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Holiday foods can be rough on our bellies. All the heavy food, sugary treats, and ultra processed goodies can leave us feeling not like our best self. A way that I combat some of that feeling is with fermented foods, specifically sourdough. 

This sourdough pie crust is the perfect thing to have on hand during the “brr” months, and it’s sourdough quality makes it easy for your body to digest. All of the benefits of fermented grains built into the yummy pies you’re bound to eat. So, whether it’s for your family’s annual celebration or the church potluck, you can be sure that this sourdough pie crust will be sure to impress!

Why Sourdough?

Sourdough has lots of health benefits, but the short answer is that the wild yeast eat the flour in your dish. The more flour they eat, the more your dough rises. Because the yeast have already begun to break down the proteins in the flour it makes your body have to do less work when you consume any sourdough product. I find that sourdough tastes better, and also is easier on my family’s stomach. 

Sourdough discard 

This term is somewhat of an oxymoron; any sourdough starter that is not active can be considered discard. But with an established starter, any type of sourdough starter can work. You don’t need to have your starter at any particular state in order to make this recipe, but a runny, unfed starter is best for this pie crust recipe. 

Important**

In order for your discard recipes to have the benefits of sourdough, you NEED to let them ferment. Without fermentation, it’s just flour and water. Give your dough several days in the back of the fridge if possible to allow the wild yeast to eat through the flour and begin to break it down. Your final product might be more sour than a normal pie crust, but with the addition of sweet or savory fillings I never notice a difference in taste. 

The easiest way that I do this is to whip up a batch of pie crust dough before I need it, while my mixer is still out and dirty with some other dough that I’m currently making.

Ingredients

Flour 

Unbleached all purpose is the flour I always have on hand for all things sourdough, so it is what I grab for this recipe. Any sort of flour, however, works well here. 

Butter

You want cold, I’m talking ice cold butter. Sometimes I will cut it up and stick it in the freezer to get really cold. The idea is to make a dough that still has pieces of butter in it, so it gets nice and flakey. The colder the butter, the better the flake. I prefer salted butter, but salted or unsalted work just fine. 

Water

Again, you want ice cold water. Warm (or even room temperature) water causes the butter to melt, which makes your pie crust more like a dense pizza crust rather than a light and flakey pie crust 

Salt

Pretty much every dish in the history of forever needs salt. I’ve been using Redmond’s Real Salt, and the added minerals in it are just a bonus. 

Sourdough starter 

Fed… unfed… bubbly… runny… doesn’t really matter. Don’t let the state of your starter keep you from making sourdough products!!

Steps 

1. Measure out flour and salt; place into a large bowl. 

2. Place cold butter, cut into cubes, in the bowl and cut it into the flour using your hands, a pastry cutter, or pastry cutter attachment on a stand mixer. Cut in until the largest piece of butter is the size of a pea. 

3. Slowly combine water and cold sourdough discard until a shaggy dough is formed. 

4. Place shaggy dough in plastic wrap and put in fridge for at least 1 hour.  

**Remember, if you’re going for a fermented dough, leave in the fridge for at least 24 hours, up to 5 days. 

5. When ready to use, heat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for about 15 minutes or according to your recipe. 

Variations

•  In the freezer: I don’t like making more work for myself than I have to, so when I pull out my pastry cutter and stand mixer I make more than I am going to use and put extra pie crusts unbaked in the freezer for up to a month. You’ll thank yourself later!
• Sour taste: I don’t notice a sour taste with this particular dough (baked goods that have butter or milk in them tend to taste less sour) so if you’re going for that really sour taste, leave in the fridge for several days before using. Remember, the longer it ferments, the more sour it will taste!