What effect would replacing the egg in a pie crust with egg whites have?
Based off of the recipes I've read it seems like adding an egg to a pie dough makes it easier to work with and improves the final flavor and texture of the crust. So would adding only egg whites make a drier/flakier crust? Or at least cut down on any egg flavor that might come through?
Best Answer
I would say that the effects will be too minimal to notice. So if you want to do it, go ahead and use up your egg whites.
Theoretically, egg yolks provide some emulsifying powers, and lead to softer, richer, sometimes even slimier doughs, while egg whites increase binding more and give you drier doughs. This can be quite noticeable in egg-rich cake types such as genoise or in yeast-leavened cakes. But in the case of a pie crust, it is almost completely made up from flour and butter, with the liquid needed only so you end up with a ball of dough with a bit of gluten, and not a bowl of crumbles.
The standard American crust uses water as the liquid in this type of dough, but when it is used for making shortbread cookies in European recipes, it frequently has an egg instead. I don't remember seeing eggs in tart crusts, maybe it is present in the Alsace. These doughs are not bad to work with, but with the small amount, and especially with flaky crusts deriving their texture from the butter pockets, I doubt that eaters will know that much of the difference. You certainly don't get a strong yolky mouthfeel when you use a whole egg, and with the crust being very fatty anyway, the missing yolk will be even less noticeable. So you are quite free in your choice of liquid, including egg white.
As a side note, if you are doing gluten-free crusts, you do need all the extra binding you can get, so there pure egg white is preferred over whole eggs or water.
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Quick Answer about "What effect would replacing the egg in a pie crust with egg whites have?"
Theoretically, egg yolks provide some emulsifying powers, and lead to softer, richer, sometimes even slimier doughs, while egg whites increase binding more and give you drier doughs.What does egg white do to pie crust?
One of my very favorite kitchen tricks is to brush a bottom pie crust with an egg white wash before filling. This keeps the filling from seeping into the crust and creating a soggy bottom. I like to avoid soggy bottoms at all costs. Egg white and water is also perfect for sealing edges, like when making a pie.What happens if you add egg white to pastry?
The egg in the dough will contribute mostly water (eggs are 75% water). The remainder is primarily proteins (from the albumen in the egg white, and fats from the yolk). This will somewhat tenderize the final pastry, and contribute an eggy flavor.Can you replace eggs with egg white?
Consider egg whites: When you're making store-bought cake mixes, you can get away with using just egg whites as your substitute for whole eggs because the mixes usually include other ingredients that help with tenderness and texture. Two egg whites\u2014or 1/4 cup fat-free egg substitute\u2014can replace 1 whole egg.Do you need an egg in pie crust?
Eggs are not necessary to make a good pie crust. For most pie dough recipes, you can omit the egg altogether. Egg wash or egg glaze is commonly used to help make pie crust brown and shiny or to help make the top crust stick to the bottom crust.THE FUNCTION OF EGGS IN BAKING | whole eggs, egg whites, egg yolks
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