Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust

This Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust is deliciously buttery, delicately crumbly and so easy to make! With just a few simple ingredients, you can create a versatile crust that works beautifully for sweet tarts, savoury quiches, or comforting pot pies. Once you try it, you’ll never reach for shop-bought pastry again!

Why Make a Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust?

Since starting my sourdough journey several years ago, I have become more and more aware of the health benefits of fermentation. Not only do you get more flavour from sourdough, but it helps the digestibility of the wheat, which can be a problem for many people. So, naturally, I started to look into ways of using my starter to ferment other wheat-based recipes that I make regularly in my kitchen.

Check out my Sourdough Cheese Scones and my Sourdough Lemon Scones if you are looking for some more discard recipes!

My family loves quiches and savoury tarts, so I decided to come up with this Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust recipe. The sourdough gives it a slightly tangy taste which adds so much flavour, and it can be made several hours, or even up to two days in advance, giving it chance to ferment in the fridge and develop all of those amazing sourdough health benefits!

On top of all that, this pastry crust is incredibly easy to roll out. Simply remove it from the fridge about thirty minutes before you plan on using it so that it has time to warm up slightly. You will be amazed at how easy it is to roll it thinly without having it break when you lift it up to place it into your pie dish.

Ingredients Needed to Make Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust

Makes enough pastry for a 30cm tin or dish.

• 170g all-purpose (plain) flour
• 160g sourdough starter (active or discard)
• 125g butter
• 1/4 tsp salt

Flour

This recipe calls for all-purpose flour (or plain, in the UK). I always recommend buying unbleached, organic flour. The quality of the flour will affect the taste of the finished pastry crust.

Sourdough Starter

You can use active starter or discard for this recipe, it doesn’t make any difference to the end product. We are not going to be using the starter to make the pastry rise at all, simply to ferment the flour in the fridge to bring extra flavour and digestibility to the pastry crust.

If you are looking to make your own starter from scratch, I recommend this tutorial from the Clever Carrot.

Butter

Again, I recommend buying the best quality butter you can afford, organic if at all possible. This recipe calls for unsalted butter since we will be adding salt separately.

Tip: Make sure your butter is very cold, right out of the fridge. This will give you a deliciously crumbly pastry.

How to Make Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust

There are two methods for making this pastry crust:

1. Using a stand mixer
2. Using your hands

Stand Mixer

If you are using a stand mixer, you will need the paddle attachment.

Remove the butter from the fridge and cut into small cubes.

Place the flour, cold butter and salt in the bowl of your mixer and turn on to low. Mix until the mixture ressembles breadcrumbs.

Next add the sourdough starter and continue to mix until the pastry forms a ball. Turn the mixer off immediately. It is important not to overmix your pastry dough as this will result in a tough pastry crust.

Mixing by Hand

Remove the butter from the fridge and cut into small cubes.

Place the flour, cold butter and salt in a bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the flour, salt and butter together until the mixture ressembles bread crumbs.

Add the sourdough starter to the bowl and mix it into the the flour and butter mixture using a knife. Be careful not to overmix, stop when the pastry dough comes together in a ball.

Tip: Wash your hands with cold water before rubbing the mixture together – pastry is always better and more crumbly when the butter stays cold.

Refrigerate the Pastry Dough

Remove the pastry dough from the bowl, form into a disc shape, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 1 hr and up to 3 days.

Note: The longer you leave the dough in the fridge, the more it will ferment. This will give it more flavour and make it more digestible. I would recommend leaving it in the fridge for several hours if you are sensitive to gluten.

Using the Pastry Dough

When you are ready to use your pastry, remove it from the fridge and allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 mins to 1hr, depending on the temperature of your kitchen and how long the pastry dough has been in the fridge. This will make your pastry easier to roll.

On a lightly floured surface, roll into your desired shape and use as the base for a savoury quiche, sweet tart or pie.

Note: If you are making a quiche or tart, I recommend blind baking the pastry before adding the filling. This will prevent the filling from escaping and will give a nice crusty base to your quiche or tart.

Place your dough into a well buttered dish (28-30cm diameter), cover with baking parchment and pour on dried bean, lentils or ceramic baking beans. Bake for 10 mins at 200°C. Remove the baking parchment and bean, fill with your desired filling and continue baking for 20 mins or as your recipe suggests.

Tips For Making a Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust

• Make sure your butter is cold – this will help you obtain a flaky crust.
• If mixing by hand, make sure your fingers are as cold as possible so that the butter doesn’t melt.
• Use a knife to mix in the starter, again ensuring that the butter doesn’t melt. Do not use your whole hand to mix it in as this will tend to over work your dough.
• If your dough is too dry, add a tbsp of very cold water.
• If you are planning on using your pastry in a round dish, shape it into a disc before refrigerating. If you are planning on using it in a rectangular disc, shape it into a rectangle. This will make rolling out your pastry into your desired shape a lot easier.
• Don’t forget to butter your pie or quiche dish or tin very well before placing the dough into it.
• If making a quiche or a tart, be sure to blind bake your pastry before adding your filling.

How to Store Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust

This pastry crust will keep into the fridge, wrapped in cling film, for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months, but you do need to make sure it is completely defrosted before attempting to roll it out.

What Recipes Can I Make with Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust?

This pastry makes an excellent base for a savoury quiche, such as Quiche Lorraine. It is also a delicious pastry for making an apple or blueberry tart.

You could use this pastry for a savoury Pot Pie, although you may need to double the recipe, depending on how big your pie dish is. It would also be excellent for a fruit pie, such as apple pie.

Make Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust in Advance

I recommend doubling or tripling this recipe so that you can keep two disc of pastry in your fridge or freezer. This will give you the base of a nutritious and delicious meal or dessert that you can pull out and have ready to go into the oven in a matter of minutes. If you have frozen fruit or pie filling in your freezer, this will make getting a dessert together even quicker!

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Did you make this Sourdough Discard Pastry Crust? What recipe did you use it in? Let me know in the comments below!

Looking for more sourdough discard recipes? Why not try these?