Making a homemade gluten-free pie crust can be tricky, but with this flaky, no-fail recipe and some helpful tips and tricks, you will be well on your way to a delicious pie crust! Use it in all of your favorite pie recipes!

Unbaked, crimped gluten-free pie dough in a white pie dish surrounded by scraps.

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Why this Recipe Works
Uses
Ingredients
Making Gluten-free Pie Dough
Options for Baking
Trousbleshooting
References
Recipe
Comments and Ratings

Why this Recipe Works

I've been trying to master a gluten-free pie crust for years now. Suffice it to say, I've gone through an embarrassing amount of gluten-free flour and butter in the process! And as you know, those ingredients are not cheap!

In the quest for a gluten-free pie dough that worked, I tried everything from converting old recipes to trying just about every recipe on the internet, but for some reason, I was still struggling! I was about to give up, forget pie forever, and sulk in gluten-free self-pity. Then I thought to myself, not today, pie. Not today. And I kept on trying!

What I've learned through all of my trials over the past couple of years is that making a successful gluten-free pie lies more in the technique than the recipe itself. Using good quality flour and keeping everything nice and cold, goes a long way to achieving success. In this article, I'll walk you through making the dough step-by-step plus I will give you many helpful tips that I've learned along the way!

Uses

You can use this gluten-free pie crust for any of your favorite pie recipes, like gluten-free apple pie with a pre-cooked apple pie filling, gluten-free pumpkin pie, gluten-free pecan pie, or even custard pies!

If you're converting an old recipe to gluten-free, make sure to substitute any flour in the filling for an appropriate gluten-free substitute, such as cornstarch.

This recipe will also work for savory pies, like a quiche or chicken pot pie, in which case you can omit the sugar, if desired.

Need a graham cracker crust? Check out this gluten-free graham cracker crust recipe!

Ingredients

Cup4Cup Gluten-free Flour: Cup4Cup is my ultimate recommendation for this recipe. It is truly amazing the difference in result and ease of handling the dough with that flour blend. If for whatever reason you don't want to use it, I have successfully used Pamela's All-purpose Gluten-Free Flour and Namaste Perfect Blend. Others also recommend King Arthur Flour Gluten-free Blend. You can also use my DIY Cup4Cup gluten-free flour blend.
Butter: Make sure it is very cold! I cube the butter and then pop it in the freezer for about 15 minutes before I get started.
Dairy-free: Substitute Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks (or your preferred butter substitute for baking) Use a fat that is solid at room temperature. (I would not recommend coconut oil.) Treat the sticks just like butter, cube it and get it very cold before you begin. Also note, Cup4Cup is not dairy-free, so you will need to use an alternate flour as well.
Egg Yolks: These help with structure but can be omitted if you are egg-free. You will need additional water if you omit the egg yolks.
Sugar & Salt: Both add flavor. The sugar aids in browning although, you can omit the sugar if you're making a savory pie.
Ice Cold Water: the colder the better!

Making Gluten-free Pie Dough

Now, I will walk you through the steps to achieve a perfect pie crust! It's really not hard but there are techniques that will help you be successful!

You can use a stand mixer to make this dough or you can do this by hand. Either works great, so don't worry if you don't have a stand mixer. I wouldn't recommend a food processor because it tends to overmix the dough.

Image collage: 1. Whisked egg yolks with water. Cubed butter in a bowl. Whisked dry ingredients and ice water in bowls. 2. Butter falling into bowl of stand mixer. 3. Tossing butter with flour. 4. Blended butter/flour mixture showing large chunks.

First, gather your ingredients and get them icy cold.
Whisk the egg yolks with half of the water and pop it back in the fridge.
Cube the butter and put it in the freezer for at least 15 minutes but not long enough to freeze solid. You just want it to be very cold.
Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together. Pop it in the freezer for a few minutes, along with the bowl and paddle attachment.
Place the flour mixture in your bowl, then toss the butter cubes with the flour.

If using a stand mixer, turn the mixer to low and mix until the butter is flattened leaving some larger chunks about the size of walnut halves.

