You know the awesomely flaky roll out Pillsbury pie dough that is layered with buttery goodness? The dough that makes for the most perfect braids, lattices, and cut outs? That’s the pie dough I grew up with and for a good reason. Not only was it quick and turned out perfect every time, but it is just so delicious with any sweet or savory pie. This is not to say that my mother or my grandmother was in any way too lazy to make homemade pie crust. It was just the opposite. But when you are my grandmother cooking to feed around twenty to sometimes thirty Vernon’s in one sitting or whipping up dinner in a matter of thirty minutes like my mother, who wouldn’t turn to that fool proof, simple, and always delicious recipe or ingredient that works like a charm every time? To this day I compare every pie crust to that store bought dough. Another one of my childhood confessions, I was the one that picked the crust around the pies, eating the pretty crimped edges and leaving what looked like a crust-less pie for everyone else.
So looking beyond the beloved Pillsbury for my pies and then adding gluten free on top of that… yea right. Most gluten free pre-made pie dough or mix I have had experience using either taste a little like cardboard, beans, or resembles the texture of eating sand when you take a bite. Thus, it has been my mission to create the perfect blend of ingredients that have that hint of buttery goodness, flaky crust, and of course stays a crust when you slice into it. This recipe took many a trial and error… mostly error before reaching this one. I apologize now to all those I made eat my trial crusts. I don’t blame you if you scraped out the inside and left the crust for any brave soul willing to eat it. I admittedly did the same.
With each recipe idea and attempt, I looked to create the right blend of ingredients with minimal preparation that suited any chef or novice cook out there – a recipe that is almost as quick as taking a rolled up sheet of dough out of the freezer, thawing it, and unraveling it to place in your pie plate. A wholesome pie dough with no preservatives, strange emulsifiers, additives and no sugar that most diets of any shape or size, aside from vegan (I’m working on that modification for a later post), are able to enjoy with confidence, no frustrations, and no fuss. This crust takes just twenty minuets to make with no refrigeration time or hours of waiting. Of course, I had to add my holistic touch making it whole grain with hearty sorghum flour, gum free, and low in starch. It is by no means low carb, but I imagine if you are making a pie of sort, that isn’t too much of a concern.
Yields 2 Bottom Pie Crusts or 1 Pie Set
20 minPrep Time
PCook Time
20 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 3/4 cups sorghum flour
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- 8 Tablespoons ghee, cold
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 Tablespoons ice water
Instructions
- Sift or whisk flour blend and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Using a pastry knife or two butter knifes, cut cold ghee into flour.
- Whisk eggs together then add to mixture.
- Add ice water one tablespoon at a time until the dough forms into a ball.
- Place two pieces of parchment paper on a flat surface.
- Distribute the dough into two smaller rounds and place each on parchment paper.
- Using a rolling pin greased with a little coconut oil and patted with tapioca flour, roll out both dough rounds until about 11" in diameter or slightly larger than your pie pan when holding it above the dough.
- Grease pie pan with ghee, then place upside down on rolled out dough and flip parchment upside down to lay dough into pan. *See note below for par-baking or full bake instructions.
- Using a fork, poke the bottom of the pie even baking.
- Fill pie with filling then gently flip the second parchment sheet with rolled out dough on top of the filled pie.
- Crimp the edges using finger tips or a pie crimping tool. Slice three slits in the center of pie for ventilation.
- Bake pie according to recipe instructions.
Notes
If only needing one pie bottom, cut the recipe in half as the dough is hard to work with after being frozen or chilled. Dough can be chilled or frozen for later use if needed to be made ahead of time. The dough will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator all wrapped in a plastic bag. Allow for dough to be fully thawed but slightly chilled before rolling. Pre or Par Bake: For a raw pie or pre-baked pie - bake the crust at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. For a par bake - bake crust for 5 minutes before filling. Use dried beans or pie weights to keep the pie from shrinking if needed.
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