I will never forget going to my mother-in-law’s house for the holidays and stuffing myself to the limits and then she would say “Time for dessert!” And not only would she bring out one pie, but at least four! Where exactly those pies were going to fit on top of all the food I just piled into my belly, I wasn’t sure, but you can count on that I always tried my best to fit them in! Her typical assortment of pies included a chocolate chess pie, a Kentucky derby pie, a coconut pie and of course the family favorite, pumpkin pie. It seems it is tradition in most households to have pies for Thanksgiving with the most popular pie being Pumpkin Pie.

The challenge, as most of us know, with gluten-free pies is very rarely the filling, but always the crust. Over the years I have experimented with many, many gluten-free crusts, trying to find that perfect flaky pie crust that is indiscernible from a traditional wheat based crust. The answer is you can come very, very close - so close that only a very picky baker could tell that the pie was gluten-free. The difficulty is that it is the “gluten” that gives pie crusts that flaky, but not too flaky, texture - like pastry. So if you take the gluten out - you then are challenged with how to mimic that same desired texture.

The good news is you can do it - and you can bake a pie that everyone will enjoy. This will not be a pie that you have to say “Oh - that’s my pie, it’s gluten-free. If you want the good, ”normal” pies they are over there.” But rather this will be a pie that you can feel proud to serve and will be beautiful in presentation. Below you will find several recipes for our best success pie crusts along with our favorite recipe for pumpkin pie.

My most recent favorite find is Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. This flour mix really is great for just using as a direct substitution for all purpose wheat flour. We’ve played with this flour for pie crusts and give credit to Jules for developing this very nice, flaky pie crust recipe:

Jules Grandma's Pie Crust

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
  
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
  
• 5 Tbs. shortening, butter or non-dairy alternative
  
• (I like to use a little of both e.g. Earth Balance®
  
• Buttery Sticks & Shortening)
  
• 2 - 3 tablespoons cold water
  
• milk (dairy or non-dairy)

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening using two knives or a pastry cutter until it resembles a fine meal. Add the water gradually to make the consistency you need to form a ball - err on the side of it being wetter rather than crumbly. Form a ball with the dough and wrap in plastic and set aside on the counter for 30 minutes while you make your filling.

After allowing the dough to rest, roll the pastry out onto a surface dusted with Jules Gluten Free™ All Purpose Flour. A flexible pastry sheet (e.g. Silpat) for that purpose works well. Roll to a diameter at least 1 inch larger than the diameter of your pie pan. Gently lift an edge of the rolled out crust over your rolling pin and use the pin to lift the crust so that it is supported by the rolling pin as you lift it onto your pie plate. Pat into shape and fold approximately 1/2 inch of excess pie crust over all around the edge to form the crust, then using your fingers, press a fluted design in the crust to finish.

Fill with desired filling and cover crust edges with foil or pie saver to shield crust. Remove with 10 minutes left of baking and brush the crust with your milk of choice help to brown the crust. Generally, preheat oven to 375°F and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or follow directions for your specific pie recipe.

JulesGlutenFree.com Copyright 2009 Jules E. Dowler Shepard
I have also had great success with Gluten Free Pantry’s Perfect Pie Crust Mix - and their Pie Crust Mix. I actually have had more success with the flour mix that comes in the Country French Bread mix (if using this mix do not use the enclosed yeast packet but rather just save it for future use). The recipe is as follows:

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

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.

If you happen to be one of those people that is naturally pie crust challenged….meaning pie crust has always been a challenge (my mom happens to be one of these people), and you still want to bake a delicious holiday pie, might I suggest doing a cookie crust. You won’t get the crimped edges, of course, but the taste is still very, very good and they are much easier to put together. It is really up to you as to which cookie you prefer (and the flavor of your filling). I’ve had great success with many different brands and homemade cookies but one basic gluten-free cookie crust that I’ve served to very large groups (not gluten-free) would be Pamela’s Shortbread Cookies - they work great for pie crusts. The basic steps are as follows:

Step 1: Choose your favorite pre-baked gluten-free cookie and process it in food processor until it crumbled. (For a 9-inch pie crust you’ll need about 1-1/2 to 2 cups of crumbled cookies.) Be careful not to over-process. The crumbs should still have a fairly rough texture.

Step 2: Add just enough melted or softened butter to the food processor to moisten the crumbs and pulse until just combined.

Step 3: Pat the crumb mixture into the pie dish to coat the sides and bottom of pan.

Step 4: Bake for 15 minutes at 350 °F or until lightly browned. Let cool.

Step 5: Fill with your favorite filling and proceed with your recipe as directed.

Now that you have some great options for pie crusts it’s time to bring on the pie. And what pie would be better to showcase for Thanksgiving but the traditional, but oh-so-loved….

Pumpkin Pie!

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin
  
• 3/4 cup sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  
• 3 slightly beaten eggs
  
• 1-1/4 cups milk
  
• One 6 ounce can evaporated milk
  
• 1 package Gluten Free Pantry Perfect Pie Crust Mix

Directions

In a large bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, salt, and spices. Blend in eggs, milk, and evaporated milk.

Pour into pastry shell (have edges crimped high because amount of filling is generous). Bake at 400 degrees F for
50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.

Note this recipe says to use the Gluten Free Pantry’s Perfect Pie Crust Mix but you can use any of the pie crusts mentioned above.

Happy Thanksgiving!

- Chef Jessica

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