Today I’m sharing how to make the perfect pie crust which also happens to be gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free and vegan. Just in time for Thanksgiving.
One of my first worries when the doctor told me I had to eliminate gluten: pie crust. I’m not even kidding you. Like, right behind donuts kind of worry. I have always made my own pie crust, always been the one to bring pies to gatherings…and certainly not the kind from the freezer section. I worried homemade pie crust would be a thing of the past.
Once I figured out how to make a gluten-free flour blend that acted pretty much like gluten-full, all purpose flour, I decided I was going to have at it. I was going to figure out a way to make gluten-free pie crust that was every bit as good as the crust I learned to make from my high school home economics teacher, Mrs. Sylvia Anderson.
Well, guess what? It didn’t take me nearly as long as I thought it would to “re-invent” pie crust into one that is not only gluten-free, but also free of dairy and eggs and also vegan!
I stuck with the pie crust recipe that I had used for hundreds of pies, simply substituting my gluten-free flour blend (super easy, you can make it with ingredients your local grocer probably carries) and switching out the butter for a non-dairy variety.
I’ll share all of the tips on how to make this pie crust truly perfect in the recipe below, but first I want to share some success stories with you. I often meet folks who are fearful of pie crust. It scares people. I don’t know why because I had an amazing teacher before I had ever attempted pie crust on my own.
So to me, it has always been “easy as pie.” But I see the fear, the timidity, the trepidation with which many approach pie crust. I’ve been on a mission the last few years to ease that anxiety.
And it works! I taught fifteen people in a recent class how to make pie crust. Each of them took a pie home to bake! And prior to that, I taught my favorite littles who were nine and six at the time how to make pie crust. They made lattice-topped pies on the very first try. See? You can do this.
How about one more little vote of confidence before you get started? When you hear folks talk about over-working dough or crust, it has to do with the gluten in the dough. It is EVEN easier to make pie crust when you remove the gluten!
Rolling and re-rolling pie crust that has gluten in it can result in a tough, chewy crust. No worries here, take the gluten out and you have a pie crust that can be re-rolled with no harm in case you don’t get it right the first time. Truly, EASY AS PIE!
The recipe is below. Hidden in the recipe is a BIG vote of confidence from me. I know you can do this. Go on, make your own pie crust. You’ll never look back, I just know it. 🙂
Perfect Pie Crust (gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, vegan)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups of Johnna’s Favorite Gluten-Free Flour Blend
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 T . coconut sugar
- 1 t . guar gum (optional, but if you are new to crust, it is helpful to hold it together)
- 1/4 cup shortening (I use palm shortening OR coconut oil, not liquified) (Crisco works, too...)
- 1 1/2 sticks of Earth Balance Vegan Butter Substitute , cold and cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup very cold water* (I believe this is the trick to a good pie crust, water and butter must be cold)
- *I start with ice water and measure out 1/2 cup after the water has been with ice for a few minutes.
Instructions
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This recipe makes pie crust for two-8" or 9" pies. (Single crust pies, not double crust. If you are making a double crust or a lattice-topped pie, you will need the full recipe.) Make one pie now, freeze the second for later!
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Mix flour, salt and sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
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Add shortening and break up with a pastry cutter, two knives or a fork. I prefer a pastry cutter with flexible tines. Many pastry cutters available today are actually a series of firm blades, not flexible tines. I prefer the flexible tines. Sometimes the easiest place to find these is in the small selection of utensils in the supermarket.
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Next add the butter substitute and mix with pastry cutter, just until the pieces of butter substitute are about the size of peas. You don't want to complete mix them in. The little chunks of butter and shortening lend to the flaky texture of the crust.
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Begin adding the cold water, just a little at a time until you reach the texture of pie crust dough.This will vary depending on weather conditions. When it is very dry here, I need the entire 1/2 cup of water, sometimes just a Tablespoon or so additional.
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Divide dough into two equal balls and chill between two sheets of plastic wrap for 30 minutes.
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Roll out 1 ball of dough for one regular size (8"or 9") pie crust. Freeze other half of dough for use later.
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Do not roll this dough out on a floured surface. The dough is perfect as is, no need to add extra flour while rolling it out. Instead, roll it between two pieces of plastic wrap. Super easy and the dough won't stick to your rolling pin.
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Start rolling in the middle. Roll from the middle straight up. Picture this as 12 on a clock. Then roll from the middle toward 1, then 2, then 3. Now rotate the entire crust (this is easy because it is in plastic wrap) 45 degrees and repeat. Continue this process until you have rolled all the way around. Continue this until you have a thin circle of pie dough.
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Once you have rolled it out to be slightly larger than your pie pan, remove the top layer of plastic wrap. Place your pie pan atop the pie crust.
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Gently slide your hand underneath the bottom of the pie crust and plastic wrap. Invert the pie plate and you'll now have the crust in your pie plate. Press the crust down into the pan and carefully remove the plastic wrap. That's it!
