Gluten-Free Pastry Crust is my all-purpose alternative to traditional pastry crust made with wheat flour and lard. This crust is very light and approximates flakiness better than any other gluten-free crust I’ve tried. I think it’s a combination of the ingredients – the egg most certainly tenderizes the crust, but it’s also the technique. Grating the cold butter on a box grater helps you to distribute the butter through the flour evenly, so this crust is tender and flaky.
When I was growing up I was intimidated by piecrusts. Family gathering always involved pies, and the consensus was that my Mom’s piecrust was the best. She was proud of this achievement, but secretly I was discomforted by how competitive my grandmothers, my mother, and my aunts were. Seriously, everyone’s piecrust was great in my mind! I wonder what they’d think about my Gluten-Free Pastry Crust. I like to think that they’d approve.
Gluten-free Pastry Crust
Ingredients
- 280 grams King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure
- ½ t salt
- 1 ½ sticks very cold butter (15 minutes in the freezer helps!)
- 1 large egg
- 2 T water
Instructions
- Sift the flour and salt – Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the butter – Using a box grater, grate the butter into the bowl and toss it gently to coat with a spoon. Then finish by hand, by pinching the flour and butter until you have a rough mixture with some crumb.
- Add the egg – Beat the egg with 2 T water and work it into the flour/butter mixture with your hands until you have a nice smooth ball. You may need to add more water to the dough, 1 T at a time, until you achieve a smooth texture and the dough holds together without crumbling.
- Press the dough into a disk and chill; preheat the oven – Press the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 20-30 minutes (no longer, or it will get too hard to work with). Preheat the oven to 375°, convection bake setting while the dough is resting.
- Roll out and parbake the dough– Roll out the chilled dough between two layers of plastic wrap to keep the dough from sticking to the counter and your rolling pin. When you've rolled it out to the size needed for your baking dish, gently peel off the top layer of plastic wrap, invert your pie plate on top of the dough, then gently flip it over. Ease the dough into the dish, flattening it and pushing up along the sides. Crimp and tidy the edges. Parbake for 20 minutes.
If you’d like to be notified when new posts are added to this site, please subscribe below, and be sure to click through on the email you receive to confirm your subscription. If you don’t receive a confirmation email, please check your spam folder.
Leave a Reply