Pie requires a crust. In the old days, I would use good old all-purpose flour. These days, that's not an option, which means experimentation with oat and/or almond flour. I had previously (and very very recently) perfected the whole wheat crust, and having learned from my recent semi-failure with oat/almond crusts, I thought I had learned from my mistakes in the non-wheat pie crust department. Use less butter, more water, let it rest a good long while, work it a little more than you would normal pastry dough. Roll it out on wax paper.
This incarnation was definitely more pie-crust like than the last one. It rolled out alright, though it was still far more fragile than I wanted it to be. During baking it browned nicely, and got fairly flakey in places. Too flakey actually. Sadly, it still had the structural integrity of a crumb crust. The top crust collapsed as the apples underneath it cooked down, and extracting a slice is impossible. It resembles more an apple crisp than a pie when you dish it out.
The flavor for the crust was also somewhat lacking (the filling was perfect however-a little tart and a little sweet). I don't usually think of crusts having a flavor, but my husband complained it tasted a bit like cardboard and it was definitely lacking something. Butteriness for sure, what with the significantly lower butter content, something else was missing that I can't quite put my finger on. I suspect the 'cardboard' flavor comes from the oats, so I think the next incarnation will need some extra flavorings to mute that aspect. A little vanilla and cinnamon maybe.
The structure is a little tricker, but my theory was that I would have better luck making it less like a basic pie crust and more like a laminated pastry. The proteins in oats are not nearly as long and stretch or easily formed as the gluten in wheat. They need more coaxing to come out, as well as more time in liquid. An overnight rest for a very wet, low butter dough, then rolling out, buttering, and booking the dough like you would for puff pastry. I thought that the longer absorbing time, combined with the repeated rolling and folding will give me the protein structure I needed, while folding in the butter will give me the flakiness and buttery taste.
So for my second try, I made up a very wet, low fat oat and almond meal dough, and pulsed it in the food processor a lot longer than I would normal pastry. It looked kind of like chocolate chip cookie dough made with really warm butter. Then I stuck it in the fridge until it firmed up.
Then I had to wait for it to soften before I could do anything with it. Isn't that always the way? Eventually, I was able to roll it out into a rectangle, spread softened butter over the middle square, and book it, just like I've seen my mom do a hundred times with puff pastry dough for angel wings.
I did this three times, using two tablespoons of softened butter for each booking, which brought me up to a total of 1/2 cup of butter for about 3 cups of oat/almond flour. With each booking, the texture got smoother, and less crumbly.
At the end of it, when I cut it in half for top crust/bottom crust, you could kind of see the layers in the cross section.
And then, back into the fridge to let the butter harden up.
You can see in the next picture, it actually holds up pretty well. You can see the edges are holding up their own weight against gravity and not crumbling.
The top crust also went on without incident, and stayed intact. I added an egg wash to aid browning, though that turned out to be unnecessary.
In cooking, the crust did sink down over the fruit.
But, this crust didn't crumble. It eats like a normal crust. Its a little flakey, and tender. It still has an oatiness my husband dislikes, but I think that's the nature of the beast, and is will be less noticeable if there is enough filling and the filling's spices are included in the crust. Overall, I think I have hit upon a good, if somewhat labor intensive technique for getting a good oat pie crust.
~PhysicsGal
This incarnation was definitely more pie-crust like than the last one. It rolled out alright, though it was still far more fragile than I wanted it to be. During baking it browned nicely, and got fairly flakey in places. Too flakey actually. Sadly, it still had the structural integrity of a crumb crust. The top crust collapsed as the apples underneath it cooked down, and extracting a slice is impossible. It resembles more an apple crisp than a pie when you dish it out.
The flavor for the crust was also somewhat lacking (the filling was perfect however-a little tart and a little sweet). I don't usually think of crusts having a flavor, but my husband complained it tasted a bit like cardboard and it was definitely lacking something. Butteriness for sure, what with the significantly lower butter content, something else was missing that I can't quite put my finger on. I suspect the 'cardboard' flavor comes from the oats, so I think the next incarnation will need some extra flavorings to mute that aspect. A little vanilla and cinnamon maybe.
