Gluten Free Pie Dough

This gluten free pie crust recipe is an all purpose pie dough for both savory and sweet pies. It comes together quickly in either a food processor or in a stand mixer and uses a 1-1 gluten-free flour blend.

Gluten Free Pie Crust Recipe

This gluten free pie crust is the most basic pie dough you'll need for making pie! It works especially well for savory pies and is a great pastry for all fruit pies too. It's a gluten free version of a pate brisee, which is a French term for a classic butter pie crust. So far, this gluten free version is the closest equivalent I've found found for a classic pie crust. This all butter pastry tastes amazing and is relatively easy to work with too!

For so long I had been trying to make gluten-free pie pastry the same method that I make wheat flour pastry, and it made the gluten free version so difficult to work with. Then I started treating the gluten-free dough differently and had amazing results that created fuss free pie dough that also tastes great. Honestly, making gluten free dough is so much easier than the traditional pie dough!

How does a gluten free crust differ from a wheat crust?

You'll never hear me say that a gluten free pastry tastes EXACTLY the same as a wheat pastry, it's just impossible because well, gluten is missing, therefor it will be different. But it IS possible to make gluten free pastry that taste great, is easy to work with and is a perfectly suitable stand in for the gluten version.

This recipe for gf pie crust is a classic example of that. You don't NEED to know any of this information in order to make it, but I always find it's useful when making gluten free anything to understand how the gluten version works in order to make the best stand in version possible. See this post if you want to read my take on making a classic gluten pastry.

1. Gluten free pie crusts just won't be as flaky as gluten pie crusts. In order to make the dough workable, you'll need to incorporate the butter fully throughout the dough.
2. Gluten free dough actually is easier to work with! What you'll miss out on in flakiness, you make up for in relatively fuss-free dough. With fully incorporated butter, the dough has a consistency like play dough, and is pretty easy to roll out.
3. It can be rolled out right away! I've found it is quite easy to roll out the dough right away after making it. Remember: no gluten means no need to rest the dough to prevent too much gluten formation! YAY! Just make sure your butter isn't too soft. You'll know your butter has softened too much if it is difficult to roll out and the dough is sticking. Chill it for about 10-15 minutes if this happens (see below for more information about rolling out dough) before trying to roll out.
4. You can re roll the scraps many, many times. Same rule as above, no gluten means your dough won't get tough from rolling out too many times.

Gluten-free Flour Brands

This recipe calls for a 1-to-1 flour blend. There are a few different brands out there, and I've used both Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur Flour cup for cup or 1-to-1 flour blends. Look for a blend that says it will work as a complete swap for all-purpose flour.

How to Make Gluten-Free Pie Dough

Make this dough in either the food processor or an electric stand mixer. I recommend using either of these because it completely incorporates the butter into the dough without making it too soft. You'll want your dough to fully form into a ball, like in the above photo. If your dough doesn't come together into a cohesive ball it will be difficult to roll out.

How to Roll it Out

This dough is so easy to roll out if you treat it kindly! If you do tear a hole, you can press it back together once it is in the dish.

Freshly made dough:

Note: if at any point your pastry is sticking a lot or is very soft, the butter has warmed up too much. Place it in the refrigerator to chill for 10-15 minutes, and then begin again.

1. Generously flour a work surface with the gluten free flour blend.
2. Place the dough on the flour surface and then add flour to the top of the dough, and onto the rolling pin.
3. Gently roll out the dough into a 11" circle (to fit a 9" pie plate). If the pie sticks at any point use a bench scraper or a spatula to scrape/ lift it off the surface and flour underneath it.
4. Roll the dough up onto the rolling pin, pick it up and unravel it onto the pie plate (as shown in the photo above).
5. Crimp as desired, and repair any holes.
6. Make sure to chill the dough until it is cold before you proceed to par-baking or filling it.

Dough from the refrigerator:

1. Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes to warm slightly. It is ready when you push down on the dough with your finger and it leaves a slight indentation. If it rock hard you will have a hard
2. Generously flour a work surface with the gluten free flour blend.
3. Place the dough on the flour surface and then add flour to the top of the dough, and onto the rolling pin.
4. Gently roll out the dough into a 11" circle (to fit a 9" pie plate). If the pie sticks at any point use a bench scraper or a spatula to scrape/ lift it off the surface and flour underneath it.
5. Gently roll the dough up onto the rolling pin, pick it up and unravel it onto the pie plate (as shown in the photo above).
6. Crimp as desired, and repair any holes.
7. Make sure to chill the dough until it is cold before you proceed to par-baking or filling it.

Dough from the freezer:

1. Either let the dough defrost in the refrigerator overnight or if you are really in a rush and can't wait a day I've had success letting the dough sit at room temperature until it is soft enough to roll. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. When it is warm enough to leave an indentation when gently pressed, proceed to the directions for rolling out the dough from step 2 above!

How to Store GF Pie Dough

Wrap the individual pie dough disks as tightly as you can in plastic wrap, and then use a rolling pin to roll out the pie disk and flatten it out so it fills any empty space and essentially makes an air tight seal.

You can store it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or the freezer for up to 3 months. If you plan to store it for an extended period of time than wrap it up twice!

Gluten-Free Pie Dough Baking Tips

Almost as important as how you prepare pie pastry is how you bake it. There is one main rule to remember when it comes to baking all butter pie dough: very cold dough should be put in a very hot oven. All butter pie pastry should be thoroughly chilled before baking, and baked at a high temperature, ideally around 425ºF.

As a general rule of thumb, it’s always best to chill a pie crust either in the freezer for 10-20 minutes or in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour before you bake it. While this is an extra step, it makes all the difference in the world. 

One of the most common problems bakers ask me about is why their pie crust melted, or lost it’s shape, or sank in the pie pan. And the most common reason for this is because the crust was too warm, or the oven wasn’t at the right temperature.

So make sure to chill your pie crust and fully pre-heat your oven!

However, not all pie fillings can be baked at that high of a temperature, which means that sometimes the pie crust will need to be partially or fully blind baked. Usually, a pie recipe indicates how the pie crust should be baked, so reference those directions for pies using this flaky pie crust.

Recipes to make with this gluten-free pie crust:

• Maple Buttermilk Pie
• Zucchini Pie with Goat Cheese and Herbs
• Ginger Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
• Cranberry and Blueberry Pie
• Apple Butter Pie

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