If you're doing this by hand, grab each cube of flour-coated butter and squish/rub it between your fingers and thumb to flatten it. Then, drop it back in the flour. Keep doing this until the flour mixture has some larger walnut-halve sized chunks and some smaller pieces. (See picture below.)

Pro-tip! Those chunks of butter are important! The larger chunks of butter are what create a flaky pie crust! The smaller your pieces of butter, the less flaky the crust will be.

Image collage: 1. A hand pinching butter between fingers. 2. Hand holding a scoop of the mixture to display chunky butter texture.

Once your mixture looks like the picture above, it's time to blend in the wet ingredients. Pour in your egg/ice water mixture and toss to combine with the flour.
Add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the flour looks to be just moistened enough to hold together. You can do this by hand or with the help of the stand mixer.
As soon as the mixture comes together, or looks just moistened enough to hold together, stop mixing and press the dough into a ball. Don't over-mix the dough here!

Image collage: 1. pouring egg mixture in center of bowl. 2. Stirring together with the flour. 3. Stirring but mixture appears more wet. 4. The dough has come together in the stand mixer.

Pro-tip! The dough should not be overly wet or sticky. There also should not be any visibly dry patches of flour. Add the water slowly, 1 tablespoon at a time, and stop when the mixture is just right! It should look moistened yet crumbly until you press it together into a ball.

Image collage: separating the dough in two balls, a dough ball wrapped in plastic wrap.

Divide the dough into two balls.
Wrap the dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before you continue.

Image collage: rolling out the dough, folding it into quarters.

After the dough has chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper.
As you roll it out, be sure to move the dough around to ensure it isn't sticking to the parchment.
Add a little more flour as needed if it starts to stick.

Pro-tip! Working on parchment is like an insurance plan! (If you have a silicone mat, that would work as well.) If the dough starts to stick, you will be able to lift the parchment, peel it back, and sprinkle more flour underneath. You can also pop the whole thing back in the fridge right on the parchment paper if things start to get too warm. Otherwise, you may end up with a doughy mess stuck right to your counter.

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Image collage: 1. placing dough into the pie plate, 2, unfolding the dough, 3. trimming the edge, 4. displaying dough in pie plate.

When the dough is large enough to fit in your pan, fold it into quarters and place it in your pie dish.
Gently unfold the dough and press into the bottom ensuring there are no air pockets in the corners.
Trim the edges of the crust to about 1-inch of overhang around the edge of the pie plate.

If you're making a double-crust pie:

Fill the pie.
Roll out the top half and place it on top.
Then continue with the next steps.

For a single-crust pie, continue to the next steps.

1. Folding the edge of the dough under itself. 2. Using two fingers and a thumb to crimp the edge.

To finish the pie, fold the edges under to be even with the edge of the pie plate.
Then, crimp the edges however you would like! See the picture above for a standard crimping method.

Pro-tip! Tightly-wrapped dough can be refrigerated overnight or frozen for later use.

Options for Baking

You can follow the baking instructions in your specific pie recipe, but here are some general guidelines for baking pie crust.

Par-bake (partially bake) the crust:

You par-bake a crust when you will be further baking the pie after you've filled it. It's good to par-bake a pie crust when the filling may cook faster than the pie crust.

Poke holes in the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork.
Place parchment paper on top of the crust and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Fill all the way up the sides of the crust.
Bake at 425, on the lowest rack of the oven, for 10-15 minutes, or until very light golden brown.
Remove the pie weights and parchment paper.
Return to the oven for a few more minutes and bake until the bottom, where the pie weights were, appears dry.
Fill with filling and bake according to your recipe.

Blind bake (fully bake) the crust:

You blind bake a pie crust when you want to fully bake the crust for a pie in which the filling does not need to be baked, a good example is a custard or cream pie.

Follow the steps above to bake with pie weights.
After removing the pie weights and parchment paper, bake the crust an additional 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and cooked through.

Filled Pie

For a filled pie, such as a fruit pie, you do not bake the crust before-hand.

Fill and crimp the pie.
Bake the filled pie at 425°F for 15 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 45-60 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling, the fruit is tender, and the crust is a deep golden brown.

