Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be complete without those anxiously awaited delicious holiday desserts and particularly…pies! This season we’ve taken the worry and uncertainty out of baking gluten-free with incredible holiday pies that are guaranteed to fool even the biggest gluten-free critic! 

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

Imagine…a perfect, flaky pie crust that just happens to be gluten-free!  I have to admit when I first started making gluten-free pies that perfect, flaky pie only lived in my imagination.  Instead I was left with a sticky mess that never rolled out as I intended and certainly never held together despite my patchwork efforts.  However, after many years of experimentation I am proud to say that my imagined pie crust is now a reality.

Let’s face it…a pie just really isn’t a pie without the crust.  Below you will find a pie crust that will meet your expectations.  It’s even received 2 five star ratings by our subscribers.

Basic Pie Crust

Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 cup gf flour* 
• 6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 
• 2 Tablespoons cold vegetable shortening 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 4 Tablespoons ice water, or more as needed 

Deep Dish Cranberry Pie

Directions:

Place the gf flour and salt in a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter and shortening into the flower and salt mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 2 tablespoons of ice water and mix just until incorporated. Continue to add more ice water as needed, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a smooth dough. Form the dough into a disk, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a lightly gf floured surface. (We use an extra large Silpat - a sort of "rubber" non-stick mat - which really helps prevent the dough from sticking to the bottom surface.) Lightly flour the surface of the dough with gf flour. Roll the pastry to a large round, about 12-inches in diameter. Transfer to a deep 9-inch pie dish, trim to within 1/2 inch of the pan, and crimp decoratively. You may find that the outer edges will break off before you can fold them under and crimp - just use excess dough and press onto the outer edge to form and even edge then crimp. Prick with a fork, cover and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Bake for 15-30 minutes or until light brown in color. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Fill with your favorite pie filling.

Apple Cranberry Pie

*Note: We used The Gluten Free Pantry’s Country French Bread mix flour for the gf flour in this recipe. This is very important! We have tried many different flour combinations and many different gf all purpose flours and have found this flour mix to deliver the best results. You can purchase it in bulk so the end cost is less than the combined cost of purchasing various gf flours and binders and mixing it on your own.

This month we’d like to highlight some of our favorite pies perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday.  We hope you enjoy!

Apple Cranberry Pie
Apple Pie
Chocolate Meringue Pie
Coconut Pie
Macadamia Nut Tart
Deep Dish Cranberry Pie
Dutch Apple Pie
Maple Sugar Pumpkin Pie with Rum Cream
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie with Gingersnap Crust

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Chef Jessica