The structure is a little tricker, but my theory was that I would have better luck making it less like a basic pie crust and more like a laminated pastry. The proteins in oats are not nearly as long and stretch or easily formed as the gluten in wheat. They need more coaxing to come out, as well as more time in liquid. An overnight rest for a very wet, low butter dough, then rolling out, buttering, and booking the dough like you would for puff pastry. I thought that the longer absorbing time, combined with the repeated rolling and folding will give me the protein structure I needed, while folding in the butter will give me the flakiness and buttery taste.
So for my second try, I made up a very wet, low fat oat and almond meal dough, and pulsed it in the food processor a lot longer than I would normal pastry. It looked kind of like chocolate chip cookie dough made with really warm butter. Then I stuck it in the fridge until it firmed up.
Then I had to wait for it to soften before I could do anything with it. Isn't that always the way? Eventually, I was able to roll it out into a rectangle, spread softened butter over the middle square, and book it, just like I've seen my mom do a hundred times with puff pastry dough for angel wings.
I did this three times, using two tablespoons of softened butter for each booking, which brought me up to a total of 1/2 cup of butter for about 3 cups of oat/almond flour. With each booking, the texture got smoother, and less crumbly.
 |
| First booking. |
 |
| After 2 bookings. |
At the end of it, when I cut it in half for top crust/bottom crust, you could kind of see the layers in the cross section.
 |
| My greatest hope for flakey pastry dough. |
The next day, I rolled out the dough. It was a little stiff, but it behaved almost like a normal dough. You could pick it up and move it without it falling apart, which was a huge step forward. I made it a little thick, but that's my preference.
You can see in the next picture, it actually holds up pretty well. You can see the edges are holding up their own weight against gravity and not crumbling.
My one error with this pie happened here. I used completely frozen fruit, and I didn't use enough of it. Live and learn. I was impatient.
The top crust also went on without incident, and stayed intact. I added an egg wash to aid browning, though that turned out to be unnecessary.
In cooking, the crust did sink down over the fruit.
But, this crust didn't crumble. It eats like a normal crust. Its a little flakey, and tender. It still has an oatiness my husband dislikes, but I think that's the nature of the beast, and is will be less noticeable if there is enough filling and the filling's spices are included in the crust. Overall, I think I have hit upon a good, if somewhat labor intensive technique for getting a good oat pie crust.
~PhysicsGal
Oat/Almond Pie Crust (makes 2 thick crusts)
2 1/2 cups oat flour
1/2 cup almond flour
Water
1/2 cup butter
honey/sweetner to taste
Spices to taste.
In a food processor, pulse together the flours and 2 tablespoons of butter, along with any honey and spices. With the processor running, drizzle in enough water to make a wet, sticky dough like a cookie dough. Wrap, and refrigerate over night or longer.
Take dough out and allow to soften (how long will depend on the ambient temperature in your kitchen). Roll out into a rectangle on wax or parchment paper. Spread 2 tablespoons of softened butter over the central square. Fold in each side, and then fold the whole thing in half. Wrap, and let rest at room temp for 30 minutes. Repeat two more times, then divide, and refrigerate for at least several hours. Roll out and use as you would normal pastry dough. If good browning is desired, use an egg wash.
2 1/2 cups oat flour
1/2 cup almond flour
Water
1/2 cup butter
honey/sweetner to taste
Spices to taste.
In a food processor, pulse together the flours and 2 tablespoons of butter, along with any honey and spices. With the processor running, drizzle in enough water to make a wet, sticky dough like a cookie dough. Wrap, and refrigerate over night or longer.
Take dough out and allow to soften (how long will depend on the ambient temperature in your kitchen). Roll out into a rectangle on wax or parchment paper. Spread 2 tablespoons of softened butter over the central square. Fold in each side, and then fold the whole thing in half. Wrap, and let rest at room temp for 30 minutes. Repeat two more times, then divide, and refrigerate for at least several hours. Roll out and use as you would normal pastry dough. If good browning is desired, use an egg wash.
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