Pie. It’s an addiction of mine. Sweet, savory, a combination – I love it all! Sharing my quiche recipe spurred questions about whether I make my own crust or use store bought. It depends on the week, but after figuring out this simple recipe, I will never buy store bought again. It’s buttery, flakey, and perfect for both a fruit/sweet pie or savory chicken pot pies and quiche. That recipe will be coming next!

This recipe makes a double crust, both can be used at present time, or you can freeze one for later.

Pie Crust Ingredients: 

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) of cold butter
• 1 cup sourdough starter or discard*
• 1 tsp Salt

*Note: If you use sourdough discard, you want to make sure it’s less than 2 days old. If you use active starter, I prefer to refrigerate the starter for about 30 minutes-1 hour before making the crust.

Tip – never tighten your lid on your starter jar! Whether you’ve just fed your starter and it’s resting on the counter, or placing your discard jar in the refrigerator, tightening the lid can cause the jar to explode.

Instructions:

1.) Measure your flour and sift it into a large bowl.

2.) Add salt to the flour and mix.

3.) Place the bowl in the freezer for about 15 minutes or until the flour is cold.

4.) As the flour chills, slice the butter sticks into thin pats or cubes.

5.) Using a scraper/cutter or your fingertips, work the butter into the chilled flour. You want to press the pieces to flatten them into smaller pieces about the size of nickels.

6.) Make a well in the center of your mixture and pour in the sourdough starter, gently stirring to combine. This will be thick mixture, I continue to use the scraper to fold in together. Feel free to use your hands to combine. Once the dough starts to become cohesive, transfer to a well-floured countertop or workspace. Knead or press the dough together to ensure all of the bits are combined.

7.) Next, split your dough into two sections. Roll each doughball by pressing/rolling (using a rolling pin) your dough into circles, about 6-7 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. Cover each disc and place in the refrigerator to cool for 30 minutes.

8.) From here, you can either continue to the baking instructions if you’re planning to use each pie crust OR you can wrap your dough in parchment paper and freeze them. I have frozen them in regular freezer bags, but you can also vacuum seal them. The dough can remain in the fridge for 2-3 days and in the freezer for 2 months. Allow the dough to warm to room temperature before rolling it to bake.

9.) Once the crust has chilled for 30 minutes, roll your dough into a 13-inch round shape – this doesn’t have to be a perfect circle.

10.) Place your dough into a pie pan and cut off the overflowing edges, while crimping or flattening the edges along the pie pan.

11.) Depending on the type of pie you’re baking, you may want to preheat your crust. If you’re making a chicken pot pie or any type of baked pie, you can follow the instructions below.

Pre-Bake crust: Line your crust with pie weights (beans, uncooked rice, etc.) and bake at 375 degrees for 20 miniutes.

Regular Bake crust with filling: Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes. You should follow your recipe (if baking apple, chicken pot pie, etc. with runny filling) and bake on a sheet pan to catch any drippings.

Enjoy!