Extra Flaky Gluten Free Pie Crust

4.98 from 1277 votes

Prepare an extra flaky, gluten free pie crust when you follow this recipe. Whatever pie you're craving, this is the only gf pie crust recipe you need.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Chilling time30

Total Time1

Course: Dessert, Pie

Cuisine: American

Keyword: extra flaky gluten free pie crust, gluten free pie crust

Servings: 10-inch pie crust

Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all purpose gluten free flour blend I highly recommend Cup4Cup, my Better Than Cup4Cup blend, my Mock Cup4Cup, or my Better Batter Pastry Hack blend, plus more for sprinkling
¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it (use a heaping 3/4 teaspoon)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter roughly chopped and chilled
½ cup sour cream full fat, preferably, chilled
Ice water by the teaspoonful as necessary

Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the pie crust dough.

In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt, and whisk to combine well. Add the chopped and chilled butter, and toss to coat it in the dry ingredients.
Flatten each chunk of butter between your thumb and forefinger to make flat shards of butter, coated fully in flour.
Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients with the butter shards, add the sour cream, and mix to moisten the dry ingredients with the sour cream. The dough should be shaggy and somewhat crumbly.
Knead the dough together with clean hands until it begins to come together. Add ice water by the teaspoon only if necessary for the dough to hold together.
Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and press into a disk as you close the plastic wrap around the dough. It will still seem rough. Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch metal pie plate generously and set aside.

Smooth out the chilled dough.

Once the dough has chilled, turn it out onto a lightly floured piece of unbleached parchment paper. Sprinkle the dough lightly with more flour, and roll it out into a rectangle that is about 1 inch thick, moving the dough frequently and sprinkling it lightly with flour if it begins to stick.
Fold the dough over on itself like you would a business letter. Sprinkle the dough again lightly with flour, and roll out the dough once again into a rectangle about 1 inch thick.
Twice more, remove the top piece of parchment paper, sprinkle lightly with flour, and fold the dough over on itself like you would a business letter.

Shape the dough in the pie plate.

Roll out the dough into an approximately 12-inch round, about 3/8-inch thick. Roll the pie crust loosely onto the rolling pin and then unroll it over the prepared pie plate.
Trim the roughest edges of the crust with kitchen shears. Lift up the edges of the pie crust gently to create slack in the crust, and place the crust into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate.
Tuck the excess pie crust under itself, and crimp the edge gently all the way around the crust by pinching the dough at regular intervals with one hand, and creating a crimped impression with the forefinger of the other hand. Cover the pie crust with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill until firm, at least 30 minutes (and up to 3 days).

Parbake the crust.

Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator and unwrap and discard the plastic. Pierce the bottom of the pie crust all over with the tines of a fork.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the raw crust and cover the bottom of the crust with pie weights or dried beans.
Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the crust is lightly golden brown on the edges, about 10 minutes.
Remove the pie weights and parchment and allow the crust to cool before proceeding with your recipe.

Video

Notes

Alternative recipe without sour cream.

To make this recipe without sour cream, you'll need a different ratio of ingredients, with ice water in place of sour cream. The appropriate ratio of each of the ingredients for each single crust is:

1 1/2 cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour (including 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum)

Scant 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons (84 g) cold unsalted butter, diced and chilled (alternatively, use Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening or Miyoko's Kitchen brand vegan butter, if you are opting for dairy-free).

3/8 cup (3 fluid ounces) cold water, iced (plus more as necessary; ice does not count in the volume measurement)

Multiply all the ingredients by two (2) to make two pie crusts for a double-crust pie or two single crusts for 2 single crust pies.

The instructions for making this version without sour cream are nearly identical to making the crust with sour cream as described fully in the recipe above. Simply follow the same instructions through step 2, and use these instructions for steps 3 and 4:

Step 3: Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients with the butter shards, and add 3/8 cup (3 fluid ounces) of ice cold water (without the ice). Using a large mixing spoon, mix the ingredients together to moisten the dry ingredients. The dough should be shaggy and somewhat crumbly.

Step 4: Knead the dough together with clean hands until it begins to come together. Add more ice water by the teaspoon as necessary for the dough to hold together. Add the water carefully, by the drop, and only to the parts of the dough that are dry, crumbly, and completely without moisture, and gently knead it in with clean hands.

Smooth and shape the dough just as described in the recipe below. All the other instructions are identical.

Nutrition information.

Nutrition information is an estimate only from online calculators, provided as a courtesy, and should not be relied on under any circumstances. It is for a single full recipe, not for a pie crust cut into 8 portions, for example.

Nutrition