Flaky Sourdough Discard Pie Crust
Discard does two jobs in this crust. It replaces most of the ice water, and it brings a faint tang that keeps a sweet pumpkin or pecan pie from tasting one note. The rest is a classic all-butter crust that rewards cold butter and patient chilling.
This makes one 9-inch crust. It drops straight into the Classic Pumpkin Pie in place of the crust there, and two batches cover the top and bottom of the Flaky All-Butter Apple Pie.
Why You’ll Love It
- A use for cold discard that needs no feeding and no waiting for bubbles.
- Flaky layers from cold butter, with a slight tang that balances very sweet fillings.
- It makes ahead. The dough keeps 3 days in the refrigerator or 2 months in the freezer.
- Exact blind-baking times for custard pies and cream pies.
Ingredients
Use discard straight from the refrigerator, at 100% hydration. Cold matters more than age here, because warm discard softens the butter before it ever reaches the oven.
- All-purpose flour (150 g (about 1¼ cups)): tender enough for a crust that cuts cleanly.
- Granulated sugar (4 g (1 teaspoon)): a touch of browning. Leave it out for savory pies.
- Fine salt (3 g (½ teaspoon)): seasons the butter and flour.
- Unsalted butter, very cold and cubed (113 g (8 tablespoons)): the flat, cold pieces of butter are what make the flaky layers.
- Sourdough discard, cold (100 g (about ½ cup)): most of the liquid, plus flavor.
- Ice water (15 g (1 tablespoon)): loosens the discard so it mixes in evenly. Add a second tablespoon only if the dough will not hold together.
Equipment
Gear guides: Sourdough Equipment Guide·Kitchen Scales·Banneton Sizing·Scoring Tools·Storing the Loaf·Pizza Stone vs. Baking Steel·Shop All Picks →
- Kitchen scale: for weighing every ingredient, especially the butter.
- Large mixing bowl: for cutting the butter into the flour.
- Pastry blender: for cutting in the butter without warming it with your hands.
- Rolling pin: for rolling the dough to an even ⅛ inch (3 mm).
- 9-inch pie dish: glass or metal both work for this crust.
- Pie weights: hold the crust in place during the blind bake. Dry beans work too.
- Parchment paper: lines the crust under the pie weights.
Sample Schedule
Day 1
- Mix the dough, about 15 minutes
- Chill at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days
- Roll out and fit the crust, about 20 minutes
- Blind bake, then fill and bake your pie
Flaky Sourdough Discard Pie Crust
Method
- Whisk the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl, chilling the bowl first if the kitchen is warm.
- Cut in the cold butter until the largest pieces are pea size, with some flat walnut-half pieces left.
- Stir the ice water into the cold discard, drizzle it over the flour and toss until shaggy, then press into a 1-inch disc and wrap.
- Refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
- Roll into a 12-inch round about ⅛ inch thick, fit into a 9-inch pie dish, trim to 1 inch, fold under and crimp.
- Freeze 20 minutes, then line with parchment and weights and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and bake 5 more minutes for partly baked, or 12 to 15 more minutes for fully baked.
- Fill the warm, partly baked crust for custard pies and bake at 350°F (175°C), or cool the fully baked crust completely for cream pies.
Notes
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How to Make It
1Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar and salt together. If your kitchen is warm, put the bowl and the flour in the freezer for 10 minutes first. In a South Florida kitchen above 78°F (26°C), that short chill makes a real difference to how the butter behaves.
2Cut in the butter. Scatter the cold butter cubes over the flour and cut them in with a pastry blender until the largest pieces are about the size of a pea and some flat pieces the size of a walnut half remain. Stop there. Those larger pieces of butter melt into steam pockets in the oven, and the steam pockets are the flaky layers.
3Add the discard. In a small bowl, stir the ice water into the cold discard until it loosens and looks smooth. Drizzle it over the flour mixture and toss with a fork until the dough looks shaggy. Squeeze a handful. If it holds together, stop. If it crumbles, add another tablespoon of ice water. Press the dough into a 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick disc and wrap it tightly.
4Chill the dough. Refrigerate the disc for at least 1 hour so the butter firms up again and the flour hydrates. You can leave it for up to 3 days. The discard keeps working slowly in the cold, so a dough chilled for 2 days tastes a little more tangy than one baked the same day.
5Roll and fit the dish. Let the disc sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, then roll it on a lightly floured counter into a 12-inch (30 cm) round about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick, turning it a quarter turn after every few passes. Ease it into the 9-inch pie dish without stretching it. Trim the overhang to 1 inch (2.5 cm), then fold it under and crimp the edge.
6Freeze and blind bake. Freeze the crust for 20 minutes while the oven heats to 400°F (200°C). Line it with parchment, fill it to the rim with pie weights and bake on the lower rack for 15 minutes. Lift out the parchment and weights. For a partly baked crust, bake 5 more minutes until pale golden. For a fully baked crust, prick the bottom with a fork and bake 12 to 15 more minutes until deep golden.
7Fill and finish. For pumpkin or other custard pies, use the partly baked crust, pour in the filling while the crust is still warm and lower the oven to 350°F (175°C) for the filling bake. Cream and pudding pies need the fully baked crust cooled completely before filling. If the edge browns before the filling is done, cover it loosely with foil.
Tips & Troubleshooting
- Crust shrank down the sides: the dough was stretched into the dish or not frozen before baking. Ease it in loosely and always give it the 20-minute freeze.
- Crust is tough instead of flaky: the butter got too warm or the dough was worked too long. Stop mixing at shaggy and chill longer in a warm kitchen.
- Dough cracks when rolling: it is too cold straight from the refrigerator. Give it 5 to 10 minutes on the counter, then roll.
- Soggy bottom under pumpkin pie: the crust went in unbaked. Blind bake it first and bake the pie on the lower rack.
How to Store
To store: Wrapped dough keeps in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. A blind-baked crust keeps at room temperature, covered, for 1 day before filling.
To freeze: Freeze the wrapped disc or the crust fitted in its dish for up to 2 months. Thaw the disc overnight in the refrigerator. A frozen fitted crust can be blind baked straight from the freezer, adding 3 to 5 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated per slice of crust only, for 8 slices, and does not include any filling.
195
CALORIES
20
CARBS (G)
3
PROTEIN (G)
12
FAT (G)
7
SAT. FAT (G)
1
FIBER (G)
0.5
SUGAR (G)
145
SODIUM (MG)
Desi’s Notes
This recipe is Research-backed and has not been through a Bake-Keeper kitchen test yet. The ratio of butter and discard to flour follows well-tested discard crusts, scaled to the 9-inch dish used on the site’s pumpkin pie.
Discard that has sat in the refrigerator for more than 2 weeks can taste sharp. For sweet pies, use discard that is a few days old. For a savory quiche, older discard is fine and the extra tang suits it.
Before You Bake
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