This vegan variation of my Sneaky Wheat Vegan Pie Crust from Wildly Affordable Organic uses a mix of shortening and vegan baking sticks in place of butter. It’s “sneaky” because you slip in just the right amount of white whole wheat flour to add nutrition without overwhelming the flavor. The result is buttery, flaky, and easy to handle. Use this vegan pie crust for fruit pies, savory pies, pasties, and hand pies. This recipe is plastic free, too.
Sneaky Wheat Vegan Pie Crust costs $5.65 for two crust layers, enough for one covered pie or two single-crust pies, using organic ingredients. In a budget pinch, make it for $3.05 using Earth Balance Soy-Free Vegan Buttery Sticks instead of organic Miyoko’s Vegan butter. Try it with my recipes for Apple Pie or Blueberry Pie.
Cold is key to dough you can handle and that bakes up flaky. If the dough gets too soft too handle, just refrigerate it for 10 minutes and try again.
If you haven’t ever made a pie crust before, just give it a try. It’s easy and rewarding if you keep things cool and take your time. Don’t be intimidated by the amazing pie images on Instagram. I salute those pie artists, but know any homemade pie will delight my Taster.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Passive Time | 2 hours |
| Servings |
slices or 2 single crusts
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- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour unbleached (210 grams)
- 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour (90 grams)
- 1 teaspoon sugar use for sweet pies only
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup all-vegetable shortening such as Spectrum organic all-vegetable shortening, chilled (113 grams)
- 1/2 cup cup Miyoko's Cultured Vegan Butter or other vegan butter, chilled (1/2 cup or 113 grams)
- 6 tablespoons cold water with ice cubes
Ingredients
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- Fit a food processor with the stainless-steel blade. (See notes if you don't have a food processor.) Put dry ingredients in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix. If you have time, pop your food processor bowl with the flour mixture in it into the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes or so.
- Cut chilled shortening and vegan butter into small pieces and add to flour. Pulse several times until mixture looks like coarse sand.
- With the motor running, add five or six tablespoons of ice water a tablespoon at a time until dough comes together.
- Many recipes now call for you to wrap your lovely organic dough in plastic, but why do that? Instead, line two plates with waxed paper a little larger than your pie plate. Tear off a third piece of waxed paper the same size to use for rolling. Divide dough in half and pat it out into two disks about six inches wide and 3/4 inches tall. Put each disk on a plate, then wrap the waxed paper around dough. Put another plate on top of each plate to hold the paper down and protect dough. Refrigerate for 2 hours or freeze for 30 minutes. (If you won't be making the pie the same day, you can wrap dough disks in aluminum foil or put them in a freezer-weight bag and refrigerate for four days or freeze for a month.)
- When dough is chilled, put it on the counter between pieces of waxed paper (the one you wrapped it in and the third piece). You do not need to flour dough or the waxed paper. Roll dough out using a rolling pin or a bottle with straight sides, working from the center to the edges. It should be a little wider than your pie plate and the same thickness everywhere.
- Uncover dough and center the pie plate on it upside down. Flip dough and the pie plate, then peel away waxed paper. (If dough sticks, refrigerate it and the pan for 5 minutes and try again.) Gently press dough down into the pie plate so it fits like a layer of paint. Trim away any dough that hangs over the edge by more than 1/2 inch. If you are making a single-crust pie, use your forefingers and thumbs to crimp edges of dough and proceed with the filling recipe. Otherwise, cover pie plate and refrigerate while you make the filling and roll out remaining dough.
- Roll out top crust as you did the bottom crust. Peel off the top layer of waxed paper and use the bottom layer to gently but quickly flip dough onto filled pie. Trim excess dough that is more than an inch wider than the pie pan. Using your thumbs and forefingers, wrap top crust over bottom crust and pinch to seal. I usually pinch my way around the pie twice, once to seal and once for beauty. Slash top crust 5 or 6 times to allow steam to escape while it bakes. Bake filled pie according to the filling recipe.
- If you are using whipped vegan butter, measure it by weight instead of volume. Whipping adds air, so you wind up less butter per cup. Unfortunately, Earth Balance doesn't make an organic baking stick as June 2019.
- Instead of mixing the dough in a food processor, you can cut in the fats using a pastry cutter or two forks. Just put the flour in a medium bowl and press the cutter or forks down on the fats repeatedly, letting the slices get coated with flour until the mixture looks sandy. Mix in the ice water using a spatula.
- If you don't have white whole wheat flour, use whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour instead.
- Use any trimmed dough to decorate the pie. You can also shape it into dough "cookies," dust with cinnamon sugar, and bake until golden brown while you bake the pie.
Nutritional Information for Sneaky Wheat Vegan Pie Crust
The nutrition label is for one-eighth of the recipe or one generous slice of a two-crusted pie. Nutritional information is for supporting members and donors. If you don't see it below, log in or join today! Log in to comment, too.
