Flaky Whole Wheat Pie Crust

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This flaky all-butter pie crust is made with 100% whole wheat pastry flour or freshly milled soft white wheat! Keep this recipe on hand to use for pie, quiche, galette, homemade toaster pastries, and more!

Since we mill our own flour and make many of our baked goods with whole grains, I wanted to start baking a healthier whole wheat pie dough too.

In my opinion, pie pastry should be just as tasty as the filling.

I’m a huge fan of a light and flaky all-butter crust, so it’s important to me that a crust made with 100% whole wheat flour would have similar appeal.

In the past I would prepare my pie pastry in the food processor to save time. But pulverized butter just doesn’t form substantial air pockets and layers in the pie pastry the way bigger pieces can in a handmade crust.

Thankfully, it really doesn’t take too much more effort to make the crust by hand. I’ll show you exactly how to do it for a great outcome!

Pie crust is one of those doughs that can be made in advance and frozen! This is especially helpful around the holidays.

This recipe yields enough for one pie with a double crust or two pies with single bottom crusts.

Whole Wheat Pie Crust Flour Notes

If you’re picking up flour from the store, choose a whole wheat pastry flour for this recipe. Regular whole wheat flour has a higher protein percentage. It would make a drier crust with a different outcome texture-wise.

Pie Crust With Freshly Milled Flour

I’m partial to grinding my own organic whole grains using a countertop stone mill. I bake primarily with the flour I make myself.

I want our baked goods to have added nutrition and fiber, and there’s something truly special about the flavor and aroma of fresh flour. I have an entire post devoted to this topic here.

If you’re milling your own, choose a soft white or red wheat. Soft wheats have a lower protein content for a more tender pie pastry. You can weigh your wheat berries prior to milling for ease.

Spelt would work wonderfully too.

Tips for Making This Whole Wheat Pie Crust Recipe

• This recipe is listed in grams for accurate results, so you’ll need a digital kitchen scale.
• Keep the ingredients as cold as possible! Freshly milled flour is warm, so the flour should be chilled or left to cool to room temperature prior to making the dough. Cube cold butter straight from the refrigerator, and use ice cold water.
• You may need to make small adjustments to the amount of water because of differences in grains/flours. A properly hydrated pie dough shouldn’t crack while forming into a disc or rolling out. An over-hydrated dough will be overly sticky to work with and will almost “smear” on the counter while rolling.
• Chilling the dough gives the bran in the whole grain flour the time it needs to fully absorb the water. This is important to prevent the crust from cracking during baking.
• I show you how to fold the dough over itself to create some layering in the pie crust. However, don’t overwork the dough more than necessary for the most tender crust.

How to Make Whole Wheat Pie Crust (Step-by-Step Instructions)

Step 1 – Whisk Dry Ingredients

First, add your whole wheat flour into a bowl with the granulated sugar and kosher salt. Feel free to increase the amount of sugar called for to 1 tablespoon if you prefer a sweeter crust, or you can omit it altogether.

Whisk the dry ingredients to combine.

Step 2 – Cut in Cold Butter Cubes and Add Liquid

Add cold butter cubes into the bowl and begin working the butter in using a pastry cutter.

When you’re finished, there shouldn’t be too much loose flour at the bottom of the bowl. The butter should still be in substantial pieces… some “pea” sized, and some a little larger.

Two alternate methods if you don’t own a pasty cutter:
1. Grate cold butter using a box grater, then chill. Toss the cold grated butter into the dry mixture to incorporate and proceed with step 3.
2. Pinch in butter cubes by hand between your thumbs and fingers.

Mix vinegar into the water (vinegar also inhibits gluten development for a tender crust), then drizzle the water into the butter/flour mixture.

Use a fork or dough whisk to incorporate the water. The whole wheat pie crust dough will still look quite shaggy.

Step 4 – Fold in the Bowl and Chill

At this point, use your hand to fold the dough over itself 4-5 times. This will create layers in the pie dough.

Add more water a sprinkle at a time if you feel like the dough is still dry.

Slice the finished dough in half, place each half on a piece of plastic wrap, and wrap as you form each half into round a disc.

Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Step 5 – Roll and Shape Whole Wheat Pie Crust

After chilling, you may use your whole wheat pie pastry according to whatever recipe you are using.

You’ll need to flour your surface before rolling, and use short outward strokes, rotating the dough after each roll to achieve a round shape.

If the dough no longer feels chilled after rolling and shaping, cover and chill for another 10-15 minutes before baking.

Insure you line the crust with parchment paper and fill the crust with pie weights if par- or blind-baking the crust.

Make Ahead Options

You may refrigerate the dough overnight and make your pies the next day. For longer storage, I would recommend freezing your pie dough to prevent the dough from oxidizing (turn a gray tinge) in the refrigerator.

And as I mentioned previously, freezing the dough ahead of time is a life saver if you’re bringing pies for a party or get-together!

Simply place the pie dough in the refrigerator to thaw slowly the day before you want to bake your pies.

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