This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

Struggling to get your kids to eat their veggies? Try this Flaky sourdough pie crust – Spinach Pinwheels for a guaranteed kid approve appetiser or even as part of your meal!

Flaky Sourdough Pie Crust

Flaky

A secret to have the end result of a pie or pastry very flaky is to have complete control over the butter and dough temperature. If the butter gets too warm and melts into the dough, you loose flakiness and ends up with more of a ‘bread’ texture.

In my recipe I use frozen butter and I use a kitchen mixer to do the hard work of mixing for me. It literally takes seconds. But you can use butter from the fridge, grate it and mix with a spoon into the flour. With just a quick knead at the end to bring everything together. Use your hands as little as possible as it will warm up the dough very quickly.

Sourdough

You can definitely use sourdough discard for this recipe as it does not need to rise. The purpose of sourdough in this recipe is for health reasons to ferment the dough and also for that special sourdough flavour that just adds so much extra to anything baked. You gotta love sourdough!

Pie Crust

I use my sourdough pie crust for this recipe instead of puff pastry, as you get similar results with much more flavour (and much more health benefits). And to be honest, who has time to laminate dough how many times to get the same result for this recipe?

I will get to laminating one day, I promise.

If you are in a pinch you can use puff pastry, although I would strongly urge you to just try my pie crust recipe, you will not be disappointed and it actually takes so little time to make, you just have to do it a little ahead of the time you want to use it.

You can use it the same day you made it, it will not have the same health benefits of flavour as when you let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours. At the very least let it sit in the fridge for 1 hour after mixing.

Recipe for Flaky Sourdough Pie Crust

Ingredients

FROM 30 DAYS OF | SOURDOUGH MAGAZINE

280g Unbleached White Bread Flour 10g Sugar
5g Salt
227g frozen / cold Butter
285g cold Starter
A splash of milk

Method

30 DAYS OF | SOURDOUGH

In a food processor add flour, sugar, salt and starter, and blend.
Cut butter into slices or cubes and add to flour mixture and process.
Add a splash (15ml) of milk if the liquid does not seem enough to bring the dough together.
Once it starts to come together into a cohesive ball, remove from the bowl and quickly knead on a clean table top into a ball, making sure there are no dry flour left.
Cover with plastic wrap and put into fridge. It is important to not handle the dough too much and to keep the butter as cold as possible, this will make the end result more flaky.
When ready to bake, remove dough from fridge, cut into two portions and roll each portion out to about 5mm thick.
Layer a buttered baking dish with the first dough sheet, add pie filling and add the top layer of dough. Trim edges as desired.
Make incisions, egg wash and bake at 200°C for 30min until golden brown. Adjust time for smaller pastries.

[convertkit form=6862899]

Secrets to cooking kid approved spinach

Fry it, don’t just boil it.
Start with onion, fry until golden. Add garlic, fry 1 minute, add spinach, fry 2minutes. DONE. Don’t over cook.
Add bacon bits.
Add cheese.
Make ‘creamed spinach’ by making and adding a white sauce or ‘béchamel’
Use cubed potato to mellow out the taste.
Cut spinach very thinly and diagonally again so there are no long strips to ‘choke’ on.
Experiment with different varieties of spinach/kale/Chinese cabbage. They have different, nutritional value and different tastes.

Recipe for Cooking Kid Approved Spinach

Ingredients

Butter or lard
Onion
Garlic
Spinach
Salt

Add-on’s

Add bacon bits after cooking is done.
Add shredded cheese when cooking is done.

Method

Dice onion into small pieces.
Fry in butter or lard until golden and translucent.
Add chopped garlic and fry for 1minute or until fragrant. Careful not to burn the garlic.
Add thinly sliced/chopped spinach and fry for 1-2minutes until wilted but still bright green.
Add salt to taste.

Assemble Flaky Sourdough Pie Crust – Spinach Pinwheels

Ingredients

1/2 Sourdough pie crust
Cooked Spinach (should not be watery)
Nutritional yeast flakes
Egg for egg-wash
Seasonings

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C.
Take dough from the fridge, divide into two and roll 1/2 on a flour dusted counter top as thin as it allows. (We aim for 5mm, if the dough resist too much follow the next steps). Put the other halve back in the fridge or freezer for when you need it again. Or make a double batch!
Dust dough with flour and gently fold it (don’t press!) so it can fit back into the plastic bag.
Put it into the fridge.
After 10-15min take it from the fridge and roll it once more on a lightly floured counter top until about 5mm thick and a 30cmx30cm square.
Spread the cooled cooked spinach evenly on top of the dough.
Add toppings if you like, today we are going with plain spinach.
Roll tightly from the side closest to you upward and away from you.
Cut with a sharp knife or use floss to cut very neatly into 12 even portions.
Lay wheels on their sides on lightly oiled baking paper on a baking sheet.
Add cheese if you like.
Beat an eg yolk with 15ml water and egg-wash the visible dough.
Add a sprinkle of dried herbs like Italian seasoning or oregano.
Bake for 12-15min or until golden brown and delightfully crispy.
Remove from oven and let cool before serving.

Variations

Add shredded cheese or feta cheese on top of the spinach before your roll the dough into a log.
Make a Pizza Pinwheel with tomato sauce, bacon, mushroom and mozzarella cheese.
Ham and cheese are another favourite.

Flaky Sourdough Pie Crust - Spinach Pinwheels

Ingredients

1/2 Sourdough pie crust
Cooked Spinach (should not be watery)
Nutritional yeast flakes
Egg for egg-wash
Seasonings

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C.
Take dough from the fridge, divide into two and roll 1/2 on a flour dusted counter top as thin as it allows. (We aim for 5mm, if the dough resist too much follow the next steps). Put the other halve back in the fridge or freezer for when you need it again. Or make a double batch!
Dust dough with flour and gently fold it (don't press!) so it can fit back into the plastic bag. Put it into the fridge.
After 10-15min take it from the fridge and roll it once more on a lightly floured counter top until about 5mm thick and a 30cmx30cm square.
Spread the cooled cooked spinach evenly on top of the dough.
Add toppings if you like, today we are going with plain spinach.
Roll tightly from the side closest to you upward and away from you.
Cut with a sharp knife or use floss to cut very neatly into 12 even portions.
Lay wheels on their sides on lightly oiled baking paper on a baking sheet.
Add cheese if you like.
Beat an eg yolk with 15ml water and egg-wash the visible dough.
Add a sprinkle of dried herbs like Italian seasoning or oregano.
Bake for 12-15min or until golden brown and delightfully crispy.
Remove from oven and let cool before serving.

Notes

This recipe also freezes very well, once shaped and layed out on the baking sheet, put it in the freezer and flash freeze it for 1-2 hours until frozen solid.

Move them from the pan to a ziplock bag and keep in freezer for a quick snack ready in just a few minutes.

To cook place on a lightly oiled baking sheet, egg-wash and put into a pre-heated oven at 220°C for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.