Pie doesn’t happen around here very often. Most pies you slice in 8 pieces. That’s not even one piece per family member! However, many years ago, I received a recipe from Ty’s Granny (yes, the same Granny who gave us our whole wheat bread recipe and our Thanksgiving dressing recipe) for an unbelievably delicious and flaky pie crust.
It was an oil crust that required you to roll it out between sheets of floured waxed paper. It was so good, our landlord at the time would bring me rhubarb from his garden with the express purpose of making it into pie with that crust.
As we’ve switched to a whole foods, unrefined diet over the years, that pie crust plagued me. Nothing could top it. I tried every recipe on the internet for whole wheat pie crust. Most flopped. A few succeeded with results that were never as good as Granny’s pie crust. There just wasn’t any substitute for the flaky, melt-in-your-mouth-ness of that recipe.
What never occurred to me in all those years was to take Granny’s recipe and substitute out the oil and flour for healthy versions of the same thing! I was trying to reinvent the wheel!
The original recipe called for:
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. water
I substituted whole wheat pastry flour (which I had purchased to try during my whole wheat pie crust search) for the all-purpose flour. {affiliate links included} You can purchase whole wheat pastry flour from places like Azure or even on Amazon. It is a very fine grind. If you are grinding your own wheat berries, you might be able to get a fine enough grind, but regular whole wheat flour isn’t going to net you the results you are hoping for when it comes to pie. {Remember, I’ve already tried all the recipes – the flops were most often the ones that did NOT use whole wheat pastry flour.} You can try this recipe using regular whole wheat flour, but be aware of this little tidbit of information.
I also substituted coconut oil for the vegetable oil. Sometimes people don’t like the sweetness of coconut oil, but pie is one place where coconut oil shines! We buy our coconut oil from Azure in gallon pails.
We also prefer to use either celtic sea salt or RealSalt. There is a big difference in how these taste as opposed to your run-of-the-mill salt from a regular grocery store. I never thought I would say this, but I am willing to pay more for these salts because they are that worth it to me.
Now, to the recipe…
This is a 2 crust recipe. You roll it between waxed paper because it is impossible to handle otherwise due to the oil content. But, don’t be intimidated! This pie is forgiving – especially in one crust pies where you can patch anything that doesn’t look quite right. I will often choose to make a lattice for my 2 crust pies because that tends to come out better, but 1 crust pies are more large family friendly because you end up with 16 pieces as opposed to 8.
Flaky Whole Wheat Pie Crust
2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 c. coconut oil
1/4 c. water
Stir together flour and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Meanwhile, melt 3/4 c. coconut oil and pour into a 1 cup liquid measuring cup. Add 1/4 c. water to the measuring cup, giving you a total of 1 cup of liquid.
Make a well in the flour mixture. While stirring the oil and water together, pour the liquids into the well and then mix the dough thoroughly until you have a nice ball of pastry dough to work with. Divide dough in half.
Lay out a sheet of waxed paper and flour it. Put half the dough on the waxed paper and flour the top of the dough. Place a second sheet of waxed paper on top and roll the dough out into a circle that fits your pie pan.
Peel the top layer of waxed paper off very carefully. Lay your pie pan upside down in the center of the dough, slip one hand under the bottom layer of waxed paper and flip the entire thing over so the pie pan is right side up with the dough inside and the bottom layer of waxed paper now on top. DO NOT press the dough into the pan here – let it be a bit loose because your waxed paper will come off easier if there aren’t many creases in the dough.
Carefully pull the top layer of waxed paper off the dough. Gently press the dough into the pie pan and flute the edges of the dough, removing any excess dough and adding it back in with the other half of dough still sitting in the bowl.
Add the contents of your pie and roll out the second layer of dough to make the top (either 1 piece or cut into lattice work) or to make another pie.
This crust typically bakes at 425° for 35-55 minutes, but follow your pie filling recipe for exact temp and time. Remember to cover your pie crust in the last half of baking with either aluminum foil strips or a pie shield to keep your crust from burning. Pie shields are MUCH easier to handle, and come in either silicone or aluminum.
Now, it is time to enjoy that flaky goodness!
This crust received rave reviews from my crew! They gobbled it up lickety-split. I don’t know why I didn’t think to try this sooner. I don’t know why I thought I had to come up with an entirely new recipe. The perfect whole foods pie crust was right under my nose all along! Thanks, Granny!
ashley says
Are you still doing Trim Healthy Mama?
Would this be considered a crossover because of the flour?
Thanks!
Amy says
It is a crossover for sure.
Janice Hildebrand says
Amy,
You can grind your own wheat, but it must be pastry berries (a Spring wheat) not hard winter wheat berries. Pastry berries are for recipes that use baking powder or baking soda. Hard winter wheat berries are primarily for yeast recipe. Although, you can make a decent whole wheat pancake, but you will appreciate the difference especially in things like pie crust, biscuits and muffins.
Thanks for sharing!
Amy says
Thank you, Janice! I’ve been wondering about what else I could use the pastry flour in – definitely going to try the biscuits and muffins! I do know, pastry flour in sourdough does NOT work! lol
Janice Hildebrand says
Sourdough would follow the same “rules” as yeast—use hard red winter wheat.
Katheryn @ The Healthy and Fit Homeschool Mom says
I am not sure what kind of pie that is…but it looks delicious. Especially by the look on your little guys face! I love whole wheat pastry flour, it makes yummy breads, muffins, rolls etc. I love the idea of using coconut oil. I never thought of that. 🙂 Definitely going to give this recipe a try. You can also add chia seed, hemp seeds, or crushed nuts to give your crust a little more kick! 🙂
Amy says
It is cinnamon cream – I’ll be posting that later! 😉 Love the idea of adding some “extras” to the crust!
Rhoda says
This is the same recipe that my mom taught my sister and me to use many, many years ago. My mom and sister can make WONDERFUL pies. Me–same recipe– total flop. But my sister always tried to console me with, “Well you can bake everything else better than me, so let me have the pies!” I too have tried different recipes to see if I could ever make a good pie crust, but this recipe is the one I always go back to–even with my questionable outcomes. Thankfully my kids aren’t picky with their pie crust, and always like it when I make extra to make what we called “toothpicks” when I was little (not sure why or how the name came to be). When finished with the pie, any extra dough is rolled out and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Cut into pieces (any size/shape) and place on a cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes. A great treat right from the oven.
Jessica says
I just want to check, were you saying the pie shelled bakes for 35 minutes, or the pie shell with filling inside?
Jessica says
This pie crust is amazing!! I’m so happy I discovered it. I used it for Fathers Day pies and they were amazing, thanks to you!
Amy says
You are welcome!