Pro-tip! Cover the pie with foil as soon as the crust has set and appears light golden brown. It will continue to brown the longer it cooks and the foil will help prevent over-browning.

Trousbleshooting

Problem: Dough is hard to work with.

Make sure the dough isn't too wet or too dry.
- If the dough is too dry, it will crack when you try to roll it out. Add a few sprinkles of water to the dough and roll it in.
- If it's too wet, it will be very sticky. Work with extra flour on your surface.
Keep everything COLD! If you ever find yourself struggling, STOP. Put everything in the fridge until it's cold again, about 15-30 min. This is the number one reason the dough becomes hard to roll out or work with.
Try a different flour. If your dough keeps falling apart, try a different flour the next time. I have found that Cup4Cup is the most reliable and easiest to work with for this recipe.
Avoid sticking. If the dough sticks to your surface or your rolling pin, that's when problems start! Make sure to keep the surface and pin lightly floured while you're rolling out the dough. Check frequently that your dough isn't sticking, add another sprinkle of flour if it is. Working on a piece of parchment paper also helps.

Problem: Dough crumbles and falls apart when transferring to the pie dish.

Be quick, nimble, and gentle to get the dough in the pan. If it cracks, don't be afraid to patch those areas.
Start over. If your dough completely falls apart when trying to put it into the pan, it was probably too warm.
- Gather everything up back into a ball, wrap it up, and pop it back in the fridge. Try again when it is cold.
Embrace the more rustic look. If it doesn't turn out as perfectly as you imagined... it's ok! It will still taste great! Gluten-free pie dough is still a tad trickier to work with than regular dough, so embrace the fact that it may not always be perfect.
Try a different flour: Again, some gluten-free flours work better than others.

Problem: Crust isn't flaky.

It's all in the butter! If your crust isn't flaky, the butter was either too warm or it was worked into the four too much.
Start with icy cold butter. Cube the butter and pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes before you make the dough.
If you're going for the traditional pea-sized chunks of butter or coarse crumbs appearance, you've gone too far. There should be some walnut-halve sized pieces of butter left in the flour before you add the wet ingredients.
Again, keep everything very cold throughout the process, from mixing the dough, rolling it out, and even chill the pie before you bake it. All of this helps achieve a flaky crust because those chunks of butter release steam in the oven, which is what creates the flaky texture.

More Troubleshooting Advice

Practice. If you're making pie for a special event, make a practice pie ahead of time. This will ensure your gluten-free flour works well and you'll be able to work out any kinks!
Try different types of crusts using either nuts or cookie crumbs. Instead of a double-crust, try a crumb topping.
There is no shame in buying a pre-made crust if you're just not into it! Listen, I love to bake but sometimes I get frustrated, too. In those times, I buy premade! Check the freezer section at your local grocery store or Trader Joe's. I've used the Wholly Made brand found at my local Kroger and it was just fine!
Cover with foil. Cover the edges with foil as soon as the crust is set and light golden brown to prevent the crust from becoming too brown. If you wait until the pie is "browned to your liking" to cover it, it may still end up getting too brown in the end.

A beautiful gluten-free pie crust in a white Emile Henry pie dish. Scraps of extra dough have fallen on the table next to it.

Now for the recipe! I hope you found this post helpful and informative! See below the recipe card for more references and links to helpful pie content. If you have any questions or comments, drop them in the comments section below and I'll do my best to help you out. Happy Baking! ♡

References

I have found many helpful pie references that all culminated in this perfect gluten-free pie dough recipe. Here they are in case you'd like to dive even deeper into pie crust making!

This episode of Bake It Up a Notch! was so helpful in learning about making pie crusts. Erin doesn't reference gluten-free flour, but the techniques still apply to this post.
I found these pie troubleshooting tips and these gluten-free pie troubleshooting tips helpful!
Erin McDowell's All-buttah pie dough plus an old recipe from my mother were the references used in developing this recipe.
King Arthur's Gluten-free Pie Crust was my original reference for pie dough before updating this recipe. Instead of Instant ClearJell, you can use cornstarch.

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