Gluten Free Egg Free Pie Crust

 

Hello All- Just a note to say I’ve tweaked this recipe- it now has a vegan option!  And, more detailed instructions.  So, give it a go and see if this re-post from the archives is like the most perrrrfect acompaniment to those fall apples! I know I keep tweaking this, but I want it to be as close to impeccable, as possible.  So, yet again, I tweak.  I have three versions for you now- a sturdy crust version,  a light flaky crust version, and vegan options for both. I colour coded them so that it would be easy for you to see which one you’re using when you are cooking! Have at it!

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I spent the whole day yesterday trying to figure out pie crust recipes, and there were several that I experimented with.  This one was super dry and hard – it remained white  depsite cooking it.  This one browned beautifully but was too sticky ( I think there was too much fat, may be better to reduce it) and so it almost melted on top of my filling (which would be kinda delicious on top of a pie but not on the bottom layer).

Whatever you do, if you can,  use rendered pork fat instead of shortening or butter. The taste is terrific. You can get it cheap from the Piggy Market.  If you are vegan, use cold solid coconut oil or unhydrogenated organic palm oil shortening instead.

 

This recipe freezes well, because there is no cornstarch. Simply roll out the dough, cover the bottom of a pie pan, let it freeze. To unthaw, put it in the fridge to thaw gently.

NOTE:  The fat and water MUST be freezing cold. Keep them in the freezer.  I”ve recently adjusted this recipe to include vinegar to activate the baking soda, and xantham gum to hold it together.  Let me know how it turns out.

 

 

 

 

Gluten Free Pie Crust

Ingredients-

 

STURDY CRUST VERSION (make sure to cover with tin foil the first 20 min of baking!)

Dry:

• 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp brown rice flour 
• 3 tbsp white rice flour (get the type from your asian grocer, they are ground more finely)
• 1/4 cup + 3 tbsp potato starch
• 3 tbsp potato flour  (Vegan: 2 tbsp potato flour)
• 1/2 cup + 4 tbsp tapioca starch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp xantham gum (to replace, try and see if 2 tsp agar agar powder, or 1 packet of gelatine will work)

Wet:

• 1/2 cup rendered pork fat, or shortening or butter if you can have it, almost frozen (Vegan: take out the pork fat, and add 3/4 cup cold solid coconut oil or unhydrogenated organic palm oil shortening)
• 5 tbsp ice water (or more later, if needed) mixed with 4 tsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon or lime juice) (Vegan: 8 tbsp cold water mixed with 4 tsp apple cider vinegar)

DIRECTIONS FOR STURDY CRUST

1. Mix all the dry ingredients well in a bowl.  You may want to sift them to ensure they are well mixed.
2. Add to blender.  Pulse in the fat, spoonful by spoonful, until you get the texture of rough crumbs. (Or you can mash in the fat by hand with a fork or a pastry blender if you don’t have a blender). If you over mix the fat will stat to melt- so keep it looking like crumbs.
3. Slowly drizzle the ice water and vinegar while pulsing the blender.  You want the mixture to just be able to pull together, not get wet or soggy.
4. Remove mixture, press together into a ball, wrap in parchment paper or a damp tea towel or plastic wrap.
5. Refrigerate for 30 min.  (if you are pressed for time, you don’t have to)
6. When cold,  take out a portion of the dough (roughly about  1 cup).  Sandwich between two sheets of parchment paper.
7. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.-  You’ll find at the beginning it crumbles alot and won’t hold together.  Keep working at it-  eventually it will roll out. Fold the ends over and pull them back in and roll again. If it seems impossible, toss it back into the bowl, add 1 tbsp of water,  mix it all together again.  The water will help activate the xantham gum to get it to stick together.  If its too wet/soggy,  add 1 tsp at a time of more starch to fix it.
8. Flip over the parchment ‘sandwich’ and peel off the top layer of parchment gently.  If it won’t  peel off the parchment paper, its because the fat has gotten warm.  Put the rolled out crust between the parchment papers on a tray or cookie sheet, and freeze for about 10-15 min.  It will peel off perfectly.  Also,  use a super thin flipper or spatula to lift it,  for help.
9. For the bottom crust: lay your empty pie pan over the sheet of pie dough upside down. Trace around it with a knife.  Either invert the pie dough over the pan and peel off the top parchment, or you can use a spatula or knife to loosen the circular piece of dough and then place it over the pie pan. 
10. For the top crust: You can get a second pie pan and repeat the steps in #9, then simply invert over top yourfull pie pan. I, however, like to use decorative cookie cutters and cut out interlocking shapes like hearts or stars, and lay them on the top of the pie instead of a solid top layer.  The small spaces between the shapes act as air vents. You’ll swoooon at how cute, I promise! Just be careful that the dough isn’t too cold or the shapes will stick to the cutter and break in pieces.
11. Done! 
12. You can freeze this in the pie shell, or you can bake at 350 until the crust is golden.  Pies will take about 30-40 min to bake but this crust bakes very quickly.  For the first 20 min of baking, cover your pie loosely with tin foil.  Then at the 20 minute mark, take it off and let it continue cooking.  Check the crust for how gold you want it and if you can smell the sweetness of the pie- thats always a good judge of when its ready.

