Gluten Free Pie Dough – The Best I ever tasted

Yes! It really is Gluten Free! photo by Barbara Swell

I’ll be honest.  I don’t need to eat gluten free so I don’t spend a lot of time making gluten free baked goods.  So when I was co-teaching Pie Camp with Barbara Swell I didn’t focus on the spontaneous gluten free workshop that sprung up within pie camp.  A few folks who were either celiac, gluten sensitive or cooking for folks that were, banded together to conquer the GF pie crust.  Man did they succeed, but they had a pretty great start. Barbara’s daughter Annie Erbsen De Bacco is extremely sensitive to gluten.  She’s also a scientist, medical physicist, cheesemaker, natural cosmetic company founder etc. Growing up with a mom as pie obsessed with Barbara meant that when she finally found a solution to her physical ills she knew she had to create a crust for herself that would satisfy a palate raised on Barbara Swell pies.  Pie Camp ladies Marilyn and Luann started with Annie’s recipe then they made one tweak.  No one believed the pies made with that dough were gluten free.  I was amazed and impressed.  Seriously.  Try it.

Gluten Free Pie Dough

Course: Dessert, Dough, Pie Dough
Cuisine: Gluten Free
Servings: 6 cups

Ingredients
Gluten Free Flour Mix for Pie Dough
244 gms white rice flour
109 gms brown rice flour
108 gms millet flour
200 gms tapioca starch
81 gms dry powdered milk if in flakes grind to powder
27 gms potato starch NOT flour
10 gms xanthan gum

Gluten Free Pie Dough for Double Crust Pie
300 gms GF Flour Mix
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Large pinch baking powder
226 gms cold butter cubed (this is 2 sticks butter)
1/2 cup ice water
1 tsp white vinegar

Instructions
To Make GF Flour Mix for Pie Dough
1. Add all ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to mix. Store in mason jar.

To Make GF Pie Dough
1. Mix dry ingredients. GF Flour Mix, salt, sugar and baking powder.

2. Thoroughly mix in half of the butter (I use a food processor, but use a fork or pastry cutter otherwise), and toss in the remaining butter chunks. DO NOT mix them thoroughly, we want to leave the pieces quite large. Squish them a little with your fingers or break up into slightly smaller chunks.

3. Add your ice water one tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork, until it comes together. It will not feel like regular pie dough, but more like dry-ish biscuit dough (wetter than usual pie dough). Pat into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

4. Roll out dough between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Flour liberally with the gluten free flour or rice flour.

5. Roll out dough until it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Remove the top piece of parchment or plastic and fold your rolled out dough in half, then half again. So now have 4 layers. Replace the parchment or plastic wrap and roll out the dough again. Repeat the folding process. By now it should be easier to work with. Roll out the dough one last time again using additional flour as necessary. Gently place the dough into your pie pan.

Recipe Notes
1 cup of GF Flour Mix weighs approx 120 gms.

Folding the rolled dough then re-rolling (twice) gives you the flakiness you’re looking for.

Thank you Marilyn Weber and Luann Sewell Waters from Pie Camp for your tinkering

Thanks Barbara Swell and Annie Erbsen De Bacco for the recipe.