Whether you follow a gluten free diet or enjoy using a super easy recipe for a pie crust, this recipe is for you. It’s so incredibly easy and delicious for so many recipes. If you find it a little bit intimating to make pie crust, I can understand. Most recipes are not vegan (made with butter and shortening), not gluten free and also not oil free. This gluten free vegan pie crust recipe is very straightforward and doesn’t require any special techniques or hard to find ingredients.
This pie crust recipe is so easy, it stays perfectly in shape even when you pre-bake it. Some pie crust recipe will puff up for example, but this pie crust stays put. This pie crust is perfect for bake pies, no-bake pie fillings, and also for sweet and savory recipes such as a classic quiche.
How to make gluten free vegan pie crust
For this recipe I used a gluten free flour and combined it with another naturally gluten free flour to make sure it doesn’t puff up when it’s in the oven. I tried rice flour and also oat flour, but I feel like almond flour give the best results in terms of flavor and texture.
To make this gluten free vegan pie crust, start by combining ground flax seeds with water, stir and set aside for about 10 minutes so it can thicken. This will create a flax egg. If it is important to you that the pie crust has an even color make sure the ground flax seeds are very well grinded so they don’t show in the pie crust.
Then to a large bowl add the dry ingredients, so the almond flour, the all-purpose gluten free flour, the salt and (if it’s for a sweet pie) the sugar. Add the flax egg to the dry ingredients together with a few tablespoons of water and combine.
Keep stirring while adding more water, a few tablespoons at a time.
At one point you can knead the dough with your hands. You want to create a moist and compact dough. Not too wet and not too dry and crumbly.
At one point you will have a compact ball of dough. If not, there could be two issues. It’s too dry and too crumbly. If so, add more water. Or it’s too moist and then you will need to add more all-purpose gluten free flour.
All you have to do now is roll the dough with a rolling pin to fit a 6 inch pie plate.
Pie Crust Must
One step that is very important is to use a piece of parchment paper or any other clean surface that you can lift. So, place the ball of dough on a piece of parchment paper before rolling it out. As such you will be able to easily transfer and flip the dough over to a pie plate.
It shouldn’t stick too much, but if it does add a bit of water or gluten free flour.
How to make the pie crust edges
Once you transferred the dough – by flipping the parchment paper over on top of the pie plate – the edges will not look perfect. That totally ok, because it is easy (and fun!) to fix.
Start by pushing the dough gently in the corners of the pie plate. And remove the excess from the edges that spill over the pie plate. With the excess dough you can fix any empty spots, tears or irregular edges.
If you wish you can go fancy with the edges and decorate it with different patterns. The method I used is a very basic so called flute method.
Finally, poke the bottom with a fork and bake!
How to bake a pie crust
This pie crust recipe is for both sweet and savory recipes. For a savory recipe, you will only need to skip the sugar. This pie crust is also for both no-bake pies and cooked pies.
For cooked pies pre-bake the pie crust in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350°F. After that add the filling and bake again according to the pie filling recipe instructions. And for no-bake pies bake for about 20 minutes at 350°F or until golden brown, then let it cool before adding the filling.
Can I make vegan pie crust ahead of time?
There are two ways to make pie crust ahead of time. You can make it about 2 days ahead and store it in the refrigerator.
The best way to do this is to store it as a compact ball or pressed in the pie plate. Make sure to cover the dough so it doesn’t dry out too much.
The other method is to freeze the dough. Pie dough is a great dough to freeze. When it’s tightly wrapped you can keep it 2 months in the freezer. You can thaw it in the fridge, then roll it out and bake as you wish.
Easy Pie Crust (Vegan/Gluten Free/Oil Free)
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings 1x
- Category: dessert, sweet, snack, savory
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This gluten free vegan pie crust is easy to make and also oil free. It can be used for both sweet and savory pies.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 3 tbsp cold water
- 1 ½ cup (180 gr) fine almond flour (almond meal could also work)
- 1 cup (120 gr) gluten-free baking flour
- 1 tbsp sugar, I use xylitol (omit for savory pie crust)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup (60 ml) cold water or plant-based milk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F if you are pre-baking the crust.
Start by making the ‘’flax egg’’ by combining combining the ground flax and water in a small glass or bowl. Stir well and set aside for about 10 minutes so it can thicken.
In a bowl, add the almond flour, gluten free all purpose flour, salt and sugar (omit for savory pies). Stir to combine.
To that same bowl with the combined dry ingredients, add the flax egg mixture and a few tablespoons of water. Stir well until the dough starts to get more compact.
Keep on adding more water (a few tablespoons at a time) as needed while kneading the dough. If the dough is dry and crumbly it needs more water. If you added too much water and the dough is moist, add more gluten free flour.
The dough is good and ready to be rolled out if it doesn’t crumble or if it’s not too wet. It should be moist and compact, but nor dry and wet.
Form the dough into a compact ball.
Transfer the ball of dough to a piece of parchment paper. Flatten the dough and use a rolling pin to roll it into an even circle about 10 inches in diameter.
The place your hand under the parchment paper and carefully flip the parchment paper with the dough on it into an 6-inch pie plate. Don’t feel stressed about this process, because it will not look perfect and it is super easy to fix.
Once the dough is place on top of the pie plate press the dough into the corners of the pie plate. Remove the excess dough from the edges of the pie plate. Fix any cracks or empty spots with the excess dough from the edges. Flute the edges if you wish.
With a fork poke the bottom of the crust.
Baking Instructions
For cooked pies:
Pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes at 350°F, then fill and bake as needed for the pie recipe.
For no-bake pies:
Bake the crust at 350°F for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 20 minutes before filling.
Notes
- The pie crust dough (without the filling) can be made a few days ahead. Keep in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen. For both methods make sure you cover the dough.
- For a smooth and pretty pie crust make sure the ground flax seeds are well grounded.
- For a non gluten free pie crust, use all purpose flour instead of all purpose gluten free flour.
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