Flaky Vegan Pie Crust

This Flaky Vegan Pie Crust is the right basis so as to add a fresh-baked style and texture to your favourite pies. Whether or not making a candy or savory dish, this scrumptious vegan crust is tender, buttery, and extremely straightforward to work with!

Ditch store-bought pie crusts and make this do-it-yourself vegan pie crust recipe as a substitute! It’s made with 5 easy plant-based elements and has an uncompromising texture, so you may make the final word tender and flaky vegan pie shell each time. 

Whether or not you’re a seasoned baker or a novice within the kitchen, this foolproof recipe is easy and versatile, guaranteeing your crust will at all times be good! This straightforward vegan pie crust makes a mouthwatering base for traditional apple pie, savory quiche, or festive pumpkin pie.

Substances

All-Goal Flour: Creates the muse and construction wanted for a flaky crust. Sift it earlier than including the recipe to take away any lumps. Alternatively, use a gluten-free all-purpose flour for a gluten-free variation. 

Granulated Cane Sugar: Provides a delicate sweetness to the crust and helps create a flaky golden-brown texture throughout baking. Use coconut sugar for a pure sweetness, or omit the sugar for savory dishes.   

Vegan Butter: For one of the best outcomes, select a high-quality plant-based butter model with a excessive fats content material––I want the sticks. Vegan shortening will also be used instead. Make sure the butter is chilly when added so the fats stays stable for the right vegan pie dough texture. 

Chilly Water: Ice-cold water is important for protecting the dough as chilly as doable, which prevents the fats from melting. This can be a key part to making a flaky crust. 

Salt: High-quality sea salt or Kosher salt enhances the pie crust taste.

The way to Make Flaky Vegan Pie Crust

• Put together Dry Substances. Mix the flour, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk to mix the elements.

• Add Butter. Add the cubes of vegan butter or shortening and use a pastry cutter to chop them into the flour. Combine and reduce with the pastry cutter till the combination resembles a rough, pea-sized meal.

• Add Chilly Water. Slowly add the ice water to the flour combination, two tablespoons at a time, and stir with a picket spoon or together with your palms.

• Type Dough. As soon as the dough begins to carry collectively, use your palms to type it into a good balls. Minimize the ball in half, and gently type it into two balls. Flatten them barely with the palm of your hand, making them simpler to roll out later, and wrap them tightly in plastic or parchment paper.

• Refrigerate Dough. Place the lined dough within the fridge for not less than one hour.
• Relaxation Dough. Take away the chilled pie dough from the fridge and let it sit on the counter for not less than 10 minutes to melt barely.

• Roll Dough. Flour a clear, easy stone floor and place one of many dough balls on it. Place parchment paper down on a tough floor if you happen to don’t have a stone floor. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin into an ⅛-inch thick circle, with a 1-inch overhang over the facet of your pie dish––or in line with your recipe directions. To elevate the dough: Use the rolling pin to softly roll the dough off of the workspace and on to the pin. Switch the dough to the highest of the pie dish and unroll.

• Bake accordingly. Fastidiously switch the rolled-out dough to a pie dish and press it gently into the underside and up the edges. Trim any extra dough hanging over the sting, leaving about an inch for crimping. Crimp the perimeters. Proceed your required pie recipe in line with its directions. If utilizing a prime crust, roll out the second portion of the dough to make use of on it.

Non-compulsory: Blind Baking. In case your recipe requires pre-baked crust, you will want to blind-bake this recipe. With the crust within the pie dish, place a bit of parchment paper or aluminum foil on prime of the dough. Fill the middle of the dish with pie weights, dried beans, or raw rice–this prevents the crust from puffing up throughout baking. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375ºF or till the perimeters flip golden brown. Take away the weights and parchment paper, then proceed baking for an additional 5-10 minutes till the crust is absolutely baked. Permit the crust to chill utterly earlier than including your filling.

Recipe Professional-Suggestions

• Chill the elements. All through preparation, hold the vegan butter and water as chilly as doable. Chilly fats is important for optimum flakiness, making this vegetarian pie crust stand out. 
• Keep away from overworking the dough. Combine the dough till simply mixed and the elements maintain collectively; overmixing can develop the gluten within the flour and make the crust powerful as a substitute of tender and flaky. 
• Use a meals processor. To hurry up the dairy-free pie crust preparation. Pulse the flour, salt, and sugar till mixed, then add the vegan butter and pulse till the combination kinds coarse crumbs. Slowly add the ice water and pulse till the dough simply comes collectively. Then, proceed the recipe as outlined. 
• Mud the rolling pin. Evenly flour the rolling pin earlier than rolling out the dough to forestall it from sticking.

Recipe Variations

This versatile pie crust vegan recipe will be tailored to swimsuit totally different dietary wants and taste preferences. 

• Gluten-Free Pie Crust: To make a gluten-free and dairy-free pie crust, substitute the all-purpose flour 1:1 with a gluten-free flour mix. If the mix doesn’t comprise xantham gum, I like to recommend including ½ teaspoons of xanthan gum to assist bind the elements collectively
• Candy Pie Crust: Enhance the sugar to 2 tablespoons and add a pinch of cinnamon for a sweeter crust good for fruit-based pies. 
• Savory Pie Crust: Omit the sugar and add 1 teaspoon of dried herbs like thyme or rosemary to create a savory taste excellent for quiches or pot pies.

Serving Solutions

That is one of the best vegan pie crust to make use of in your favourite baking recipes, like a few of these pies beneath:

Storage Instructions

• Refrigeration: Retailer unbaked dough tightly wrapped in plastic wrap then place in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 2 days. Earlier than utilizing, let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes to melt earlier than rolling it out. 
• Freezing: Wrap the dough securely in plastic wrap then switch to a freezer-safe container and retailer for as much as 3 months. Thaw in a single day within the fridge, then let sit for 20 minutes at room temperature earlier than rolling out.

Often Requested Questions

Extra Vegan Dessert Recipes

Recipe Card