I don't normally use sourdough starter or vinegar in my pastry. I just cut some butter into a bit of flour and then stir in cold water until it comes together. Then it's just a matter of chilling and rolling it out.

Very occasionally I'll make a sweet shortcrust with a bit of sugar and maybe some egg yolk in it. But most of the time I find the regular, flour-butter-water version works just fine.

This weekend though, I was staring at some very hungry sourdough starter and figured, "why not give sourdough pastry a try?" I've seen various recipes floating around, but I never bothered to take particular note of any of them since I wasn't really interested in sourdough pastry. I was in a hurry, so I just Googled "sourdough pie crust" and rolled with the first recipe I found. It calld for a small amount of vinegar in addition to the sourdough discard, but my starter was already very hungry and smelling pretty acidic, so I just used it + a bit of water and didn't bother with the vinegar. I didn't add the salt either. I don't generally find it necessary for pie crusts. I did add the small amount of sugar called for in the recipe though. I thought it might be necessary to help offset the tang of the starter.

I found the final result slightly more bready than my usual pastry, but it was pretty good overall. I would definitely use this recipe again. Especially if I was looking to use up starter! It worked out great.

Sourdough Pie Crust

Slightly adapted from Little Spoon Farm

Ingredients

• 125g all-purpose flour¹
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 113g unsalted butter, cold
• 125g sourdough discard
• 1-4 tsp. ice water²

Directions

1. Combine the flour and sugar.
2. Cut the butter into the flour.
3. Stir in the discard and 1 tsp. of water (or vinegar).
4. If the dough is still too dry to come together, add more water 1 tsp. at a time until the dough forms.
5. Shape into a ball or disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes or as long as 3 days.
6. When ready to bake, roll dough out on a well-floured surface, line your pie plate/baking dish, and then chill again before filling or blind baking.

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¹ The recipe called for all-purpose flour and that's what I used, but I'd be tempted to try it with soft (pastry/plain/standard) flour next time just to see how it goes. ^Back
2 If your starter is not very acidic, then you can replace 1 tsp. of water with a tsp. of vinegar to compensate. That said, I don't think this is hugely necessary. I've always been happy with my pastry results without any acidic ingredients. ^Back