How to Make Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pie Crust

This whole wheat oatmeal pie crust is my hands down favorite butter pie dough! It has flaky buttery texture, made with whole wheat and rolled oats for nutritious nutty flavor. Follow my tips with this recipe, and you’ll learn how to put together and roll out a winning pie crust.

Click here to save this Whole Wheat and Oatmeal Pie Dough recipe on Pinterest!

Cold, cold, cold.

These are the key words when working with butter pie and tart doughs. Start with cold butter, use cold liquids, and as you work with the dough, keep it cold.

Ideally, mix this whole wheat oatmeal pie dough in a food processor, “cutting” in the butter using quick pulses. That way, warm hands have no chance of softening the butter. For a flaky crust, you want the butter to melt in the oven, not in your hands.

If you don’t have a food processor, cut in the butter using minimal touch. The secret for flaky crust is to keep the ingredients and dough cold. The goal with butter pie dough is for it to come together quickly keeping the dough as cold as possible.

And then after the dough comes together, you need to refrigerate the dough just enough–so it’s cold yet still malleable. Then you can roll it out and fit it in a tart or pie pan.

I keep repeating the chilly cold mantra–it’s that important. You can even chill the oats and flour before starting.

Oatmeal pie dough? Like with oatmeal raisin cookies, the rolled oats in this oatmeal pie pastry aren’t cooked. Old-fashioned oats are ground into meal along with the flour and sugar, in the food processor or blender. The tiny oat flecks throughout add to rustic feel. (I use old-fashioned oats—not the instant oats.)

Besides sought-after flaky quality, this pie crust recipe includes an egg yolk. You will get a more tender crust even if you were to screw up somewhere along the way.

How to make buttery flaky whole wheat oatmeal pie crust in a food processor:

• Put the oats, sugar and salt in a food processor. Process to a fine meal. Add the flour and process to mix.
• Scatter the very cold butter pieces over the dry ingredients. Pulse until the butter is broken into very small pieces, about the size of a pea, about 10 pulses.
• In a small bowl, stir the yolk and 2 tablespoons of the ice water. Sprinkle the egg mixture over the flour, then pulse several times.
• Remove the lid from the processor and scrape the dough with a fork making sure the ingredients are mixed well. Pulse again until the pastry just starts to gather in a mass. Stop before the dough comes together–don’t continue pulsing.

• Dump into a bowl and finish forming the dough with your fingers. Use the dough mass to pick up the drier, floury pieces. Incorporate them gently and quickly.
• Form into a disc about ¾-inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
• Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie pan and trim, if necessary, leaving a 1-inch overlap around the edge of the pie pan. Crimp the edge into a fluted edge. Refrigerate or freeze until cold.

Tips for successful butter pie crusts:

1. Refrigerate the butter until the very last minute.

2. Make “ice-cold” water with ice cubes—just fish them out before measuring.

3. Work quickly to incorporate butter. and keep your warm hands away from the mixture until you quickly gather the dough into a disc.

4. Resist the urge to add more water. Work the dough gently picking up the dry pieces with the dough until it all comes together. You want to see some pieces of butter in the dough.

4. As with all butter pie crusts, you need to chill the dough–keep it cold. Just cold enough so that it’s still malleable. Then you can roll out the chilled dough and fit it in a tart or pie pan. Chilling also lets the dough relax–to calm down the gluten that forms when the dough is mixed.

Tip: This whole wheat oil pie crust is a wonderful vegan substitute to a butter crust. If the idea of making and rolling out butter pie dough makes you click away, make this oil pie crust instead–it’s a press in crust. For dessert pie crust, simply substitute avocado oil in place of the olive oil in the recipe.

I was a baker and pastry chef for my career, so I feel qualified to offer these details for making and rolling butter pie pastry. I hope you find my tips and how-to’s helpful and inspire you with the confidence and skills of a seasoned pie maker!

A few links here are affiliate links. When you purchase products via my links, it doesn’t cost you anything and I earn a tiny commission, which helps me continue to provide free content here on Letty’s Kitchen. Thank you!!

How to roll butter pie dough:

• You can roll the dough on laminate, wood or granite/marble smooth surface. To keep my countertop clean, I use one of these silicone non-stick pie rolling mats. (Affiliate link.)
• For 9-inch pies, roll the dough into a 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thin. Never more than 1/4 inch thick.
• Don’t feel that you must use the entire dough recipe. It’s better to roll it thin and do something else with the scraps. Like grandma, you can cut extra dough into shapes, sprinkle with sugar, and bake for little snacks.

Tip: Use enough flour, but as little as possible, to keep the dough from sticking. Train yourself to dust the work surface often, but sparingly. If you see pieces or streaks of butter when you roll, that’s good. The butter will melt in the oven and create air layers in the pastry—for that flaky crust.

• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, using short strokes with the rolling pin. Use just enough flour, but as little as possible, so the dough doesn’t stick to the rolling surface. Train yourself to dust the work surface sparingly but often.
• If you see pieces or streaks of butter when you roll, that’s good. The butter pieces will melt in the oven and create air layers in the pastry, layers that give you flaky crust!!
• Don’t push the dough with your rolling pin. Gently coax it into a circle with each pass of the pin. Roll to the edge but not over, so the edge stays the same thickness as the middle.
• Using short strokes with the rolling pin, gently coax the dough into a circle with each pass of the pin. Roll to the edge but not over, so the edge stays the same thickness as the middle. Don’t push the dough with the rolling pin, roll to the edge but not over the edge. If the dough becomes unruly or doesn’t roll smoothly, patch it into the pan. You will get a more tender crust if patching instead of re-rolling—the less handling the better.
• To crimp the edges in the pie plate, watch this video from Martha Stewart. She demos how to roll and crimp the edges into a fluted edge.

About white whole wheat flour:

This delicious Walnut and Chocolate Tart uses Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pie dough.

To get my latest recipe posts and newsletters, subscribe here. (I hate Spam too and will never share your email with anyone.)

• Follow me on Instagram!
• Peruse my Pinterest boards for more vegetarian recipe ideas.
• Find daily vegetarian and healthy living ideas on my Facebook page.

This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase products via my links, it doesn’t cost you anything and I earn a tiny commission, which helps me continue to provide free content here on Letty’s Kitchen. Thank you!!

PS If you make this whole wheat oatmeal pie dough, please consider leaving a blog post comment. Your comments help other readers learn more about the recipe.

This Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pie Crust recipe is slightly adapted from a simple pie pastry in Simple Desserts (affiliate link)by Ken Haedrich.

This is a republish of the pie dough recipe I posted way back in November 2013!