Ultimate Gluten Free Pie Crust
This buttery, flakey, gluten-free pie crust is easy and just as delicious as traditional pie crust.
Servings: 2 9″ crusts
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups Cup 4 Cup gluten-free flour or all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 Tbsp sugar omit for savory crust
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted good quality butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes European style butter will render better results here
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/3-1/2 cup ice water
Instructions
- Cut up the butter first thing and keep it in the foil wrapper in the fridge while prepping the dry ingredients.
- Add the flour, sea salt and sugar, if using, to a food processor and pulse to combine (about 3 pulses). Instead of a food processor, you can whisk together in a bowl.
- Toss chilled butter into flour, gently coating butter cubes and breaking up any stuck together (I use the end of a wooden spoon to stir & coat the butter cubes in four.) Using pastry cutter, food processor, or fingers, cut the butter into the dry ingredients, until flour and butter are combined. You're looking for pea sized chunks of flour coated butter. (If using a food processor, pulse to cut in butter, checking often until mixture looks crumbly, about 15-18 pulses.)
- Add the vinegar and pulse a couple of times to incorporate. Or gently mix with a fork.
- Immediately start drizzling ice cold water through the feed tube and pulse as you do. Stop the machine once the mixture starts to come together and looks shaggy. Give the dough a pinch—if it sticks together, it’s ready to go. If not, turn the machine on again and drizzle in a bit more water. You might not need all of the water—you’re looking for a shaggy dough, not a cohesive ball.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and form each into a flat disk. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes or for up to 3 days. Do Ahead: The wrapped disks can be placed in zip-top freezer bags and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using.
- If the dough has been in the fridge for several hours, let it sit at room temperature until slightly softened, about 20-30 minutes. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface. If the dough immediately starts to crack once you start rolling, it’s too cold—give it a few more minutes to warm up. If the edges crack as you roll (which they probably will, so no fear!) simply patch them as needed.
- Transfer dough to a 9" pie plate by wrapping one edge of the dough loosely around the rolling pin and continue rolling until most of the dough is wrapped around the pin. Lay the loose edge over the edge of the pie plate and unroll dough onto the plate completely. Press the dough into the pie plate. Using kitchen scissors, trim the dough to a ½-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under to form a ring around the pie plate. Crimp the ring, if you’d like. Chill the pie plate in the fridge for 10 minutes before baking.
- To blind bake a single pie crust: Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Prick the bottom all over with a fork. Line the crust with a large piece of parchment paper then pour in dried beans or pie weights to completely cover the bottom. Bake 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans. Bake 5 minutes longer, or until light golden on the bottom. Do Ahead: The crust can be blind baked up to 1 day in advance.