All Recipes | 18 comments
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
UPDATED 12/22/2023:
There is a much better recipe that is PERFECT! Check it out here:The PERFECT Pie Crust with 100% Freshly Milled Wheat
This is a wonderful flaky pie crust recipe that will give you many delicious pies!
Thanks to Julie Child and her wonderful recipes! I converted this from one of her many recipes in “Baking with Julia.”
Flaky Pie Crust Recipe with Freshly Millled Wheat
This recipe was converted from a Julia Child recipe to be used with freshly milled wheat!
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 days d
Servings 4 Pie Crusts
Ingredients
- 5 1/2 cups soft white wheat flour (about 4 cups of wheat berries) kamut or spelt may be used - make sure flour is cold!
- 1 TB salt if salted butter is being used, reduce to 1tsp salt
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter cold
- 1 3/4 cups shortening, lard, or coconut oil cold
- ice water amount will vary
Instructions
Mill 4 cups of soft white wheat berries to get 5 1/2 cups of flour
Freeze flour to make it cold
Once flour is cold, sift 5 1/2 cups of flour.
Put flour into mixer or large bowl. If mixer is being used, use whisk attachment to cut in 1 1/2 sticks of COLD butter cut in small pieces.
If no mixer, can use pastry cutter or two butter knives.
Cut in cold butter until it starts to look like small peas in the flour.
Cut up COLD shortening/lard/coconut oil into small pieces.
Add in shortening/lard/coconut oil a little at a time to cut in to flour and butter mixture. This will create larger lumps in the flour (see video for full instruction)
If using a mixer, switch over to dough hook. If using a bowl, use your hands and SLOWLY add in a little water at a time until dough is coming together like a dough. The amount of water will vary based on the humidity, oil, and flour used.
Put dough out onto counter and mold into a "loaf" type shape. Divide into 4 even pieces. *It is normal for your shortening/lard/coconut oil to still be in pieces, but it should be no more than the size of a dime
Pie crust can either be frozen or if you are using soon, put in fridge for about 2-4 hours to make sure it's cold.
When ready to use, pull from fridge or, if frozen, let it sit on counter for 25 minutes then roll out.
When ready to roll out, heavily flour surface and rolling pin and roll out to desired shape and size.
Place in pie pan and let rest in fridge for about 10 minutes, then use as needed.
Notes
*It is VERY important all ingredients are very cold!
*If using coconut oil, do not use extra virgin coconut oil. If you do, it will give it a coconut taste. Use regular coconut oil to avoid coconut taste.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Darenda J Leffel on November 21, 2022 at 12:24 pm
You mentioned in your video that you could use all butter. What would be the exact amount of butter if you do not use lard?
Reply
-
Felicia Joscelyn on November 21, 2022 at 3:09 pm
I just replace the lard 1:1 with butter. So if you’re needing 1 cup of lard, I switch it for 1 cup of butter. 🙂
Reply
-
Sarah Eckenwiler on November 22, 2022 at 3:20 am
Hi there,
Could you use Hard white wheat berries instead? I only have this kind right now and wanted to make a pie for thanksgiving without dead flour. 🙂
Thank You.Reply
-
Felicia Joscelyn on November 28, 2022 at 2:24 pm
I know it’s past Thanksgiving, but yes you could use hard white wheat. I wouldn’t use hard red though.
Reply
-
Amanda on December 7, 2022 at 1:14 am
I’m struggling with making crust with freshly milled wheat. I have tried several other recipes and I was hoping yours would work. But my dough just does not hold up. It’s like sand on top, and disappears under the filling. I read that its too high fat, but this time I used exact amounts of fat. Should I try hard white instead of soft? I’m so frustrated.
Reply
-
Felicia Joscelyn on December 9, 2022 at 8:30 pm
Pie crust can certainly be frustrating! I have found that using all butter AND making sure the pie crust is chilled before rolling out helps a lot. Mine doesn’t disappear under the filling, so that’s interesting you say yours does. You can certainly try hard white to see if that holds up better! Never hurts to experiment 🙂
Reply
-
Natasha on September 18, 2023 at 8:38 pm
This was by first attempt at making biscuits and they turned out wonderfully!Reply
-
Lorna on September 22, 2023 at 2:01 pm
I have used an egg with the water (less water) to help it hold together better. I found that 1:1 ratio of butter to flour made my crust too oily, the butter would melt and drip down out of the pie, making my oven smoke during baking!! So I just reduced the butter to about 6Tbsp per crust. With the egg and reduced butter, it’s a very nice crust! Making cherry pie!
Reply
-
Felicia Joscelyn on September 28, 2023 at 7:39 pm
Ah I’ll have to try adding an egg next time!
Reply
-
Jennifer Anderson on November 13, 2023 at 6:14 am
I make pudding pies. I usually bake my pie crusts first then fill with pudding. How long would I bake these un-filled? Thank you!
Reply
-
Felicia Joscelyn on December 1, 2023 at 5:39 pm
Ummm maybe 15-20 minutes? Same as any pie crust, I think.
Reply
-
Stephanie on November 17, 2023 at 12:01 am
We just got a grain mill. After grinding your berries, do you sift it? We have soft white and spelt. I might try that combo for the crust.
Reply
-
Felicia Joscelyn on December 1, 2023 at 5:38 pm
Nope, no sifting.
Reply
-
Megan on November 23, 2023 at 12:12 am
I’m confused; at what stage do you add the salt? It doesn’t appear in the instructions, but it’s in the ingredients. Thanks!
Reply
-
Felicia Joscelyn on December 1, 2023 at 5:35 pm
With the dry ingredients before adding in your fat.
Reply
-
Becky on December 17, 2023 at 9:50 pm
How long do you bake the pie crust with the filling and on what temp?
Reply
-
dian on December 30, 2023 at 4:38 pm
I have been struggling with pie dough using my fresh milled grains, when i was using processed flour my crust were very flakey. I used the soft white and all butter(high quality vat butter). The pie was delicious but my crust was not very flakey. Do you think if I used 2 types of fat it would have been more flakey, or is it just practicing?Reply
-
Felicia Joscelyn on January 2, 2024 at 4:38 pm
I actually have updated my recipe! This is a better one, in my opinion: https://grainsandgrit.com/perfectpiecrust/
Reply