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You can finish the crust with a fancy finish, with the tines of a fork or by rolling out the second half of the dough and cutting small shapes with a cookie cutter. Completely up to you how to finish a crust!
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Crust can be frozen before being rolled out or after being rolled out and placed in a pan. I make this type of crust in disposable foil pie pans ahead of the holidays so I can make a pie in a hurry.
This is the pie crust I use to make pot pie, toaster pastries (pop tarts) and sweet little pocket pies like this.
Join me tomorrow when I share a gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, nut-free, vegan, no-bake pumpkin pie filling. WAIT! It’s up now. You can get the recipe right here! No kidding, I’ve made it work and it’s packed with all of the flavors traditional pumpkin pie!
I’m linking this post up with Gluten-Free Wednesdays. Click thru for many more recipes from great folks!
Can I use xanthan gum instead of guar gum?? Recipe looks great! Can’t wait to try it
I’m sure xanthan would be fine, Ashley. As I mentioned in the recipe, guar gum is optional, just makes the crust a bit easier to manage for those not quite as comfortable rolling out a crust. I’m super sensitive to the taste of xanthan in baked goods, so usually go with guar instead when it’s necessary. Good luck with your pie making!
Would it work if we used more palm oil shortening or coconut oil in place of the Earth Balance? We can’t use it due to soy, sunflower, and pea allergies….
I do think it would, Elizabeth. I have used coconut oil in this crust before to replace the shortening and it was fine. I’ve also used the soy-free Earth Balance with no problem. I would suggest trying to make it using shortening where called for and then replace the Earth Balance with coconut oil. I hope you’ll let me know, as I picture you having a grand success with this!
What can be used instead of earths balance butter substitute? As don’t think it’s available here in Australia..
Do you have a dairy-free butter substitute available in Australia? It’s an educated guess on my part that you could use coconut oil instead, but I have not tested that and cannot guarantee it would work.
Thank you , will try coconut oil, as haven’t seen any butter substitutes in any stores..
I found out we were having an early Thanksgiving the day before the event. Now I generally use a pate brisee type crust for my pies but I couldn’t find the allergy friendly one I generally use so when I came across your amazingly thorough post I decided to try it. I didn’t see a specification as to whether the recipe was for a single or double pie crust so I just doubled it.
I used palm shortening and Kerry gold butter, divided it up into 4 piles on saran wrap, pressed them into circles and refrigerated them. They’re good and they stand up to pressure beautifully.
Everyone has their own pie – pecan pie? No problem.
Cream cheese pie with chocolate crust (I added 2 Tbsp cocoa and 1 Tbsp sugar to the crust). No problem.
My blueberry streusel pie that uses 6 cups of blueberries? Perfect. The streusel was my last crust broken into clumps, placed in the food processor with added brown sugar and cinnamon. Perfect! In fact one of the best streusel toppings I’ve made even without oats or nuts.
So thanks for sharing Johnna. A+++++
Oh, this just made my day, Laurel! Thank you so much for letting me know how it worked for you.
Thank you for sharing your recipes and tips. I will recommend your site.
Thanks, Sheila!
Hi!
Super tasty crust!
I had some trouble rolling it out. Admittedly, I am not too experienced with pie crust. After I chilled the crust, and took the rolling pin to it, it just fell apart. I ended up pressing it against the pan to make the base crust which worked well.
For future, any extra tips for a newbie?
Thanks!
Hi Genny! Thanks for dropping by.
Did you try rolling the pie crust out between the sheets of plastic wrap? That helps to hold it together. Let me know and we can troubleshoot from there. Thanks!
Hi Johnna!
Thanks for your reply! Yes, I did use plastic wrap. The dough crumbled in between the sheets. I did use all of the super cold water as well. When I mixed the water in, I kept using the pastry cutter, was that it?
Thanks!
Genny
I use my pastry cutter to mix in water as well. Are you using my flour blend or another AP GF flour blend? I’m sure we can get this figured out! This is the pie crust I teach in classes, so I’ve had lots of opportunities to troubleshoot. LOL
Is it possible for me to use bobs red mill gluten free flour mix? I already have it on hand and can’t really afford to go buy 4 different flours right now?
Sure! Be mindful if it already has a gum like xanthan or guar added.
Does the 3 T of sugar stand for teaspoons or tablespoon?
Hi Claire! Thanks for your message.
A capital T in a recipe indicates Tablespoon, where a lower case t indicates teaspoon.
Happy pie making!
Made your crust for a bottom crust for a gluten-free, dairy free lemon meringue pie for my wife’s birthday. Had no problems rolling out the crust once I let it warm up a little from being in the fridge. My crust cracked a lot when I baked it though. I had followed my old regular crust instructions for baking once the crust was in pie plate. Was hoping you could take a look at the directions I followed and maybe suggest something different to keep it from breaking up so badly. I ended up only keeping it at 375 on the lower rack for 10 minutes, moved it up and turned down to 350 for 10, pulled the foil off and baked another 15 (it was shattered by the first 10 minutes without the foil).
