This all-purpose sourdough pie crust recipe is easy and delicious! Enjoy this soft, buttery crust with anything that calls itself pie.
Why Sourdough Pie Crust?
You may be wondering, why sourdough? For one, you could just buy a pie crust from the store for fairly cheap. It wouldn’t take nearly as long!
Or maybe you do want scratch-made crust but you’re still wondering, why sourdough?
First of all, it’s a really great, easy way to use your discard. This recipe can be made with active starter or discard, making it perfect for when you just need to get rid of some starter. Not to mention it’s delicious!
Another reason to use sourdough starter in your pie crust is the health benefit factor. All the probiotics in the starter instantly makes sourdough pie crust a much better option than store-bought or even other from-scratch recipes!
Don’t have a sourdough starter? Go grab a Little Wife in the Woods starter over in our Etsy shop! Or learn how to make your own starter from scratch in this post.
Ways to Use Sourdough Pie Crust
Sourdough pie crust can be use for just about anything that calls itself pie. You can adjust this recipe for any of them by adding or subtracting honey. For fruit pies/dessert pies add a bit more to make the crust sweeter. If you are making a savory meal, use less honey in your crust.
My favorite crusty foods…
- Sugar free apple pie
- Chicken pot pie
- Meat pie
- Peach pie
- Chocolate pie
- Caramel pie
- Thin crust pizza
Ingredients You Need to Make Sourdough Crust
One of my favorite things about this recipe is the simplicity of the ingredients. It only takes six ingredients to make this perfect little pie crust. The best part- you probably already have them in your kitchen! You will need…
- Sourdough starter
- Water
- Honey/sugar
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- 1 stick or 1/2 cup of butter
Flour. I prefer to use unbleached all-purpose flour. Being a more naturally minded person I dislike the idea of there being chemicals in my baked goods. For this reason I use unbleached flour by King Arthur.
Butter. I personally only use salted butter in just about all my recipes. I know some people prefer to use unsalted for any baked goods. However, I like food with lots of flavor so I use salted butter and salt in my recipes.
Tips
Laminating. Lamination is a necessary step if you want a nice, flakey crust. It sounds complicated but it’s very simple! Follow these steps for success…
1. Make your dough according to the recipe below and allow to chill.
2. Grate 1 stick chilled (or fresh from the refrigerator) butter.
3. Half the dough and roll out to about 1/8-1/4 in flat with a rolling pin.
4. Add 1/4 of grated butter to surface of rolled out dough then fold in half.
5. Add another 1/4 of the grated butter to the surface of the 1/2 folded dough, then fold into 1/4ths.
6. Now roll the dough out flat again.
This created flakey, buttery dough for pie crusts, pastries, and croissants.
Refrigeration. Working with cold dough and cold butter is key!! This will give your crust that extra flakiness. The refrigeration step is not essential, meaning you will have a good tasting crust if you need to skip the chilling process. However, best results are achieved when you are able to allow the crust to chill.
Sourdough Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup starter
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 stick butter grated
Instructions
- Dissolve starter in warm water for about 5 minutes then stir.
- Add honey, salt, and flour. The dough should be nice and thick- just a little bit sticky but not overly much.
- Shape dough into a ball. Chill in the freezer about 30-45 minutes. The dough should be very cold but not frozen.
- Grate a stick of cold butter.
- After chilling, half the ball of dough into two equal portions. This will give you a top and bottom crust.
- Laminate the dough. (See the section of this post on laminating for more detailed instructions.) Roll out on a floured surface to about 1/8-1/4 thickness. Add butter to the surface of the dough then fold in half. Add more butter then fold in fourths. Now roll dough back out to 1/8-1/4 thickness. This will created layers in your crust.
- Use the dough immediately or chill in the refrigerator in a sealed container to use when needed (or up to three days).
