This excellent pie crust is tender and flaky the place it counts, rolls out completely each time, and you should use it for single or double-crust pie recipes.
With over 1,000 5-star critiques, this in-depth recipe is the one which satisfied you that you would be able to have your entire favourite pies again!
my take
Nicole’s Recipe Notes
- Texture: Straightforward to roll out and deal with, this pie crust bakes up tender, flaky and light-weight, by no means greasy.
- Style: Buttery, wealthy and crisp, with that do-it-yourself style you’d by no means mistake for store-bought.
- Fast & simple: Make the crust with only a bowl and a spoon in minutes, then chill it to make use of any time.
- Versatile: Excellent for candy and savory pies, and it by no means will get soggy on the underside. You will adore it for hen pot pie, quiche, cherry pie, and apple pie!
Recipe substances
- Gluten free flour mix: Any prime quality, well-balanced all goal gluten free flour mix with finely floor rice flour ought to work right here. In case your mix is starchy, you’ll in all probability want so as to add extra water.
- Salt: Provides taste.
- Baking powder: Helps present some rise.
- Butter: Chilly chunks of butter folded in to the flour create flakiness when baked. Provides wealthy buttery taste.
- Bitter cream: Provides taste and tenderness with out including an excessive amount of moisture.
- Ice water: Helps stability the moisture simply sufficient to carry the dough collectively with out warming the butter. Add solely the chilly water, not the ice.
The way to make a flaky gluten free pie crust
Whisk collectively an all goal gluten free flour mix with xanthan gum, salt, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add chopped, chilly butter, toss to separate and coat in dry substances, and press the butter chunks flat between clear fingers.
Combine in bitter cream, to create a shaggy dough. Then combine ice chilly water by the teaspoonful into any dry components till the entire dough clumps.
Press the pie crust right into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill for no less than half-hour. Mud the chilled dough with flour, and roll right into a tough rectangle. Fold the dough in thirds like a enterprise letter, and roll once more. Repeat as soon as extra, and fold it right into a packet.
Roll the dough from the middle to the ends into an 11-inch spherical. Use a rolling pin to switch the formed dough to a greased pie pan. Tuck the perimeters of the dough underneath, and crimp the edges.
Pierce the underside of the crust with a fork. Line the crust with paper and fill with pie weights. Partially bake at 375°F for 10 minutes, then take away the paper and weights. Fill the crust and end baking, or bake for one more 10 to 12 minutes, then add a no-bake filling.
Professional ideas
Hold the butter items giant and flat
The widespread technique of working butter into flour till it resembles “pea-sized items” tends to make more durable crusts. Massive however flat, strong items of fats which can be evenly distributed all through the uncooked dough creates flaky layers like in gluten free puff pastry.
Use a bowl and spoon
Processing the pie crust combination by hand with a bowl and spoon makes it simple to maintain the butter items giant. A stand mixer or a meals processor is extra more likely to create too-small items of butter that are likely to soften into the dough, creating a tricky, not a young, crust. In case you resolve to make use of a meals processor, course of the dough as little as attainable.
Parbake to keep away from a soggy baked pie
In case you’re making a pie that be crammed after which baked, partially baking the crust first retains the crust crisp, by no means soggy. Line the uncooked, formed and ready pie crust with parchment paper, fill with dried beans or pie weights, and bake at 375°F for 10 minutes. Take away the parchment and the pie weights, brush with egg white, and bake once more.
Blind bake for a no bake filling
In case your filling is no-bake, after parbaking, take away the pie weights and bake once more for 10 to 12 minutes minutes, or till the pie crust is flippantly golden brown throughout. Let the crust cool earlier than filling and setting.
Hold substances chilly
When uncovered to the warmth of the preheated oven, the chilly substances, particularly the added fats (normally butter, or generally lard, strong coconut oil, or shortening), evaporate and push out the encompassing dry substances, creating flaky, crispy layers. In case your butter begins to soften while you’re shaping the crust, chill it once more earlier than persevering with to form it. If the butter is not strong earlier than it goes within the oven, the crust shall be stiff and difficult.
Do not stretch the crust
Raise the uncooked, rolled pie crust up and into the underside and sides of the pie plate relatively than trying to stretch it. That can assist hold it from tearing throughout shaping or shrinking throughout baking.
Crimp the perimeters
The best solution to beautify a pie crust is to crimp the perimeters. Place the thumb and forefinger of 1 hand about one inch aside on the sting of the pie crust pointing from the within out. From the skin in, press the knuckle of the forefinger of your different hand within the heart of the opposite two fingers. Repeat across the perimeter of the crust.
Dairy free
Attempt changing the butter within the pie crust with half shortening (Crisco or Spectrum model is finest) and half block-style vegan butter like Miyoko’s Creamery model. Vegan butter melts quicker than common butter, although, so you’ll have to relax the dough extra typically as you’re employed.
For the bitter cream, attempt Greek-style (strained and thickened) plain non-dairy yogurt, or non-dairy bitter cream. Make sure that your gluten free flour mix can be dairy-free, like Higher Batter.
As an alternative of utilizing nondairy bitter cream, you’ll be able to improve the baking powder to 1/2 teaspoon and start with 3/8 cup (3 fluid ounces) water, iced. Add extra iced water by teaspoon as directed within the recipe.
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Make the pie crust dough
In a big bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt, and whisk to mix effectively.
