Flaky Gluten-Free Pie Crust Recipe 

What is the Best Gluten-Free Flour for Pie Crust?

To start, I have tested this recipe with my gluten-free flour blend, Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Flour and King Arthur 1:1 Flour all containing xanthan gum. If your blend does not contain this you must add it. Xanthan gum gives baked good structure and stability.

This recipe can be used with any commercially available flour but with one inexpensive addition. Dry milk powder! After reading tons of reviews on gluten-free flours one thing was clear. People really loved Cup 4 Cup but felt it was too expensive. After researching the ingredients I found the only major difference was the addition of a small amount of milk powder.

This ingredient is easy to find at almost any grocery store for just a couple of dollars. My gluten-free flour blend uses dry milk powder. 

⏲️How to Make Gluten-Free Pie Dough

This recipe is written for a double-crust pie, i.e. two single-crust pies., for a 9-inch pie pan.

Even when I only need a single crust, I still make a full recipe. When going through the trouble of making homemade pie dough, you might as well make two and freeze one for later.

This recipe can be made in a food processor or by hand with a pastry blender. Recently I started using a pastry blender and have gotten quite accustomed to it! 

Mix the Liquids

Place a small bowl or liquid measuring cup in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill. Whisk together all the liquid ingredients until combined.

Do not throw away your ice water. If you need more liquid you add just a sprinkling of cold water..

Mix Dry Ingredients

In a large bowl sift the dry ingredients together. If you are using a food processor pulse a few times to combine.

This might seem like an unnecessary step. However, pie dough isn't mixed or kneaded and minimal handling is necessary for a flaky crust. Therefore, be sure to thoroughly mix the dry ingredients.

Add the Butter

Add your cold butter to the food processor, you can do this in two steps if things are getting full. Pulse 10 to 12 times to break up the butter but do not mix it in.

Some recipe developers say walnut-size pieces, others pea-sized. The reality is somewhere in the middle is best.

Turn the food processor on and pour in the liquid. Pulse until just combined. It should look shaggy and a bit dry.

Chill the Dough

Turn the dough out of the bowl and onto the counter and form into a ball with your hands. Or my favorite trick; turn the dough onto parchment paper or plastic wrap.

Twist the paper around and the dough ball should form. This trick prevents you from overworking the dough and melting the butter.

Dive the dough into two and flatten it into a round disc. Tightly cover with plastic or cling wrap.

Chill the pie dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out but 2 hours is better. This step is non-negotiable; it's the most crucial part of any pie crust recipe.

Once chilled you can roll out the dough according to your recipe instructions.

Roll Out the Dough

Deft, light strokes of the rolling pin and not too much flour on the board are the essentials. You can use white rice flour or more of your all-purpose blend for rolling out the dough.

I prefer to use a Silpat because it makes transferring the dough foolproof. You can also roll our between two pieces of parchment paper. 

Place one dough disc on your floured surface. Roll quickly and lightly, always out from the center out. After every stroke, turn the dough to the right at 90 degrees.

As the rolling pin approaches the edge of the dough on each stroke, the pin should be lifted and never rolled over the edge. This will make the edges too thin and cause them to crack.

The dough should be lifted frequently but never turned over during rolling. The final size should be 2 inches larger than your pie pan. 

Gently move the dough to your pie pan. If you are using a rolling mat you can simply flip it over as shown below. Snuggly press the pie dough into the seam of the pan.

Pat the dough all over to push out any air bubbles.

Finish the Edges

The classic edge for a single pie crust pie recipe is a crimped edge. Start by trimming the edge with scissors. Then fold a ½ inch of the edge under to make a standing rim.

Gently flute the edge using two fingers from one hand and one from the other.

🥧How to Par-Bake Pie Crust

Par-baking is a useful technique where you partially bake the pie shell before adding the filling. A par-bake is used when the filling needs less time to cook than the crust or the filling is very wet. Think quiches and pumpkin pie here.

Start by docking the crust, meaning poke the bottom with a fork a few times. Then line the bottom with a sheet of parchment paper and fill the bottom with pie weights.

The weights keep the bottom from puffing up and docking the dough allows steam to escape.

Par bake a chilled pie crust for 12-15 minutes at 425 F degrees. Just until the edge of the crust just begins to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

🥧How to Blind Bake a Pie

When doing a blind bake you want to ensure your recipe is only for a single-crust pie and it will not be cooked again later. Prepare your crust the same way as if you were going to partially blind bake.

Bake the pie crust at 425°F until the crust begins to turn golden between 17 to 20 minutes.

Remove the parchment and pie weights, and continue to bake another 8 to 10 minutes until the bottom of the crust is evenly browned and looks crisp.

👩🏻‍🍳 Troubleshooting

Your pie dough is crumbly which means rips and tears when you roll it out. This dough lacks moisture. Make sure you use enough ice water when preparing your pie dough. And always scoop your flour to ensure you haven't added too much.

Tough pie crust is the result of not enough fat in the crust, as well as overworking the dough. This recipe uses slightly more fat than the standard 3-2-1 pie ratio so follow the recipe and use the extra butter. 

Additionally, don't work the dough too much by using our parchment paper twist method.