 

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LIGHT FLAKY CRUST VERSION: (Cover with tin foil the first 20 min of baking. The rice flour texture is more noticeable in this version,  if you have another favorite flour, you can try it instead)

Dry:

• 1/4 cup brown rice flour 
• 4 tbsp white rice flour (get the type from your asian grocer, they are ground more finely)
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp potato flour
• 1/4 cup + 3 tbsp potato starch
• 1/2 cup + 4 tbsp tapioca starch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp xantham gum  (to replace, try and see if 2 tsp agar agar powder, or 1 packet of gelatine will work)

Wet:

• 1 cup rendered pork fat, or shortening or butter if you can have it, almost frozen (Vegan: take out the pork fat, and add 1 cup cold solid coconut oil or unhydrogenated organic palm oil)
• 4 tbsp ice water  mixed with 4 tsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon or lime juice)

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DIRECTIONS FOR LIGHT FLAKY CRUST

1. Mix all the dry ingredients well in a bowl.  You may want to sift them to ensure they are well mixed.
2. Add to blender.  Pulse in the fat, spoonful by spoonful, until you get the texture of rough crumbs. (Or you can mash in the fat by hand with a fork or a pastry blender if you don’t have a blender). If you over mix the fat will stat to melt- so keep it looking like crumbs.
3. Slowly drizzle the ice water and vinegar while pulsing the blender.  You want the mixture to just be able to pull together, not get wet or soggy.
4. Remove mixture, press together into a ball, wrap in parchment paper or a damp tea towel or plastic wrap.
5. Refrigerate for 30 min.  (if you are pressed for time, you don’t have to)
6. When cold,  take out a portion of the dough (roughly about  1 cup).  Sandwich between two sheets of parchment paper.
7. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.-  You’ll find at the beginning it crumbles alot and won’t hold together.  Keep working at it-  eventually it will roll out. Fold the ends over and pull them back in and roll again. If it seems impossible, toss it back into the bowl, add 1 tbsp of water,  mix it all together again.  The water will help activate the xantham gum to get it to stick together.  If its too wet/soggy,  add 1 tsp at a time of more starch to fix it.
8. Flip over the parchment ‘sandwich’ and peel off the top layer of parchment gently.  If it won’t  peel off the parchment paper, its because the fat has gotten warm.  Put the rolled out crust between the parchment papers on a tray or cookie sheet, and freeze for about 10-15 min.  It will peel off perfectly.  Also,  use a super thin flipper or spatula to lift it,  for help.
9. For the bottom crust: lay your empty pie pan over the sheet of pie dough upside down. Trace around it with a knife.  Either invert the pie dough over the pan and peel off the top parchment, or you can use a spatula or knife to loosen the circular piece of dough and then place it over the pie pan. 
10. For the top crust: You can get a second pie pan and repeat the steps in #9, then simply invert over top yourfull pie pan. I, however, like to use decorative cookie cutters and cut out interlocking shapes like hearts or stars, and lay them on the top of the pie instead of a solid top layer.  The small spaces between the shapes act as air vents. You’ll swoooon at how cute, I promise! Just be careful that the dough isn’t too cold or the shapes will stick to the cutter and break in pieces.
11. Done! 
12. You can freeze this in the pie shell, or you can bake at 350 until the crust is golden.  Pies will take about 30-40 min to bake but this crust bakes very quickly.  For the first 20 min of baking, cover your pie loosely with tin foil.  Then at the 20 minute mark, take it off and let it continue cooking.  Check the crust for how gold you want it and if you can smell the sweetness of the pie- thats always a good judge of when its ready.