Place in refrigerator for at least 40 minutes or in freezer for 20 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove pie shell from freezer and fit a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil (the extra-wide rolls are best; if the foil is too narrow, use two sheets) over shell, pressing foil carefully into bottom of pie shell and against the sides. Add pie weights or dried beans, enough to generously cover bottom of pie shell. Pile up the weights around the sides of the shell to help hold them in place. Bake on lower rack for about 20 minutes or until sides of pie shell are set. (They should be firm and not moist.) Remove foil and bake another 6 to 8 minutes if shell is to be baked a second time with filling. The baked shell should have just the slightest amount of color. If not, bake until shell is a rich nut-brown, 35 to 40 minutes in total (another 15 to 20 minutes). Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
I looked up the recipe you used online. I’m not surprised you had challenges with my crust. The recipe you used calls for nearly completely baking the crust, not par baking, then filling and baking again. Thirty-five minutes is a VERY long time to bake an unfilled crust.
I too need to make a crust baked before adding in the filling.
Any time I do a blind bake, I use a high heat, 425° for 10-12 minutes to get it set quickly. Then, once the foil and weights are removed, I do another 5-10 minutes more. I have sometimes dropped the temp down to 375° for the second part of baking, but I find the crust can collapse or shrink or (with gluten flour) puff up when I do a lower temp/slower bake.
This one took 10 minutes at 425° with foil and weights, then removed the foil and weights, still at 425° for another 12 minutes (until the bottom didn’t look shiny). I let it cool outside (MN in Autumn). Look perfect. Not shiny and not burnt.
Thank you so much for sharing what worked for you! Happy pie making!
Hi Johnna, I’ve read the recipe and the comments and I still am not sure how I am supposed to bake the crust. I’ve never made a pie before, not even with a store-bought crust, and I’m planning on using this pie crust recipe in a few days for an apple pie. Am I supposed to bake the crust before filling it? What temperature and for how long?? Thanks!!
Hi there! This will vary with the type of pie you are making. Usually with apple pie you do not bake the crust prior to filling it. With some fillings, par-baking could be useful. I defer to the instructions for the pie filling I’m using. Have you chosen an Apple pie recipe?
Thank you for the reply!! Okay, that makes sense! Yes – it’s a recipe from a coworker. We are doing a team-building thing where we all make pie together. I wasn’t sure if the baking times would be different for the gluten-free crust, but I will just prepare the raw dough according to your instructions and then follow her apple pie instructions! Thanks again 🙂
What 1 1/2 stick of the earth b as lance in grams please?
Earth Balance is packaged like butter, four sticks in a pound. Each stick is 112 grams. For 1 1/2 sticks, it’s 168 grams. (It’s also 12 Tablespoons. A stick of butter in the US is 8 Tablespoons.)
Thanks! I’ll need to try the recipe again. ????
Only stick of butter I can find in our shops were 500gm. 250gm. (In Australia). So thanks for the clarification.
Hi! The Earth Balance butter comes in a small tub only, not in sticks. So, how many cups of butter isn’t equivalent to 1-1/2 sticks of this butter?
I’m sorry to hear Earth Balance does not come in sticks where you live. Here we have two different options in sticks, one with soy and one without, in addition to the tubs.
A stick of butter is 8 Tablespoons or 1/2 cup. 1 1/2 sticks of butter is 12 Tablespoons, 3/4 cup.
Looking forward to making this crust. I’m confused if you use the same recipe for savory as sweet. I really like a sweet crust for pies. Should I increase the amount of sugar?
Thanks
I use the same crust for sweet and savory. Not a fan of sweet coming from pie crust or the texture change in the crust from more sugar, plus a sweet filling is usually enough for me. If you decide to increase the sugar, please report back. I’d love to hear how it goes.
Thanks for all the clarification! I live in VA and I’ve only seen the Earth Balance in tubs. Sticks would be awesome!
Hello Joanna,
I am gluten free with other allergies and rice being one of them. So far I think I’m good with brown rice and not white rice. What do you recommend replacing the white rice with. I am also allergic to oats. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
I am also allergic to sunflower seeds so I will use coconut oil in place of the Earth Balance and shortening, correct?
I think you could use brown rice and not white. It might also work to use cassava flour. Yes to the coconut oil. Good luck!
This pie crust came out AMAZING.
The only change I made was using Bob’s Red Mill GF flour since that’s what I already had. Since I saw it has xanthan gum mixed in, I only added 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum to the mix.
I’ve never made pie in my life, much less with a homemade pie crust, and I was so so impressed with the way this turned out, now I’m inspired to make ALL the pies!!! I can’t wait to make a chicken pot pie! I have a lot of allergies, so finding a recipe like this opens up so many possibilities for me. THANK you for this recipe!