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Can you make a pie crust using bread? the answer is yes. I’m showing you how to easily make an easy pie crust using sliced bread. It’s fast, healthier, and economical. You can use the crust for both sweet and savory filling.
If you can’t be bothered to make a pie crust from scratch or simply have some stale bread sitting around and are not sure what to do with them, you can try making this super easy pie crust using bread
What you need to make pie crust using bread
You basically only need three ingredients here. You can also season the crust if you like, but that’s optional.
1. Bread
I have tried this with white bread, whole wheat bread, and other flavored bread like sun-dried tomato bread and they work pretty well. I haven’t tried gluten-free bread, so I can’t tell you for sure if that will work or not.
2. Milk
You can use cow’s milk (whole/low-fat/fat-free), unsweetened non-dairy milk, or just water. Using milk gives the crust a better richer taste
3. Egg
The egg works as a binder here
4. Sugar and salt
These are just added for taste
How To Make Easy Pie Crust Using Sliced Bread
Ingredients
Basic pie crust:
- 300 g bread (cubed) about 4 cups packed. See notes 1
- 50 g milk you can use water too. See notes 2
- 50 g oil
- 50 g egg beaten, about 1 large egg without the shell
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp sugar
Instructions
Prepare the "dough":
- Preheat the oven to 450 F (230C) for a conventional oven. If you use convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 F /15 C. Cut the bread into small cubes. You don't need to remove the crust unless it's really tough.
- UPDATE: You can also use a food processor and put all the ingredients in the food processor and process until it forms a paste like texture.
- You can also work with your hand. Wear a glove if you don't want to get messy. Mix everything together using your hand. Squeeze the bread and mix everything to form a sort of paste-like dough.
- It feels moist and sticky. Depending on the type of bread you use, you may need a bit more liquid, or you may not
Shaping:
- I spray my 9-inch round pie plate with non-stick spray. You can brush with oil too.
- Scoop out the dough onto the pie plate. Flatten the dough with your palm/fingers or the flat bottom of a measuring cup, to the base of the plate and gently push it to the side of the pie plate. I would flatten it to about 1/4 inch thick. Do your best to make sure it has same thickness all around. I find that if you press the crust over the top edge of the pie pan, it helps to minimize shrinkage when you bake it
- You can use a fork to crimp the side of the crust. This is optional. Pierce the bottom of the crust with the tines of the fork in several places
Baking:
- Place the pie crust on the middle rack and bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden brown if you need the crust to be fully baked. For half-baked pie crust, bake for about 15 minutes . Blind baking the pie crust will ensure that it won't get soggy when you put the filling in later
- Remove from the oven and let it cool down for 10 minutes. Then brush the crust with some egg white. This will create a seal to prevent the crust from getting soggy and it works like a charm for me every time.
- Return the crust to the oven and bake another 10 minutes and then remove from the oven
- I have updated the baking temperature and time for the crust (so it's different from the video)
How to use:
- Remove from the oven and let it cool down completely before filling it. Proceed with the recipe you are using.
Marv’s Recipe Notes
- I have tried white bread (or any soft bread) and wheat bread and they work well. It really depends on the kind of bread you use too, the outcome may be different. White soft bread works the best. I haven’t tried with gluten-free bread, so I can’t tell you for sure if it works the same way and give the same result or not
- I use about 50 grams of water, but I suggest you start with about 30 grams (about 2 Tbsp) of water. The kind of bread we use may absorb liquid differently. You can always add more if it’s too dry.
*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*
How to use bread pie crust
You can use it with pretty much any recipe that calls for a single pie crust. It works for both sweet and savory filling.
Here are some ideas to get you started if you need them:
1. Savory pies/tarts: Norwegian spinach pie
2. Sweet pies/tarts: banoffee pie, Hong Kong egg tart
How to prevent the bread pie crust from getting soggy
1. Par-bake or blind-bake the crust
Which we do in the recipe
2. Add a layer to the base of the crust
I like to add a layer of cheese, fine breadcrumbs, finely crushed cornflakes or cereal to the base of the crust before adding the filling. This helps to avoid the liquid from the filling to sip through the crust, making it all wet and soggy
3. Brush with egg white
You can also brush with a layer of egg white before adding that filling. The egg white will create that seal. This works like a charm for me every time. It works for both sweet and savory pie
4. Brush with chocolate (for sweet pie)
Let your crust cool down completely after you par-bake it. Then melt some chocolate and brush on top of the base of the crust and let the chocolate solidify and set before you add the filling
Did you make this pie crust using bread recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
6 comments
153 gms carbs per slice ?! yow
Hi Joan, it’s not per slice, it’s for the entire pie crust! It would be pretty scary for 153 grams carbs for just one slice 🙂
Thank You! And May God Bless You And Your Family And Us All! ❤️✝️😁
Same to you! I hope it turns out well for you 🙂
I was really intrigued with this idea because it 1)seems easier than making and rolling out a crust, 2) it has a lot less fat than a regular crust, and 3) what a great way to use up extra bread. So I tried it and made a quiche. We loved it. Although I followed the measurements in the recipe, my dough was wetter than the recipe seemed to indicate. But I was still able to pat it into the pie plate. After the pre-bake it had kept its shape. I put my cheese in first, to keep the liquid from making it soggy and it turned out great. Easy to cut, didn’t stick to the glass pie plate and very tasty. I used Dave’s whole grain bread, which has seeds in it. For a dessert I might use white bread or at least a more plain whole wheat. Thanks for a great idea!
Hi Libby, yes I agree that it’s much easier and “healthier” with way less saturated fat for sure! I think the kind of bread we use also affect how much liquid we need. Thank you for your feedback. I will make note in the recipe card too so people can take note on that! I’m happy to know that you make it work for you though! I will definitely use plain white bread for dessert pie!