Milled flour sourdough pie crust is easily digestible, yet, still buttery and flaky. This homemade pie crust is interchangeable with sweet and savory pies and uses sourdough discard.
The recipe options with your sourdough starter are endless and, because of that, this recipe is a favorite to have stocked in the freezer! I love to pull these out for last minute guests or as an easy addition to a last minute potluck.
This recipe is great no matter if you are making a savory, labor of love, chicken pot pie or throwing together an apple pie with the apple pie filling you canned around apple picking season. Either way, you’ll love the ease of this recipe.
With this recipe you will have a total of four pie crusts (two bottom and 2 top layers), but if you prefer a thicker crust in your pies, this recipe will complete one pie (1 bottom and 1 top layer).
Helpful tools to have on hand:
- Grain mill
- Rolling pin
- Cheese grater
- Pastry cutter
5 Ingredients You’ll Need Beyond Your Sourdough Starter
- Wheat Berries: You may have found yourself here because you are working with milled flour. In that case, you probably already know that flour quality is so important. I purchase my wheat berries from Azure Standard in bulk and grind them fresh with my Komo Fidibus Classic from Pleasant Hill Grain. Wheat berries have a higher protein content than storebought flours. My favorite wheat berries to have on hand are soft white, hard white, and Kamut.
- Celtic sea salt: There are many salt brands out there so just be sure the one you’re using has regular testing proving that heavy metals are not present in your salt.
- Sugar: This helps the dough not to dry out too quickly.
- Distille White Vinegar: Without the vinegar, the dough can become gray and oxidized, be floppier to work with, and have a harder time holding the patterns and shapes with which you decorate the pie.
- Grass-fed European Butter: Yes, I’m a butter snob. Your crusts will be just fine with standard butter, but grass-fed European butter just tends to make everything better.
The Secret to the Perfect Sourdough Pie Crust is: KEEP IT COLD
Keeping all the ingredients cold is a must leading up to officially getting your pie into the oven. Sourdough discard (especially milled flour fed) can add extra moisture. There’s also the potential of the butter melting as you work with it. If the butter starts to melt before baking, not only is it messy, you lose the flakiness. The colder you keep the ingredients, the easier your pie is to work with, and the flakier your crust.
Tips for Keeping Everything as Cold as Possible
- The morning before you plan to make the crusts, feed your starter, and then move it to the fridge that evening so it has time to chill the entire night before.
- Prepare your dry ingredients and place in the fridge or freezer while you grate the butter.
- Move your butter to the freezer for thirty minutes or so before you grate it.
How to Make a Milled Flour Sourdough Pie Crust
These step-by-step photos are sure to help.
Start by mixing your fresh milled flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl with a fork.
Then you will need to grate the cold butter into the flour mixture. Next, stir the grated butter into the dry ingredients with a fork. After the grated butter is coated in the flour mixture, begin cutting the butter in until large crumbles form. My favorite way to do this is with a pastry cutter.
Next, add the cold sourdough starter and vinegar to the mixture and, again, use a fork or dough whisk to combine.
After it starts to come together, use your hands to press the dough together so that there are no more dry bits in your bowl. This does take me about 30 seconds of hand kneading.
I like to weigh the, now, combined dough in order to cut it in half to store them in two separate disks. Without overworking the dough, quickly form the disk shapes.
Loosely wrap the disk in plastic wrap, shaping with the wrap as you go, and roll with a rolling pin a time or two until you are satisfied with your disk shape and smoothness, but without overworking. Remember, we want to keep it as cold as possible.
Storing and Freezing Milled Flour Sourdough Pie Crust
Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours minimum and up to three days.
Pie crusts are one of my favorite things to have in the freezer for a quick dessert pie, breakfast quiche, or chicken pot pie that feels gourmet using very little time when the crusts are already prepared for me. This milled flour sourdough pie crust can be prepped ahead and stored in the freezer for 3 months as long as they are individually wrapped in plastic and stored in a freezer safe bag.
Recipes Using Milled Flour Sourdough Pie Crusts
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Apple Pie
- Breakfast Quiche
Milled Flour Sourdough Pie Crust
Milled flour sourdough pie crust is easily digestible, yet, still buttery and flaky. This homemade pie crust is interchangeable with sweet and savory pies and uses sourdough discard.
Ingredients
- 250 g fresh milled flour (either hard white or soft white work great)
- 1 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 10 g white vinegar
- 250 grams (cold) sourdough discard
Instructions
- Mix milled flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl with a fork. Grate the butter onto the dry ingredient mixture and stir until butter is coated in flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter or bench scraper to begin cutting the butter until large crumbles form.
- Next, add the cold sourdough starter and vinegar to the mixture and, again, use a fork or dough whisk to combine. After it starts to come together, use your hands to press the dough together so that there are no more dry bits in your bowl.
- I like to weigh the, now, combined dough in order to cut it in half to store them in two separate disks. Without overworking the dough, quickly form the disk shapes.
- Loosely wrap the disk in plastic wrap, shaping with the wrap as you go, and roll with a rolling pin a time or two until you are satisfied with your disk shape and smoothness.
- Chill for at least 2 hours before proceeding with your pie recipe directions.
Notes
- The dough can be stored wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 2-3 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer,
- Keep butter and discard as cold as you can throughout the process.
- You will have a total of four pie crusts (two bottom and 2 top layers). With that said, if you prefer a thicker crust in your pies, this recipe will complete one pie (1 bottom and 1 top layer).
