Whole Wheat Pie Crusts
You might reject the idea of using whole wheat flour for pie shells and other sweet products. That would be short sighted. Whole grain flours add wonderful flavor that is missing from white flour where all the flavor has been removed.
A few amendments need to be made to account for the lesser ratio of gluten compared to recipes which feature white flour, but these are easily done.
Whole wheat pie crust rolled out on parchment paper
I know a lot of folks are intimidated by the prospect of making pastry, and it can be a challenge to roll out and transfer the crust into the pie shell. While you can chill the dough to make it easier to roll out an even easier way to get the job done is to roll out the crust on parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet. Then place a pie tin on top of the crust, slip a hand under the parchment or silicon sheet and flip everything over, then gently peel the parchment from the crust.
If you have any breaks fix those by pressing the crust together with your fingers and trim the crust that overhangs the pie tin.
This recipe yields about five 9″ pie shells – if you make a double crust pie you’ll use two crusts.
- 6 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour
- 1 pound chilled lard
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp white vinager
- water as / if needed to make dough cling together
- Cut chilled lard into the flour until the fat is pea sized
- In a separate bowl mix eggs and vinegar
- Mix egg/vinegar into the flour/lard mix. If needed add just enough water to get the mix to cling together
- Take balls equal to a fifth of the total and roll out on a piece of parchment paper or silicon baking mat. Put enough four onto the dough to ensure that the rolling pin doesn't stick
- Place the upside down pie plate on the rolled dough. Slip your hand under the parchment paper and invert the assembly. Peel off the parchment paper, fix any rips in the dough with your fingers. Trim the dough from the plate
- Use the shell for a pie now or freeze the shells for future use.