The Best Gluten Free Pie Crust (almond flour)

Gluten free recipes are not always the easiest or they turn out to crumbly or tasteless but not this pie crust recipe! Almond flour is the way to go for pie crust. It adds a great nutty, complementary flavor as well as creating the right texture along with the butter.

Ingredients for Gluten Free Pie Crust

Almond Flour

Almond flour is a naturally gluten free flour that taste amazing! Its perfect for all different types of desserts. It is light and fluffy and the flavor is nutty and sweet. However, sadly it is expensive, 2lbs is typically around $10 at Walmart and amazon.

Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

These recipe calls for both almond flour and all purpose flour. The almond flour can be a bit crumbly we do half almond and half all purpose flour to help hold things together. You can use any gluten free all purpose flour for this recipe.

Sugar

A little white sugar in this recipe helps flavor the crust by sweetening it just a little making it complementary to our sweet pie filling. A little sugar will go a long way for our pie crust so we don’t need a lot. You could also use Monk Fruit Sweetener or honey as a substitute if needed.

Cold Butter

Cold butter is extremely important. The colder the butter the better. I freeze my butter for pie crusts. Keeping the butter cold keeps the water that’s in the butter from absorbing into the flour too soon. We want the steam from the water in the butter to make lots of air pockets in order to create glorious flakes in our crust. If you let the butter get warm the flour will absorb the water and you will get a dense crust.

Apple Cider Vinegar

With regular flours the acids in apple cider vinegar slow down the gluten production and keep the dough from becoming elastic like. Because we are using gluten free flour already this ingredient isn’t as needed but I still like to add it. I think the ACV and the butter together create better air pockets and help make a soft and flaky crust. Remember to use COLD apple cider vinegar, if your liquid is cold your butter will also stay cold.

An Ice Cube (optional)

You can either place your ACV in the freezer for 20 minutes or so in order to get it cold or you can place an ice cube in it. I usually use an ice cube but its up to you. You will not be putting the ice cube in the dough. Its just to make your apple cider vinegar cold.

Salt

Enhance the flavor with good salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and electrolytes harvested in the United States of America, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.

How To Make Gluten Free Pie Crust

Mix Dry Ingredients

In a food processor (or by hand) mix together the almond flour, all purpose flour, sugar and salt. Pulse a few time to get them mixed together.

Add Cold Butter and Apple Cider Vinegar

Now cut the cold butter in cubes and add them into the flour, pulse in the food processor or use a fork or your hands to mix the cold butter in without it melting. Add a teaspoon at a time of the apple cider vinegar till the dough looks like little beads.

Form and Refrigerate

Dump the bead like dough onto a clean surface or parchment paper and form into two discs without overworking the dough. Cover in a air tight container or zip-lock bag and place in the refrigerator for1 hour.

Roll Out and Place in Pie Pan

Roll out on a piece of parchment paper or wax paper with a little bit of flour. The parchment paper will make it easier to place into the pan as the dough if very fragile. Roll our till to 9 to 10 inches round and place your pie pan on top. Flip the pie crust over with the pan underneath it. It will break a little. Because it has no gluten it will not hold together very well. Don’t work about that. Just take the pieces that fall of and mold them back into the pie pan till every crack is covered again.

Bake

Bake according to your pie filling recipe and enjoy!

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