Add the chopped and chilled butter, and toss to coat it within the dry substances.
Flatten every chunk of butter between your thumb and forefinger to make flat shards of butter, coated totally in flour.
Create a effectively within the heart of the dry substances with the butter shards, add the bitter cream, and blend to moisten the dry substances with the bitter cream. The dough ought to be shaggy and nonetheless considerably crumbly.
If there are any parts of the dough which can be particularly dry, attempt to isolate them within the mixing bowl, drizzle ice water by the teaspoon on solely these components after which combine to moisten them.
Drizzle in additional ice water solely as essential to moisten flippantly the entire dry substances. Knead the dough along with clear fingers till it begins to return collectively.
Flip the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and press right into a disk as you shut the plastic wrap across the dough. It should nonetheless appear tough.
Place the dough within the fridge to relax for half-hour.
Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch metallic pie plate generously and put aside.
Easy out the chilled dough
As soon as the dough has chilled, flip it out onto a flippantly floured floor, and sprinkle the highest flippantly with extra flour.
Roll the dough out right into a tough rectangle that’s about 1 inch thick, shifting the dough continuously and sprinkling it flippantly with flour if it begins to stay. Fold the dough over on itself in thirds such as you would a enterprise letter.
Sprinkle the dough once more flippantly with flour, and roll out the dough as soon as once more right into a tough rectangle about 1 inch thick. Fold once more in thirds.
Working rapidly, sprinkle the dough flippantly with flour, and roll out as soon as extra right into a tough rectangle, for a complete of three occasions.
Fold the dough in thirds once more, then fold within the sides to make a sq. packet of dough. Press the dough collectively, and attempt to spherical the edges right into a disk.
If the dough feels heat in any respect, or just like the butter is melting, cowl it with plastic wrap and chill it till the butter is agency once more.
Form the dough within the pie plate
Roll the dough out into an roughly 11-inch spherical, about 3/8-inch thick. Roll from the center to the perimeters in each course to assist create a spherical. If the dough splits on the perimeters, pinch them collectively.
Roll the pie crust loosely onto the rolling pin after which unroll it over the ready pie plate.
Trim any particularly tough edges of the crust with kitchen shears or a pointy knife. Raise up the perimeters of the pie crust gently to create slack within the crust, and place the crust neatly on the underside and up the edges of the pie plate.
Tuck the surplus pie crust underneath itself alongside the perimeter of the crust, the place it overhangs the pie plate. Crimp the sting gently all the way in which across the crust by pinching the dough at common intervals with one hand, and making a crimped impression with the forefinger of the opposite hand.
Cowl the pie crust with plastic wrap and place it within the fridge to relax till agency, no less than half-hour (and as much as 3 days).
Parbake the crust (See Recipe Notes)
Take away the pie crust from the fridge and unwrap and discard the plastic. Pierce the underside of the pie crust throughout with the tines of a fork.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on prime of the uncooked crust and fill the crust with pie weights or dried beans. Filling the pie crust will assist hold the underside from increasing and the perimeters from falling down into the pie dish.
Place the plate within the heart of the preheated oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or till the crust is simply starting to show very flippantly golden brown on some edges.
Take away the pie weights and parchment. The underside of the crust ought to be much less shiny however not browned. If it is nonetheless shiny, brush the underside of the crust with the non-obligatory egg white, and return the pie crust to the oven and bake for one more 2 to 4 minutes.
Enable the parbaked crust to chill earlier than continuing together with your recipe.
Serving: 1pie crust | Energy: 1588kcal | Carbohydrates: 172g | Protein: 12g | Fats: 90g | Saturated Fats: 55g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 3g | Monounsaturated Fats: 23g | Trans Fats: 3g | Ldl cholesterol: 248mg | Sodium: 1492mg | Potassium: 172mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 2816IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 196mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Diet data is routinely calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.
make forward/leftovers
Storage directions
As soon as parbaked, it is best to make use of it immediately by both blind baking and filling your crust, or filling it with a baked crammed.
When it is nonetheless uncooked and unshaped, you’ll be able to wrap it very securely in plastic and refrigerate it for as much as three days. For longer storage, warp twice (as soon as in plastic, then in an air tight zip prime bag) and freeze. Defrost in a single day within the fridge. After refrigerating, it would doubtless be too exhausting to roll with out cracking, so enable it to take a seat within the plastic wrap at room temperature for no less than 10 minutes to heat up earlier than you try to roll it out.
After you have formed the uncooked crust, you’ll be able to wrap it tightly within the pie plate and freeze it for as much as 2 months. Unwrap it and parbake it proper from the freezer in a 400°F oven, 25°F hotter than traditional, for the reason that very chilly pie will decrease the oven temperature. Proceed to bake at 375°F.
FAQs
Sure, you’ll be able to bake this crust in a glass pie pan, which can help you see the underside of the crust and precisely decide how a lot it has browned. Baking in glass is just like baking in porcelain, as each retain warmth very effectively, so watch rigorously to make sure you do not burn your crust.
The perfect technique for a flaky pie crust is a bowl and spoon. However if you would like to make use of a stand mixer or meals processor, use bigger items of chopped butter and solely course of briefly to keep away from making the butter too small or melting it.
Sure! Simply click on the [2X] button within the recipe card, or improve the yield from 1 pie crust to 2. Divide the dough in half, and form every half individually as directed.
