Bourbon Pie Crust
This isn’t your everyday pie crust recipe. This Bourbon Pie Crust is designed for flavor and to use the science of fermentation and distillation. As most pie crust recipes use water, usually cold or ice-cold, to help bring the butter-rich flour together. The addition of that water creates gluten when mixed with flour. That is one of the reasons why the pie crust is more difficult to master, that adding just enough cold water (keeping the butter from melting), mixing just enough, to bring all the ingredients together, but too much water and the crust becomes tough. Too little water and the crust becomes dry and difficult to work with.
Now think about Bourbon. Whether you use a high-quality Bourbon Whiskey, a Whisky, or a Scotch Whisky, they range from 40% ABV (80 Proof) and upwards, depending on if they are cask strength or not. This is important for pie crust making as these brown spirits have less water, and more alcohol. Using the same amount of Bourbon as you would water, is 40% less water… This is relevant as alcohol, when mixed with flour, does not create gluten. And furthermore, that alcohol cooks out at the temperatures when you are pre-baking a pie crust. All these advantages for using a Bourbon, including the flavor element, make a better pie crust. Unlike water, If you add more bourbon, the pie dough is easier to work, roll out and form in a pie plate |tin, and the results are still better than water.
This leads me to this recipe for a Bourbon Pie Crust. It was originally designed for an Old Foghorn Barleywine Pumpkin Pie recipe, with a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Maple & Malt Caramel sauce that is beaten with fresh cream to make a sensual whipping cream. But this crust can be used with many different Sweet Beer Pie recipes.
Makes: 2 Pie Crusts
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 2 pie crusts | 20 minute |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 25 minute | 30 minute |
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Bourbon Pie Crust is taking flavor and science to another level. This recipe creates a tender, flaky, and Bourbon flavored pie crust.
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- 1 1/4 cup flour, unbleached all purpose
- 1 tablespoon sugar, organic
- 1 teaspoon salt, kosher
- 4 ounce butter, unsalted, European style, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and frozen
- 4 ounce shortening, vegetable, or lard, chilled and scooped or cut into small pieces
- 2 1/2 - 3 tablespoon Bourbon, such as Knob Creek, chilled
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar, and salt; pulse several times to mix the ingredients. Add the cubed butter and shortening to the flour mixture.
- pulse the processor several times until the entire mixture has a sandy texture, with small bits of butter/shortening no bigger than the size of the grains of malt.
- With the motor running, pour the chilled bourbon into the flour/butter mixture, letting the dough almost come together. Turn off the food processor and check the consistency of the dough. It should hold together if a handful is squeezed.
- Remove the dough, place on a piece of plastic wrap and form a disk that’s about an inch thick; wrap and place into the refrigerator for 30 – 60 minutes or up to three days (if making in advance). This will let the bourbon hydrate the flour, while the butter and shortening are re-chilled, making the dough easier to roll out.
- When ready, remove the pie dough from the refrigerator; unwrap and place on a lightly floured work surface, and use a lightly dusted rolling pin or a chilled 22-ounce bomber. If the dough is too hard to roll out, let sit for 5 minutes to soften. Roll the dough out, flipping it over a few times, lightly dusting the surface with a thin coat of flour to prevent sticking. Once the dough is rolled out to a 14-inch-diameter circle, check for an even thickness across the surface. This will fit into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.
- Take an edge of the dough (a scraper can be used to help), wrap it around the curve of the rolling pin/bottle and continue to roll the dough lightly around the pin/bottle, then transfer it onto the pie dish (not greased). Then unroll the dough into the dish, centering it and letting any extra hang over the edge. Lightly press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the dish. Trim the sides of dough to about an inch of the rim of the pie plate. Fold the extra dough under itself, creating a thick rim that will make crimping the edges easier. If there are any cracks or the dough seems too thin, use the extra dough to make a patch. Crimp the edges by either pinching the dough around in a circle, or by using two fingers on one hand, placing a finger from the other hand in between to make a small wave, and continuing around the perimeter. Place the pie dish into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to re-chill. This will prevent the crust from shrinking while it cooks.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F | 177°C. Lightly prick the bottom of the dough with a fork to prevent the crust from bubbling up as it cooks. Place into the center of the oven and bake until it’s a light blond color, about 25 minutes. Let the pie crust cool before adding the filling.
Other Sweet Beer Pie Recipes:
