Gluten-Free Pie Crust For All

Thanksgiving is less than a week away and I have a feeling everyone is google searching "Gluten-Free Pie Crust" right? Well, I've got the one for you. Years ago I actually contemplated cutting up my antique rolling pin to make a wall hook of some kind, because I thought I'd never roll out pie crusts again. The gluten-free crust recipes available back then didn't require rolling out and were less than satisfactory, but it's all I had. Thankfully I did NOT cut up my rolling pin and have found much better pie crust recipes.

Here is my current favorite: "Gluten-Free Apple Hand Pies" found on Serious Eats.

My tips and adjustments for the recipe are as follows:

• I use lard in place of butter. Not that I don't like butter, I just have lard on hand and like to use it for pies. I have found when using lard, I need to decrease the amount. So, the recipe calls for 1 cup of butter and I use about 3/4 cups lard. 

• One recipe makes 2, 9" pies with top and bottom crust, if you are careful and don't roll it too thick.

• I hardly ever take the time to wrap the dough in saran wrap and refrigerate. The few times I have, it gets too hard and then takes too long to thaw when I need to make a pie...right now. So I suggest using ice cold water and if needed, sticking it in the fridge for approximately 1/2 an hour (not two, as the recipe says) and see how it behaves then.

• For single crust, baked filling pies (such as pumpkin), I fill the pie and bake the crust with the filling. For single crust pies with a refrigerated filling, prick the bottom with a fork a few times and bake alone for about 10-15 min. Keep an eye on it. 

• This crust doesn't brown very much, so keep that in mind when baking and testing for doneness. 

• When I don't need a full recipe of crust, I make a half recipe:

Gluten-Free Pie Crust, Half Recipe

1 c. rice flour

1/3 c. tapioca starch

1 1/2 T. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. xanthan gum

1/3 c. lard

4-8 T. water (Never just pour 8 T. in right away. Start with even less than 4 T. and work your way up slowly and gradually.)

This makes a nice two-crust pie, or two, single pie crusts (again, if rolled carefully), OR, one 9x13" baking pan crust for other desserts.

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When rolling out:

• Always use a rolling pin cover. I have found it incredibly helpful for gluten-free crusts. Also, always roll out on parchment paper.

• My sister-in-law shared her tip of greasing your pie pan, which I have found helpful with this recipe.

• Sprinkle the paper with tapioca flour more than once if necessary. And it probably will be necessary. 

• Ideally, this will be happening when all the children are otherwise happily occupied, such as naptime, or dare I say, movie time? Gluten-free crusts are the one thing that have made me curl my toes and want to say bad words. They just are NOT easy to work with, so be prepared for some deep breathing if things go awry. It can be done.

Gently roll out from middle to edges, alternating sides and pressing evenly. Every so often, lift all the dough up and off the paper and turn it over. Do this before it gets too thin. 

Once you're ready to lift it into the pie pan, gently lift the edge of the parchment paper up and thus lift the crust up and over the rolling pin.

If you're ready and brave enough, gently lift it all the way up and move towards the pie pan.

 See that little face peering over the counter? Obviously it wasn't naptime NOR movie time this day.

Here's where real life happens and...you have to take that deep breath, sigh, and start all over again. Maybe stick it in the fridge for a bit if you have time, to harden up, or just plunge ahead if you're short on time, which I typically am. Maybe I didn't have enough of the crust draped over the rolling pin.

Happily it worked the second try and I moved on. Very carefully, lower the crust into the pan, allowing it to settle nicely.

Delicately lift the top edge up so you can ease the crust into the pan sides and bottom edges. The top edge will probably crumble off the edges but that's okay. If you have cracks, just pick some extra up and press it on. Once it's in the pan, it's rather forgiving and can be pressed together to seal seams that might develop.

• I stick with fairly simple edges. Rustic, is the name of the game and I like to say all my pies are on the rustic side of things. I'm sure you've seen the ones that are sealed with fork tines or spoon tips. They work great for this pie crust. 

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• If you have a perfect basket woven lattice topped pie crust top in your mind, erase it. It is not possible without cracks galore. Give yourself a break and just lay the strips of dough on top of each other for that topping. They will still crack, but it's okay to cheat in this area.

• This dough does perform beautifully with cookie cutters, so if you want to try making edges like this, go for it. For a pumpkin pie, you do need to bake the pie part way (and any cut out designs all the way) before adding them or else they sink.

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• You can certainly roll out a second single layer for the top and gently lay it on as one layer for a traditional apple or peach pie. Just use the same method as I showed above for lifting the dough over the rolling pin and gently laying it on the filled pie. 
• One of my favorite ways to add a top crust for a traditional pie like apple or peach is this patchwork style. It's very forgiving and there's way less chance of crusts tearing mid-air. 

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• I have made hand pies with the recipe as it originally is written for, and they are fabulous. They hold up extremely well for picnics and the best tip ever is cutting the top layer slightly larger than the bottom. It really allows for covering the filling properly and lets you have enough to crimp at the edges. So if you're making hand pies, definitely follow that tip.

Fourth of July 2018 

• I've also made pear pies of sorts. Once baked, I turned them over and put a streusel topping of nuts, cinnamon, sugar and butter in the cavity and broiled it slightly to crisp it up.

So happy pie baking...whatever the season!