Description
This recipe for Flaky Sourdough Discard Pie Crust offers a creative and delicious way to use sourdough discard while making a tender, flaky crust perfect for sweet or savory pies. Featuring cold butter and a careful mixing process, this crust achieves a perfect texture without requiring baking beforehand, allowing for versatility in various pie recipes.
Ingredients
Scale
Pie Crust Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard (unfed)
- 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
- Chill Butter: Cube the butter and keep it chilled until ready to use. Keeping the butter cold is essential to creating flaky layers in the crust when baked.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt to evenly distribute the seasoning throughout the mixture.
- Cut in Butter: Add the cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized chunks remaining.
- Add Sourdough Discard: Stir in the sourdough discard until the dough is loosely combined but not fully mixed yet.
- Add Ice Water: Add ice water one tablespoon at a time, mixing gently just until the dough starts to come together in clumps. Be careful not to overwork the dough to maintain flakiness.
- Form and Chill Dough: Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days, to allow the gluten to relax and the butter to firm up.
- Roll Out Dough: When ready to use, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 5 minutes to make it easier to handle. Then roll it out on a floured surface and shape it as desired for your pie.
Notes
- Keep the butter cold throughout the process to ensure a flaky crust texture.
- Do not overmix the dough once the water is added to avoid tough crust results.
- You can refrigerate the dough for up to 2 days before rolling out and baking.
- If the dough feels too dry, add ice water a little at a time until it holds together.
- This crust does not need to be baked before filling if the filling requires baking, but for no-bake pies, consider pre-baking the crust to prevent sogginess.
