Simple to Make Flaky Sourdough Pie Crust Recipe

Last Updated on December 4, 2024 by TheFarmChicken

A simple and beautiful art. Making a pie crust can be a daunting task but with a good recipe and simple, detailed instructions you can become confident in making a beautiful pie crust for your next holiday or special occasion. Find my Simple to Make Flaky Sourdough Pie Crust Recipe below. With flaky layers this tender pie crust works well for both sweet and savory pies.

I have fond memories of my mom making pie, her teaching me how, and fun memories making pie with my, at the time, boyfriend who is now my husband. One of the things we enjoyed doing together was baking! We still do, it just doesn’t happen as often.

Reason To Make a Sourdough Pie Crust:

They are delicious. I like the extra almost cracker like texture of this flaky pie crust recipe.
You can make it ahead of time and store in the fridge. (Just be sure to take it out and let it warm up some before you roll it out.)
You can use up some of your sourdough discard.
It can be mixed together in 15 minutes or less!
Added sourdough flavor if you bulk ferment the pie dough in the fridge

I hope you love baking your savory pies and sweet pies with this Simple to Make Flaky Sourdough Pie Crust Recipe. A homemade pie crust is the perfect finish to any pie!

rolled out and crimped sourdough pie crust with rolling pin

Ingredients for Homemade Pie Crust with Sourdough:

All Purpose Flour

All Purpose Flour is the best flour to use for this pie crust recipe to get a flaky crust.

Salt

Just a little bit of salt.

Cold Butter

You want your butter to be cold. You will cut it into cubes so that it is easier to work into the four and salt mixture.

Sourdough Starter Active or Discard

You want your sourdough starter that you use for this recipe to be cold. This will give you a greater chance at achieving the flaky crust you want!

Don’t have a sourdough starter? You can learn to make one with Learning Sourdough with Agnes, purchase a dehydrated starter or make my pie crust recipe that doesn’t require a sourdough starter!

Cold Water

Cold water is a crucial step to this sourdough pie crust. I usually just let my tap water run until it is very cold.

How to Crimp a Pie Crust (with video):

I feel as if explaining how to crimp a pie crust is a challenging thing to explain. However, I will try. If you prefer, I also have a video that you can reference for how I crimp my pie crusts.

Crimping a Pie Crust:

Fold your pie crust under.
Using your index and thumb on both hands, pinch the crust around the perimeter of the crust. NOTE: Don’t be afraid to pinch it pretty tight. This will give you a beautifully defined pie crust.

Recipes to Use with this Sourdough Pie Crust:

Chicken Pot Pie – Just omit the dumplings in the recipe and bake in this pie crust
Pumpkin Pie
Strawberry Rhubarb Sweet Cream Pie
Apple Pie – – Coming Soon!
Your Favorite Pie

Other Sourdough Recipes to Try:

Pin for Later:

Simple to Make Flaky Sourdough Pie Crust Recipe

1 1/3 cup (185g) all-purpose flour
½ tsp (1g) salt
½ cup (120g) cold butter
½ cup (145g) active starter or sourdough discard, cold
¼ cup (45g) cold water + 1-2 T as needed

Instructions:

First, in a medium sized bowl combine the flour and salt together and set aside.
Next, take and cube the butter and cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles fine crumbs.
You can do this with a pastry cutter or a large fork.
Be sure to work at this until you have reached the proper distribution of the small butter pieces, then set aside.
In a glass measuring cup measure the cold sourdough discard and cold water and stir with a fork to combine.
Then add the liquid ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix with a fork or by hand until the dough comes together.
If it seems dry add a tablespoon of water at a time until it comes together nicely. Be careful not to overwork the pie dough-you want a tender crust.
Form the pie dough into a disc (alternately you can wrap in a piece of plastic wrap and place in the fridge for up to a couple days for a cold ferment) and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough and add more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
I will sometimes flip the pie dough to flour both sides.
Roll the pie dough so that it is plenty big for what you need for your pie plate. This recipe is enough for a 9” or 10” pie pan.
Once it is rolled out fold it into half and then half again and place in the pie shell. Unfold the crust and trim the sides by hand to about 1-2 inches.

Finishing a Single or Double Crust Pie:

Single Crust:

Fold the crust under and crimp the edge of the pie crust for a single bottom crust. You can crimp the pie crust however you prefer.

Double-Crust Pie Crust:

Add the filling, ex. apple pie filling, and then take and roll out another pie crust for the top crust, trim, fold over and crimp.

Both of these pie crust ways can be baked according to the pie recipe’s directions.

Blind Baked Pie Crust:

Follow these instructions if you need to blind bake a single pie crust.

