Dairy Free Pie Crust featuring Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Due to my dairy allergy, I had long assumed that making a delicious homemade pie was just a pi(p)e-dream for me. However, after receiving a high power blender, as well as some confidence by watching copious amounts of Great British Bake Off, I thought I would try again.

I hypothesized that by following an OG of Baking and Homemaking, I might have a shot at creating a flaky, buttery-tasting, and tender pie crust to ensconce a delicious pie, all the while being completely free of dairy. 

Method

Recipe Sources: 

1) Crust: Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee (Pie Dough)

https://www.marthastewart.com/317858/pate-brisee-pie-dough

2) Strawberry Rhubarb Filling: Spice and Spirit Cookbook

https://spiceandspirit.com/

Materials and Equipment

Dairy-free butter substitute: Imperial Margarine at Walmart

    As a reminder, for baking pie dough you want something with a high fat content and that holds its' shape. In my (limited) experience, stick margarine will work a lot better than spread versions or coconut oil. I know some vouch for shortening but I have not had this experience. Let me know what you prefer!

Blender: This is the blender I use: Nutribullet Blender. It's probably even easier with a food processor but I do not have one, and I wanted to demonstrate that it is feasible with a blender! 

Rhubarb- from my mother's garden! 

Procedures and Dairy-Free Tips:

1. Begin by cubing your dairy-free butter substitute (or at least cutting it in to smaller pieces), and putting it immediately back in the refrigerator. Cold is your best friend when making pie dough. 

2. Put your dry ingredients in the blender, and get your ice water and cubed butter ready. 

3. Add the butter and pulse it into the flour mixture. You may need to physically shake up the blender a few times to distribute the flour. As my mother always chastened me, you don't want to "tickle" the dough; rather, you should working to efficiently crumble in the butter to a coarse sand texture. The longer you spend, the warmer your margarine is becoming. 

4. Add in the minimum amount of water you need to get it to form a dough. Here is where the dairy-free differences might be observed. Note that most recipes will give you a range of water instead of an exactly amount. Exactly how much you will end up needing will depend on factors such as the butter substitute you use, exact measurements of your flour, ambient temperature and humidity, etc. Perhaps due to the higher water content of margarine versus butter, I always end up using on the lower to middle end of the water recommendations. Specifically, I ended up using 1/3 cup ice water. I started with adding 1/4 cup ice water, then added in slightly more to get it to come together. 

(This might even be too wet, I might have added another 1-2 T of flour once I got it out of the blender). 

5. Make sure your dough just comes together: 

6. Divide in two, note that it looks like you gave your dough a corpus callostomy, begin tracing fissures and sulci, realize that this might ruin your dough and audience's tolerance of you, and smooth it back out. Wrap each dough disk in plastic to prepare for later baking. 

7. Assemble your pie filling according to the recipe instructions.

8. Roll out your bottom pie crust and press into pie plate. I prefer the transferring method in which you roll it onto your rolling pin, then carry it over to your pie plate and roll it back out. 

9. Add your filling.

10. Roll out your top crust. You'll have enough for a full top pie crust (make sure to cut a vent), but I opted for a lattice design. Ready, set, bake!

Results: 

Though the beautiful colors of the strawberry and rhubarb dulled with baking, the pie was quite delicious. One of my favorite summer desserts, fruit pies to me are the perfect balance of warmth and comfort while being light and bursting with summer flavors. The crust was flaky, and sliced perfectly. 

Discussion 

Martha Stewart never fails me. Using her classic pie crust recipe (pate brisee), we are able to create a dairy-free pie crust that is pliable for shaping, sturdy to hold a filling, and is still flaky and light. No soggy bottoms here!

A few factors likely contributed to this successful result and our primary hypothesis being supported. First, we used a margarine stick as a substitute butter, as it is as similar to butter as possible while being free of dairy. Had we used coconut oil, spread, or shortening, we would have to deal with variability in melting point and fat content, which would have affected the result. Second, I baked the pie the night before, and placed in the refrigerator when it had cooled from the oven. This helped ensure that it held its' shape when sliced. Third, thank you, Martha Stewart. 

If you are looking for a press-in pie crust, or would rather not use stick margarine, check out the No Fuss Pie Crust recipe that I featured in my Broccoli Cheddar Quiche post. You can also check out this excellent article by King Arthur Baking reviewing different dairy free pie options.