The BEST and easiest vegan pie crust recipe! Made with coconut oil and comes together in a snap, this will guarantee the flakiest, best pie crust for your next pie.
The time is here! Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and out of all the desserts on the table, pies always take the cake at this particular holiday. I know that making pies and the fillings are actually pretty easy, but you know what makes a great pie even better? A perfect vegan pie crust!
I’ve spent my fair share of time making and trying out different vegan pie crusts over the last few years.From all coconut oil pie crusts to olive oil to using as little water as possible, I’ve found what works, what doesn’t, and a few tricks to speed up the process in between. To get the perfect vegan pie crust we are going to talk about the main components that make a vegan pie crust great: coconut oil, flour, water, and handling. Let’s get to baking!
How to make vegan pie crust
First thing’s first, this is an all coconut oil vegan pie crust recipe, which I’ve found works better than any other recipe I’ve tried. Olive oil could work in a pinch, but to get the flakiest, best homemade pie crust, coconut oil is key here.
Coconut oil is key when it comes to making the perfect pie crust!
Next up: flour! This pie crust recipe uses all-purpose flour. This is not the time to sub in half whole wheat flour or spelt flour, as it makes for a denser crust. All-purpose flour ensures that the pie crust is tender and flaky, which are really the two best things about pie crust anyway.
Also, subbing in wheat flour can change the absorption of water in making the crust, causing you to need to use more water, resulting in a tougher pie crust. I don’t recommend subbing in whole wheat flour for this vegan pie crust recipe, since it wasn’t tested that way.
That brings me to the last main component of pie crust making: water! Ice cold water is always in any great pie crust recipe. From the old ones that my grandma made with all butter or lard to developing my own favorite pie crust recipe, cold water is always the last key component.
Water helps with bringing the pie dough together and binding the flour with the coconut oil, salt, and sugar in the process. Water is always the last ingredient to go into the pie crust recipe, being added little by little until the pie crust dough comes together.
The end goal is to use as little water as possible, so the dough doesn’t become tough or shrink in the baking process.
Notice how every pie dough recipe instructs you to add cold water by the tablespoon? There’s a good reason for that! Add water just until the dough comes together, then you are so close to vegan pie crust perfection!
Biggest tip here is to not add TOO much water! This can throw off your whole vegan pie crust recipe and make the whole thing too hard to roll out or get into a perfect dough.
Last but not least, handling the pie dough is one of the last things before actually baking the dough that can have a big effect on the end result. Handle your pie crust as little as possible, bringing the dough together and always refrigerating before rolling out.
I am one of the most impatient people around (my grandma says I get it from her!) and have tried too many times to roll out unchilled pie dough. The result is always messy, frustrating, and never worth it!
If the dough doesn’t have enough time to rest and come together while chilling, it will fall apart right away and become greasy before it’s even baked. Take the extra hour to chill the dough before rolling it out, and the result will be well worth it!
Also, don’t skip freezing the rolled out and shaped pie crust. It always seems like an extra step that doesn’t need to be taken, but it will prevent your vegan pie crust from shrinking when it is baked. I tried to skip this step last year when making our Friendsgiving pumpkin pie and ended up remaking the whole dang thing.
The pie crust ended up shrinking and not being able to hold all the filling, not the mention it looked like it was just slightly too small for the pie pan. Lesson learned!
Tips for making vegan pie crust
- Make sure everything is super cold! This is key to making sure your vegan pie crust comes out consistently and holds together. Basically the worst nightmare of a pie crust is having your fat melt and have the whole thing fall apart.
- Don’t skip the freezing step! This prevents your pie crust from shrinking up, which is one of the cardinal sins of pie crust making.
- Coconut oil is going to behave differently than butter in pie crust. It doesn’t blend in quite as much as butter does, so be vigilant about making sure the coconut oil breaks into small pieces and blends into the dough. If you don’t, you could be left with pockets of coconut oil that melt and bubble up in a weird way.
- Pie weights! Use them and love them. You can use uncooked rice for this or purchase a fancy set from a kitchen store, but either way they are a good investment into making sure your pie crust won’t shrink or bubble up during blind baking.