Fold under the pie crust and crimp the edges.
Place tinfoil in the pie crust and fill with uncooked rice or dry beans. (This prevents the crust from bubbling up or slumping down on the sides.)
Then bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for 10 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

NOTE: You use the tinfoil as a lifter to remove the rice easily from the baking pie crust. Also, to prevent waste you can save the rice in a zip top bag for future blind baked crust. I have a pie rice bag just for this sort of thing!

NOTE:

This recipe can be doubled and used to make 3 separate pie crusts. A single batch is almost enough for 2 9-in crust. I like to have plenty to work with because it makes it simple to place in the pie tin and trim the excess off.
If you have excess dough roll it out and place on a cookie sheet or another pie plate. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
When rolling out your pie crust don’t be afraid to use plenty of flour so that it doesn’t stick you will be glad you did!

TOP TIP: Add plenty of moisture so the dough sticks together and use plenty of flour so that it doesn’t stick to your work surface.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup 185g all-purpose flour
½ tsp 1g salt
½ cup 120g cold butter
½ cup 145g active starter or sourdough discard, cold
¼ cup 45g cold water + 1-2 T as needed

Instructions

Instructions:

First, in a medium sized bowl combine the flour and salt together and set aside.
Next, take and cube the butter and cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles fine crumbs.
You can do this with a pastry cutter or a large fork.
Be sure to work at this until you have reached the proper distribution of the small butter pieces, then set aside.
In a glass measuring cup measure the cold sourdough discard and cold water and stir with a fork to combine.
Then add the liquid ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix with a fork or by hand until the dough comes together.
If it seems dry add a tablespoon of water at a time until it comes together nicely. Be careful not to overwork the pie dough-you want a tender crust.
Form the pie dough into a disc (alternately you can wrap in a piece of plastic wrap and place in the fridge for up to a couple days for a cold ferment) and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough and add more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
I will sometimes flip the pie dough to flour both sides.
Roll the pie dough so that it is plenty big for what you need for your pie plate. This recipe is enough for a 9” or 10” pie pan.
Once it is rolled out fold it into half and then half again and place in the pie shell. Unfold the crust and trim the sides by hand to about 1-2 inches.

Finishing a Single or Double Crust Pie:

Single Crust:

-Fold the crust under and crimp the edge of the pie crust for a single bottom crust. You can crimp the pie crust however you prefer.

Double-Crust Pie Crust:

-Add the filling, ex. apple pie filling, and then take and roll out another pie crust for the top crust, trim, fold over and crimp.
Both of these pie crust ways can be baked according to the pie recipe’s directions.

Blind Baked Pie Crust:

Follow these instructions if you need to blind bake a single pie crust.
Fold under the pie crust and crimp the edges.
Place tinfoil in the pie crust and fill with uncooked rice or dry beans. (This prevents the crust from bubbling up or slumping down on the sides.)
Then bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for 10 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
NOTE: You use the tinfoil as a lifter to remove the rice easily from the baking pie crust. Also, to prevent waste you can save the rice in a zip top bag for future blind baked crust. I have a pie rice bag just for this sort of thing!

Notes

-This recipe can be doubled and used to make 3 separate pie crusts. A single batch is almost enough for 2 9-in crust. I like to have plenty to work with because it makes it simple to place in the pie tin and trim the excess off.

-If you have excess dough roll it out and place on a cookie sheet or another pie plate. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

-When rolling out your pie crust don’t be afraid to use plenty of flour so that it doesn’t stick you will be glad you did!

TOP TIP: Add plenty of moisture so the dough sticks together and use plenty of flour so that it doesn’t stick to your work surface.

Servings: 1 pie crust

I hope you enjoy this sourdough pie crust. You can long ferment it if you would like, or you can make the crust and roll it out the same day! I love the versatility of the crust for all your sweet and savory pie needs. Your family and friends will love this special treat.

Did you try this recipe? Let me know in the comments. You can drop any questions you may have in the comments as well.

Happy Baking,

Mariah Nienhuis | TheFarmChicken

Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually.
Hosea 12:6

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Why is my sourdough crust so tough?

Overdevelopment of gluten. The more you mix the more gluten development. When you add water and mix/work your dough you run the chance of overworking it. Be sure to just mix it until it is mostly combined, transfer it to a floured surface, form a disc and roll it out.

What is the trick to making a good pie crust?

Using cold ingredients, not overmixing, incorporating the fat evenly before adding the liquid, and using enough liquid are some of the most important things to do to get a great pie crust. Oh, and practice!

Is butter or shortening better for pie crust?

Really it comes down to how easy you want the dough to be to work with. Butter melts easier so it can be more difficult to work with. If you are a beginner this might be the fat of choice for your pie crust. If you don’t want to compromise flavor though…butter is the way to go!

What can I do with leftover pie scraps?

I like to form a ball with the leftover pie scraps, place on a pan, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and place in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.