Ah, summer. You deserve to be smooth and creamy, rich and delicious. Like this gluten free root beer float pie. I like it best with a simple light and flaky pastry crust like our coconut cream pie, but if you were hoping not to turn on the oven at all you could easily make it with a no-bake cookie crumb crust (easy instructions included below). Summertime is for livin' easy, after all.
The single pastry crust can easily be made way ahead of time, too, and frozen raw or even frozen after it's been baked. If you freeze it raw, bake it right from the freezer. If you freeze it baked, allow it to defrost at room temperature before pouring in the smooth and creamy root beer float filling.
There are quite a few root beers that are gluten free, but my old-time favorite is A&W. I've also made the filling for this pie with Hansen's root beer and I think it had a bit more of a root beer flavor.
My kids don't drink much soda at all, so this is really a special treat for them. Want to boost the root beer flavor even more? Add some root beer flavoring or root beer concentrate in place of the vanilla extract. Or just serve with a tall, frosty glass of root beer. :)