Pie season. Some say it’s during the fall, when the holidays are upon us, and there’s a million different pies on the table to be gathered around and eaten with friends. I say, pie season is year ’round. Because I’ll take any excuse to eat pie! For those with a gluten sensitivity or intolerance, pie season can be hard, missing out on the communal experience of pie. But not any more with this Gluten Free Pie Crust Recipe!
Gluten Free Pie Crust is a tricky beast. Traditional pie crust with glutenous wheat flour creates a crispy, flakey, crust that can be hard to beat. A large amount of butter, cut into the pie dough’s gluten structure creates these delicious attributes. But gluten free pie crust often lacks those qualities. It can be hard to get to come together, and prevent from being crumbly instead of flakey. Gluten free pie crust needs a binder, but eggs are not advised due to their ability to make the pie crust chewy, instead of crisp. So let’s talk about ingredients in this pie crust recipe and what they do to create a pie crust that you would never know is gluten free.
Flour
This recipe calls for a gluten free flour blend that contains xanthan gum. The xanthan gum is critical, because it takes the place of gluten in the flour. This makes for a pliable dough, one that won’t crumble apart when you’re working with it. My preferred gluten free flour blend is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-1 Baking Flour for this purpose. If you are using a gluten free flour blend that does not contain xanthan gum, make sure you add 1/2 teaspoon to the recipe.
Ice Cold Water
When making pie crust, as well as any pastry, you always want to keep the dough as cold as possible. We do this by adding ice water. You can take the chilling process even further by refrigerating your ingredients prior to preparation, and even your tools, like bowls or the chamber and blade of your food processor. The water also helps to activate the xanthan gum.
Frozen Butter
Butter is frozen in this recipe, because we want it as cold as possible. When very cold butter hits the warm oven, it melts very quickly, and causes the delectable flake that we all love in our pie crust.
Sour Cream
Sour cream is added to this recipe for both flavor, and for tenderness. But it cannot work alone. It also is used as a binding ingredient, without being as binding as eggs.
Vinegar
This recipe calls for apple cider vinegar. What? Why vinegar? As an acid, vinegar is a tenderizer. It works with the sour cream to create a tender dough. You won’t really taste the vinegar, but you will notice the work it does. If you don’t have apple cider vinegar at your disposal, here are the vinegars I recommend to subsitute with in order of recommendation:
- White wine vinegar
- Rice vinegar
- White vinegar
Sugar
There’s barely any sugar in this recipe compared to any other ingredient. You might be thinking, pies are typically sweet, where’s the sugar to make that happen?! Well, the sweetness of pie actually comes from the filling of the pie, not the crust. The little bit of sugar in the dough is incorporated to help the crust brown up, it’s not for flavoring purposes.
Salt
Salt is a flavor maker. Salt brings out the flavor of the flour in this dough. No further explanation really needed. If you don’t add salt, your dough will be bland.
All of these ingredients when working together create a pie crust that your guests will never know is gluten free. So if you have someone with dietary restrictions at your table, make a pie with this crust, and let them eat!
If you’re looking for a great pie recipe that uses this crust, check out my recipe for Gluten Free Chai Apple Pie.
The Best Gluten Free Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 2¾ Cup Gluten Free Flour Blend with Xanthan Gum
- 2 Tsp Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tsp Salt
- ⅓ Cup Ice Cold Water
- 3 Tbsp Sour Cream
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Cup Butter 2 Sticks, cut into tablespoons and frozen
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the water, sour cream, and vinegar. Whisk to combine, and place in the fridge while you continue to work.
- To the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar and salt. Process to combine well.
- Add the frozen butter to the food processor. Process until the flour resembles pea sized chunks and grated parmesan cheese.
- Add the mixture of water, sour cream, and vinegar, and process until the dough forms large chunks but still isn't a solid mass.
- Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap.
- Using your hands, divide dough in half, and form into two rounds.
- Refrigerate until ready to roll and use.
