How to Make a Gluten-Free Pie Crust

When I tell people who are gluten-free or who are thinking of going gluten-free that they can still have their pie and eat it too, I get a couple of reactions.  Those who are already gluten-free give me the "hairy eyeball," with the "yeah right" look on their faces.  Either they don't believe me or they've attempted to make a gluten-free pie crust before or they've tasted another person's attempt at it, but whatever the reason, they think I'm living in a dream world.  Those who are thinking of going gluten-free just get tears in their eyes because they thought they had to give up pie.  (I prefer the latter reaction.)

Give up pie???  NEVER.  I will never give up pie, and you shouldn't either.  The fact is that you can easily have pie on a gluten-free diet--savory pies, sweet pies, whatever you like.  It does take a little more work and fuss, but you're probably already used to that anyhow.  The full recipe is below, but let's take it one step at time using pictures, which I think really help.

In your food processor, mix together the gluten-free flour, salt, and xanthan gum.  Then cut up a stick of cold butter and add it to that.  Pulse several times until the butter is in tiny pieces distributed throughout the flour mixture.

Add 1/3 cup of cold water and pulse several times until the dough starts to come together.  Then pulse until it forms one mass as you see on the left.  Remove the dough and shape into a ball quickly (the less pie dough is handled, the better).  It should feel slightly tacky but should not be gooey.  If it is, you need more flour.

Place a sheet of wax paper on your counter and sprinkle some gluten-free flour on it.  Place the ball of dough on it and flatten out a bit with your hand.  Then flour the dough as well.

Begin to roll the dough out with a rolling pin.  Look at that big crack on the bottom right of the first picture!  That doesn't happen as much with regular pie doughs, but it does happen with gluten-free pie doughs because we just don't quite have that wheat stretchiness.  That's okay.  Use your fingers to pinch the crack together and smooth it out.  You may have to do this several times.  It's okay. ;)

Continue to roll your dough out until it's big enough for your pan.  As you can see, I've gone over the paper at the top and the bottom.  I had flour there, though, so it won't stick too badly to the counter.  Just run a butter knife gently under the dough that has stuck to the counter.  Then place your hand underneath the wax paper and flip the dough over onto the pie pan, aiming your hand at the middle of the pan.

Gently remove the wax paper.  Oh dear!  Look what happened!  I have quite a crack there on the top left.  That's not a problem, though.  Gently begin to fit your dough down into the pan, lifting the sides and pushing downward, smoothing toward the edges of the pie pan.  Pinch any cracks closed and smooth them over.  Now you can see that the crack from the left picture is gone, but I have quite a few cracks that have sprung up along the edges of the dough overhanging the side of the pan.

That's okay, though.  Dip your fingers in a bit of water and begin to pinch those cracks together, "repairing" them.  You could stop here at this first picture, fill the pie, and put another crust on and bake it.  But let's go on further and make just one crust.  So, gently pick up the edges of the pie crust and fold them over so you have a double layer of crust all around the top.  Keep folding and pinching until you smooth it all out.  The height of the pie crust is a bit above the edge of the pan now, and I've pinched it all closed.

Now flute your edges to make the pie crust look pretty.  And there you have it!  Don't worry about the bumpiness you see along the inner sides.  You're going to fill and bake this pie, and no one will ever see it.

1.5 cups (195 g) of gluten-free flour

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup (4 oz or 1 stick) of cold butter

1/3 cup of cold water

In a food processor, mix together the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, and salt.  Cut the butter in pieces and add it.  Pulse until the butter is in tiny pieces.  Add the cold water all at once and pulse on and off to mix in, gradually pulsing more until the dough comes together.  Touch the dough.  If it's watery and gooey, you need more flour.  If it's dry as a popcorn fart, you need more water.  Remove the dough and smooth out over floured wax paper.  Roll the dough out, pinching together any tears that may occur.  Flip the dough into a pie pan.  At this point you can fill the pie, roll out another crust, cover the pie, smooth it and flute the edges, cut steam holes, and bake according to your pie recipe.  OR, you can make just one crust.  To do so, flip the dough into the pie pan, repairing any tears inside and on the edges with moist fingers.  Fold the dough edges over to form one smooth, thick layer at the top.  Pinch and smooth until even.  Flute the edges.  You can now fill this and bake as for a pumpkin pie or quiche, etc., or you can bake the pie shell itself.  To do so, line the pie crust with tinfoil.  Fill the pie plate with beans or dry rice that you don't intend to ever use.  (This will hold the pie crust down while baking.  I keep a bag of the same beans in my cupboard that I use over and over.)  Bake the crust at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

TIPS:  

1.  I can't stress enough that a digital scale is a gluten-free person's best friend.  That 195 g of flour listed above is important.  If you use that measure, this pie crust should come out well.  If not, you may have to play with the flour/water ratio to get things to work.  It can be done.

2.  As for gluten-free flours, I use my own blend of sorghum and rice flours mixed with corn, potato, and tapioca starches.  I call it "Mel's Magic Mix."  It works quite well, but you can use whatever gluten-free flour you have at hand.  There are many options on the market now or you can mix up your own.  I like a 3:1 mixture of flours to starches.  Flours can have more or less moisture in them depending on the time of year and weather.

3.  Always use cold butter and cold water straight from the fridge.  Pie crust misbehaves when it gets too warm.  Handle it as little as possible, but don't be afraid to touch it when you need to.

4.  If you are an experienced pie crust maker, you may notice there is a bit more water in this recipe.  I find that gluten-free flours tend to be very "thirsty."  They seem to absorb water much more than wheat flour.  If you find your own gluten-free flour not to be so, then use less water.  Frankly, I think the above crust could have used just a little more water because it had so many tears.  But it all worked out in the end.  ;)

5.  Relax.  If this is your first time making gluten-free pie crust, it can be a bit of a challenge.  It's okay.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  You will get better with each attempt.  Keep in mind that I have over 35 years of baking experience under my belt, so yes, it seems simple to me but I realize it can be frustrating.  If you can afford it, go ahead and make a few just for practice.  You can always use them one way or another, even if your first attempt doesn't work well and all you do is bake the scraps with cinnamon and sugar until they're crispy.  They'll still be delicious.