How to Make Gluten-Free Pie Dough

If you’re looking for a flaky, tender gluten-free pie dough (or pastry dough) that is fabulously easy to roll out, look no further. Not only is this the best tasting gluten-free pie dough, this detailed guide is also full of tips and tricks to help you make perfect GF pie crust at home. The secret? A tablespoon of sour cream! It tenderizes the gluten-free pastry dough.

Gluten-Free Pie dough that makes flaky crust!

I’ve always loved to bake, but the first time I tried making gluten-free pie crust I was in tears. What used to be so easy (pre-GF years), was now horribly frustrating with dismal results.

I had found other GF crust recipes to fill the void, such as oatmeal pie crust and almond flour pie crust, which don’t require rolling or chilling. But I was missing the perfect gluten-free pie dough recipe to recreate the classics I grew up with.

Then a cookbook called America’s Test Kitchen: The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook came along. Its revolutionary tips and tricks not only help me create the beginner’s guide to gluten-free baking, but inspired me to write a gluten-free cookbook of my own!

I learned making a gluten-free pie crust with sour cream was the essential ingredient I had been missing! It tenderizes the pastry dough by coating the starches, making a homemade gf pie crust recipe that is light and flaky instead of dense and chewy.

Pie-making and I gladly reunited, and inspired me to create a whole collection of gluten-free pie recipes I thought I would never enjoy again!

Not only is this gf crust the best tasting, but I also include many tips, hacks, the best flour to use, and how to make the dough using a food processor or by hand.

Ingredient notes

The recipe is for a single crust pies, but if need a double crust pie recipe, simply double the amounts. I do not included xanthan gum in the ingredients because most flour blends include it. If yours does not, add 1/2 teaspoon.

• All purpose gluten-free flour – I use and highly recommend for this recipe Cup4Cup gluten-free flour blend. However, I include more notes on different flours below.
• Sugar – A slight flavor boosts and helps make the crust more tender
• Ice water – The colder the better!
• Sour Cream – Tenderizes the pastry dough by coating the starches. For a vegan or dairy-free recipe, I recommend substituting non-dairy greek yogurt.
• Vinegar – Makes a flaky texture. I prefer the taste of apple cider vinegar, but any will do
• Unsalted Butter – Cubed and frozen for 10 minutes so it is very cold. Dairy-free, vegan butter sticks or shortening may also be substituted, but will affect the taste and flakiness.

How to Make Gluten-Free Pie dough recipe (by hand or food processor)

First, mix together the cold water, sour cream, and vinegar in a small bowl. Tip: Put the liquids bowl into the refrigerator until you are ready to use.

Then, mix together gluten-free flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. By hand, whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Tip: Weighing flour with a food scale gives the most consistent results, especially with interchanging different gluten free flour brands.  If you can’t weigh it, use a spoon to gently scoop it into measuring cup, then level off.

Add cubed very cold butter. Tip: Cube butter on a small cutting board and place the cutting board and chunks of butter in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Add the chilled butter to the flour mixture and mix until you see pea-sized chunks. By hand, use a pastry cutter or fingers to cut and knead butter into the dough until you have pea-sized chunks.

Finally, add half the liquids to the food processor and pulse a few times. Add the remaining liquids and pulse until the flour becomes moistened and small dough clumps appear.

By hand, add half the liquids and knead with fingers or a fork. Pour in the remaining liquids. Knead until the dough starts to come together and the liquids are well mixed with flour.

Tip: To check if you have enough liquid, clump and flatten a small bit of dough. If it doesn’t stick together, is crumbly, or breaks apart easily, add a small dash of ice water. Pulse a few times and recheck. If the dough is too wet or sticky, add a dash of flour. Pulse a few times and recheck.

Now it’s time to chill the dough before rolling. Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter and pour the gluten-free pie dough onto it. Shape into a disc, about 1 inch thick.

Wrap the plastic wrap tightly around the pastry dough and refrigerate for 1 hour or freeze for 30 minutes.

Tip: Wrapped pie crust dough may be refrigerate for 1-2 days. If storing longer, place the wrapped disc in a freezer ziplock bag and freeze up to 1 month. Thaw in refrigerator overnight.

