Protein Packed Pie Crust

Protein Packed Pie Crust

Traditional pie crust is delicious, but it’s mostly flour and butter with very little protein. This version takes inspiration from my croissant dough recipe, using whey protein, casein, oat flour, and vital wheat gluten to create a crust that’s flaky, buttery, and significantly higher in protein than a standard pie crust (roughly 3x).

The key is keeping the butter cold and handling the dough gently. A couple of simple folds create flaky layers without turning the crust tough or bready.

Ingredients

• 100g all purpose flour
• 25g oat flour
• 20g whey protein powder
• 10g casein protein powder
• 8g vital wheat gluten
• 70g cold unsalted butter
• 45–55g ice-cold water
• 10g granulated sugar
• 2g salt
• 5g apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Mix the dry ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, oat flour, whey protein, casein, vital wheat gluten, sugar, and salt.

Make sure the protein powders are evenly distributed.

2. Cut in the butter

Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add it to the dry ingredients.

Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour mixture until you have a shaggy mixture with some pea-sized pieces of butter still visible.

Don’t completely incorporate the butter. Those pieces are what create flaky layers.

3. Add the liquid

Combine 45g of ice water with the apple cider vinegar.

Drizzle it into the flour mixture while tossing everything together with a fork.

Add additional ice water, a few grams at a time, until the dough just comes together when pressed.

Do not knead the dough.

4. Create the layers

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and gently press it into a rough rectangle.

Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter. You may need to use a bench scraper to lift the dough off the work surface.

Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the fold once more.

This simple folding process creates additional layers of butter and dough, similar to the technique used for croissants.

5. Chill

Shape the dough into a disk approximately 1 inch thick. Then between two sheets of parchment paper, roll it out to your desired thickness. I usually roll it out to be about 12 inches in diameter, which is approximately 3-4mm.

Wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours.

6. Forming the curst

Transfer the dough to the pie plate and gently press it into the bottom and sides without stretching it.

Trim the edges and crimp as desired.

7. Chill again

Place the shaped crust in the refrigerator for another 20–30 minutes.

This helps the butter firm back up before baking and reduces shrinking.

Blind Baking

For a partially baked crust:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Prick the bottom of the crust several times with a fork.
3. Line with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
5. Remove the parchment and weights.
6. Bake another 8–12 minutes, until lightly golden. Then add your filling.
7. For a fully baked crust, continue baking for another 5–8 minutes, until golden brown.

For a double crust pie:

1. Add your prepared filling directly to the chilled bottom crust.
2. Roll out the second portion of dough and place it over the filling. Trim the excess, then crimp the edges to seal. Cut several vents in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
3. For a golden, crisp crust, brush the top lightly with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water or milk) and sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.
4. Bake according to your pie filling recipe, typically starting at 400°F for 15–20 minutes, then reducing to 350°F for the remainder of baking. Continue until the crust is deeply golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents. If the edges are baking too quickly, cover them in tin foil.
5. Let the pie cool completely before slicing—especially rhubarb pie, since the filling needs time to thicken and set.

Nutrition Per 1/8 of Crust:

• Calories: 170
• Protein: 6 g
• Carbohydrates: 17 g
• Fat: 10 g
• Fiber: 2 g

Tips for the Best Crust

Keep everything cold. The colder the butter, the better the flakiness.

Don’t overwork the dough. Protein powders and vital wheat gluten can make pastry tough if heavily kneaded.

Leave visible butter pieces. Don’t worry if the dough looks a little rough before rolling. Those butter pockets are exactly what you want.

Use the extra water carefully. Start with 45 g and add more only as needed. Different protein powders absorb different amounts of liquid.