This buttery gluten-free pie crust is adapted from the Apple Pie recipe on this site, which is one of my favorites but needed a little updating. For one, I’ve never loved the photos, which meant I had to reshoot it, which meant pie for lunch. Not the worst thing to happen on this Monday.
buttery gluten-free pie crust
I also wanted to make it a bit easier to make. The expression “Easy as pie” is still total bullshit, but I’d love to at least make it as easy as possible. Piessible?
It’s been the Monday-est Monday ever.
For this variation, I streamlined the eggs in order to waste less (2 eggs plus one white instead of the original 4 separated eggs), and made it in the food processor, eliminating the need to cut in the butter. I think it was not only quicker to make, but also easier to work with.
And it’s flaky, and buttery, and really delicious.
(If you don’t have a food processor, just follow the instructions in the original pie recipe)
Note: This recipe is for a double pie crust (top and bottom). If you’re making a tart or topless pie (heh), simply cut the ingredients in half.
buttery gluten-free pie crust
Proof that giving up gluten doesn’t mean you can’t still have excellent pie!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 75 minutes
- Yield: 1 double pie crust
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
- 3 cups almond flour
- 1 cup arrowroot powder, (plus more for dusting)
- 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
- 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- 2 eggs + 1 white, (divided (white kept separate))
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of your food processor, combine the almond flour, arrowroot, coconut sugar, and salt. Pulse several times to mix it all up.
- Cut the cold butter into chunks and add it to the food processor. Pulse several more times until the butter is no larger than pea-sized and is more or less incorporated into the flour.
- In a large bowl, combine the whole eggs and vanilla and whisk to combine. (Beat the egg white separately and set aside; you’ll use it to brush on the inside of the pie once you put it in the pan to keep it from getting soggy)
- Dump the flour-butter mixture into the egg mixture and gently fold in. You want it to just come together.
- Gather the dough into 2 balls and form into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake your pie.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350ºF. Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat up. (Placing the pie on a hot baking sheet will help keep the bottom crust from getting soggy).
- Roll out and bake according to the instructions of the pie you’re making. (If making Apple Pie, skip ahead to step 8 in that recipe)
Notes
You will also need aluminum foil, parchment paper, a pie pan and a baking sheet.
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Christy says
Would you be able to recommend a different fat for those of us who can’t have dairy (I can’t even handle ghee at this point)? Palm shortening?
I’ve never bought lard before but maybe that would be good?
Thank you!
zenbellyblog says
Shortening should work! Lard is great too but has more of a strong flavor, so it’s a matter of preference. Maybe a shortening / lard combo would be good! Looks for a good quality lard like Fatworks or Epic.
Penny Will says
Can I use Ghee instead of the butter? Some of our family members can’t have butter.
Thanks for any help…I am new to this gluten/dairy free baking.
Celeste says
Any reason this can’t be refrigerated overnight? Making two apple pies on Thanksgiving morning and want to do all the dough on Wednesday!
zenbellyblog says
you definitely can! Did you get my free guide with all this info? The sign up form is right in this email 🙂
zenbellyblog says
You definitely can! Did you get my free guide with all of that info? The sign up form is right in this post 🙂
Sydnee says
This may be the best pie crust I have ever eaten. I made it for my pie-loving boyfriend for his birthday. He is a self-proclaimed “grain eater” and requested this be my go to pie crust recipe. He said he wouldn’t have known it was grain-free if he hadn’t been told. I told him it’s because Simone is fantastic and that is her goal.
Simone, thank you for all of your amazing recipes. I didn’t look anywhere else when I wanted a pie recipe. I came straight to your site because I knew it would be amazing. Every recipe of yours I’ve made always is. Thank you for making and sharing such delicious recipes in ways that empower me to step out of my cooking comfort zone.
zenbelly says
Sydnee thank you SO MUCH! That is the sweetest thing to hear. I’m thrilled that you and your boyfriend loved the pie crust, and I hope he had a very happy birthday 🙂
Sheryl says
Hi-!
Any advice if I plan to use this pie crust for a Pumpkin Pie? I will halve the recipe for just bottom crust and my pumpkin pie recipe says bake for 55-65 minutes so I do not THINK I need to prebake the crust… Please let me know — this is a wonderful crust recipe and I have used it for the Apple Pie and think it would be great for a custard pie as well! 😀
zenbelly says
I have similar recipes for tarts / bottom only crusts, and for those I do par-bake them a bit, but they’re shorter cooking times… 55-60 minutes is a long time so I think you’ll be fine skipping the par bake! Please let me know how it comes out!
Penny Will says
Can I use Ghee instead of the butter? Some of our family members can’t have butter.
Thanks for any help…I am new to this gluten/dairy free baking.
zenbelly says
yes, definitely! You should be able to do that for just about any recipe that calls for butter. It’s a good idea to use it at the same temp that the butter is recommended to be, so if it calls for cold butter, measure your ghee and stick it in the fridge if you don’t already keep it in there. Hope that helps and I hope the other recipes here make it easier to make the GF / DF transition 🙂
Andrea Alvin says
I am allergic to almonds. Can you recommend another flour that will work with this and other recipes?
zenbelly says
No, but I can recommend you just use a recipe that doesn’t have the thing you’re allergic to as the main ingredient. Like the crust recipe in this one: https://www.zenbelly.com/paleo-grapefruit-tart/