Best tips For Rolling Out Gluten-Free Pie Crust

1. I find rolling between two large pieces of parchment paper works best. Plastic wrap may be used, but it has a tendency to stick to the dough more.
2. If the dough is too cold it will be hard to roll and break apart. Let it sit on the counter for 5 minutes and try again.
3. When you are rolling, press down in the middle and push the dough out from center. This will ensure the middle not being too thick, while edges are too thin.
4. Rotate the pie dough as you are rolling so it forms a perfect circle. If one side is bigger than the other, cut some dough off and add it to the smaller side of the circle.
5. While rolling the dough may warm, which causes the parchment paper to stick. If this happens, place rolled pie crust, with parchment still on, in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes so butter re-solidifies and releases from the paper.
6. Once the dough is turned over in the pie dish use kitchen scissors to trim off excess dough around edges. If some edges need more dough to fold under, press on some of the clipped off pie dough.
7. There are many ways to crimp a decorative pie crust edge. This page gives great tutorials for making easy to very creative edges.

Baking methods

Once the dough is rolled out and shaped in your pie pan, move the dish to the freezer for 15 minutes or up to 1 hour. When the dough is chilled and firm, add the pie filling and bake according to the recipe.

Double Crust or Lattice Crust

This recipe yields enough for single crust pies. If your recipe calls for a double crust or lattice top, double the ingredients and divide pastry dough in two discs to refrigerate.

Here is a great tutorial on how to make a lattice top.

Partially-Baked Pie Crust

For recipes that call for a partially baked bottom of the crust, before filling, preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line the bottom of chilled crust with foil or parchment paper.

Place pie weights or dried beans on top of liner. Bake on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through.

Fully Baked or blind baked Pie Crust

Some recipes require a fully baked pie shell, such as cream pies. Follow directions for partially-baked pie crust, adding 5-10 minutes to cooking time, and removing the liner with weights for last 10-15 minutes. Bake until the bottom crust is golden brown.

Tip: I highly recommend using this silicone adjustable pie shield when baking pies. It will keep the crust golden brown instead of burnt before the filling is ready.

can i substitute shortening for butter?

Yes. If you prefer using shortening in pie crusts you may replace the butter with an equal amount.

For a gluten-free dairy-free or vegan pie dough plant-based butter sticks or shortening may be substituted, but will affect the taste and flakiness. I also recommend cutting the salt by half if using vegan butter.

If you are wondering if shortening is gluten-free, it does not contain any ingredients that have wheat or gluten. Crisco does state their products are made in a shared environment, so those with particularly sensitive allergies should be careful.

how far ahead can you make pie crust?

Gluten-free pie dough with sour cream can be prepared up to 24 hours ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to use. If you require the crust further in advance, you have a couple options.

Either wrap the dough disc securely in plastic wrap and then transfer to a ziplock freezer bag. Freeze up to 2 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling out.

The dough may also be rolled out and placed in a pie pan. Wrap the unbaked crust securely with plastic wrap and freeze up to 1 month. When ready to bake, fill the frozen crust and bake as directed.

note about gluten-free flours

I’ve tried this recipe with three different store-bought gluten-free flour blends. Below are my pie crust making and tasting notes using three popular flours, but go to this article for a complete guide on the best gluten-free flour.

• Recommended: Cup 4 Cup Gluten Free Flour – I’m a huge fan of this flour for gf pie crusts and all baking. It rolls out well and yields a flaky, tender texture. Plus, the taste is so much like regular flour, no one suspects it’s gluten free.
• Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour – This flour was very easy to work with and rolled out beautifully. However, the texture was a bit more chewy, not as flaky, and slightly more dense than Cup 4 Cup.
• King Arthur Measure-for-Measure Gluten-Free Flour – I had the hardest time with this one. The dough was dry so I had to add more liquid to get it to bind together. The baked texture was chewy and dense, probably from the starch to liquid ratio being off.

gluten-free pie fillings

Now that you have a dependable gluten free pie dough recipe, there are plenty of options for fillings. Below are some of my favorite pies to make!

• Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie
• Sugar Cream Pie
• Concord Grape Pie
• Chocolate Chess Pie
• Southern Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Pie
• Gluten-Free Pecan Pie

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