Emergency question for pie crust experts!

[cheesepuff]

I'm making an apple pie for Thanksgiving, which calls for pastry flour, so I bought this arrowhead mills organic pastry flour and made the dough tonight. The flour was a little bit tanner than normal flour, then I realized the bag said "whole grain" pastry flour, which to me automatically means horrible pie. It didn't say "whole wheat," it said "whole grain - is this just as bad? I don't want to bring a leaden, "healthy" pie to Thanksgiving, but I'd rather not do the whole thing over. Do you think my pie is doomed?

[oiboy]

Yes. The crust will have a very very odd texture. I tried to make pate sucre with whole wheat flour but it ended up very dense even though everything was ice cold. I would use pastry flour or AP in a pinch.

[cheesepuff]

It IS pastry flour. But it's whole grain pastry flour. (what is AP?)

[bushwickgirl]

Whole grain pastry flour is not the same as whole grain or whole wheat flour. It is a finer milled flour from soft wheat with most of the the bran removed, a lower protein and high starch content and a silky feel, similar to refined white pastry flour, which I don't even use for pie crust. Do not be put off the the color, it's just whole grain and some of the bran and germ are still present in the flour, but in a finely milled form. It won't be light and airy like white pastry flour but it'll be good, flaky and with a bit of added nutrition.

AP stand for all purpose, as opposed to bread, high gluten, etc.

I wouldn't have any problem using this flour for pie crust (although I don't, all purpose is my go-to) or other pastries, cookies, muffins, etc. but you need to like the flavor of whole grain as opposed to mellow white flour. Do not fear, this flour will not result in a tough heavy crust a la the whole wheat dough of my hippie days, yuck, back in the 70's.

[chowser]

I've heard people swear by ww pastry flour for pie crust but I've never taken the plunge. Do people notice a difference when you use it in crusts? Maybe it would be better suited to heavier crusts like a pate sucree? I like ww pastry flour in other baked foods, especially cookies but don't think the cost justifies the extra whole grains especially since it's junk food anyway.

[bushwickgirl]

I can't be bothered to use pastry flour for pie crusts, but for pastries I do, although I prefer the white whole wheat. It'll be fine for the OP's pie crust, with a heartier flavor than AP BUT I should mention that if the OP doesn't like the flavor of whole grain, maybe he/she should purchase some AP flour for the crust instead. I wouldn't use WGPF for something I wanted to have a light and fine crumb, like a cake. It's better suited to muffins, cookies, quick breads, whole grain pancake or waffle batters, stuff like that.

You're right, the extra cost and nutritive value are outweighed by that fact that you're also consuming fat and sugar, regardless of what type fat and sugar you use.

[cheesepuff]

thank all. i'm going to test bake my first batch (uh,yeah, I made it twice) and see how it tastes.