consider leaving a 5-Star rating.
Leave a Reply