Vegan pie crust with coconut oil
The texture of the coconut oil makes for a great fat in the pie crust, creating layers when the pie crust is mixed and folded that are exactly what you are looking for when making that perfect flaky, tender pie crust. I don’t use vegan butter in this pie crust recipe because sometimes it’s really hard to find and it can be SO expensive. Coconut oil is accessable and usually pretty easy to work with.
Coconut oil also stays solid at room temperature, decreasing your chances of having a greasy or pie crust that falls apart when the pie has been sitting out for a while. That being said, I have found success with a combination of olive oil and coconut oil, but the water content in olive oil tends to throw off the chemistry of the crust in the end. I would highly recommend sticking with an all coconut oil pie crust recipe to guarantee success.
One of the biggest questions I get is: does this taste like coconut oil? Yes and no. If you are super sensitive to coconut taste, then yes, it’s going to lightly taste of coconut. But, since this is a coconut oil pie crust recipe, the flavors in the pie filling tend to mask any lingering coconut flavors in the crust.
What is blind baking?
Blind baking is a necessary step when making something like pumpkin pie, lemon meringue pie, or any kind of creamy pie. Blind baking allows you to pre-bake the crust, fill it, and then finish baking the rest of the way.
Blind baking allows you to ensure the crust is baked and you won’t end up with a raw crust under the pie filling. Under NO circumstances should you skip blind or pre-baking your pie crust! You’ll end up with a raw, undercooked mess.
Can you freeze pie crust?
Yes! Considering freezing pie crust is part of the essential steps to making the best vegan pie crust, you can totally make it ahead of time, freeze it, and then keep it frozen until you’re ready to use it.
I wouldn’t recommend freezing a baked pie crust, the texture will totally change and get kind of soggy. I would recommend making and freezing the pie crust, and then building in the time to blind bake, fill, and finish baking.
More vegan pie recipes:
Easy Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie (Soy-Free)
Mixed Berry Streusel Pie with Coconut Ginger Whipped Cream
Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie with Rice Krispies Crust
PrintCoconut Oil Vegan Pie Crust
- Prep Time: 120 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Mixed
- Cuisine: American
Description
The BEST and easiest vegan pie crust recipe! Made with coconut oil and comes together in a snap, this will guarantee the flakiest, best pie crust for your next pie.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons coconut oil (solid)
- 5 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
- In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, and salt on low.
- Add the coconut oil and mix on low speed until it is broken until large crumbs, the size of peas. This should take about 20 seconds
- Add the cold water a tablespoon at a time and mix on low speed. Keep adding tablespoons of water only until the dough starts to hold together and pull away from the sides of the bowl. You may use all 5 tablespoons, but you may not! It all depends on your dough.
- Transfer the dough to a countertop and form into a disc, about 6 inches across. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- When ready to roll out the dough, remove from the refrigerator and allow to stand at room temperature until it has softened, about 20 minutes. Flour a work surface liberally with flour and roll the dough out, working from the center outwards until it is about 1/8 inch thick. If the dough keeps sticking, continue to dust with flour until it is rolled out.
- Transfer the pie dough to your pie plate, centering it and pressing into the plate. Trim the edges so they are even with the edge of the pie plate and form a fluted edge, if desired.
- Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before baking. Depending on your recipe, prebake partially or fully.
Keywords: vegan pie crust
Jan Thompson says
Your Grandma Millie used to say the same things about the water and handling the dough. Can’t wait to have the pie with the perfect crust! You have made all the grandmas and great grandmas proud.
Heart of a Baker says
Thanks mom! xo
ruby josephine says
I’ve been making so much butter-filled pie crust lately, but when I go home for Christmas I know my vegan mama would not be pleased, haha. Thanks for doing the recipe testing work for me and coming up with this gorgeous recipe!! Cannot wait to try 🙂
Heart of a Baker says
Aw, I hope your vegan mama loves this! xoxo
Jennifer Bliss says
Hi there! I hope you don’t mind I added you to my veggie bloggin’ buddies link list. I’m an awful baker but maybe I’ll learn from you! CHEERS!!!
Lucky says
Hey Abby. Quick question: how long can the dough keep before baking? I’m making chick’n pot pie for Thxgiving and wanted to make the pie crust the weekend before to give me one less dish to make the day of. Thoughts?