The Perfect Gluten Free Vegan Pie Crust
This Gluten Free Vegan Pie Crust Recipe is suitable for vegans and vegetarians. It is also dairy free, soy free, egg free, and nut free. You can use this perfect crust for sweet or savory pies. It also works great for hand pies, turnovers, or miniature pies because it never falls apart.
Pie crust is something I really struggled with for a few years. It was so hard to create the perfect gluten free vegan pie crust. It was either way too dry or way too soft and hard to work with. This challenge was frustrating because the pie crust has always been one of my favorite parts of pie. That’s why I’m so happy to bring you this Perfect Gluten Free Vegan Pie Crust recipe. After lots of trial and error, I finally got a recipe down. It tastes amazing. It’s flaky and buttery. Plus it’s so easy to work with! That’s a huge win for gluten free pie crust.
My husband and I like this pie crust recipe so much that I’ll often just make it and bake it into cookies. For an exact pie crust cookie recipe be sure to check out my e-cookbook, Allergy Friendly Cookie Monster. You can download it for free if you sign up for the newsletter.
Tasty Recipes Using this Gluten Free Vegan Pie Crust
I have used this pie crust recipe so many times since creating it. You can find it in my savory quiche as well as my sweet pies. You know a gluten free vegan pie crust is a winner when you can even use it to make a lattice topping without it all falling apart. Try out the following recipes once you make your gluten free pie crust.
Gluten Free Cherry Pie with Lattice Crust
Gluten Free Strawberry Pop Tarts
How to Make this Gluten Free Vegan Pie Crust Perfect
I try to be very specific in my recipe cards and I believe I included all the details you’ll need to make this gluten free pie crust. I wanted to dive in just a little deeper here though to explain the “why” behind some of these steps. Some of these steps are unique to gluten free pie crust and that’s why I want to make note of them here.
Why Make the Dough in a Stand Mixer?
The stand mixer makes forming the dough so simple. It’s much easier to cut the cold fats into the dough if you are using a stand mixer. If you do not have a stand mixer you can make the dough in a similar fashion in a food processor but you may need to use your hands a bit more to form the dough at the end.
Do I have to Combine Dairy Free Butter & Shortening?
I prefer to have a combination of the two. The dairy free butter adds that salty taste and flaky texture while the shortening adds a bit more moisture and flexabilitiy. However, if you do not have any shortening on hand you can use just dairy free butter.
Why Use Egg Replacer?
Traditional pie crusts don’t even have eggs, so why did I include egg replacer? Through much trial and error I found the egg replacer really helped the texture. Without gluten all of my pie crusts were ending up dry and crumbly. The egg replacer helps counter act that problem. It adds moisture as well as some much needed stick.
Does Refrigeration Time Matter?
This is an important step in any pie dough recipe. It’s especially important when making gluten free vegan pie crust. The dough is a lot more moist than traditional dough. Refrigerating the dough makes it much easier to work with when it’s time to roll.
Why Do You Roll it Out Between Parchment Paper?
Traditionally, pie dough is rolled out using a little bit of flour to prevent sticking. Unfortunately, if you add any additional flour to this gluten free vegan pie crust recipe, you will end up with a pie crust that is much too dry and dense. That’s why it’s important to instead place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper. This will ensure the dough does not stick to the rolling pin and fall apart. You can use parchment paper, plastic wrap, or a combination of both. Either one will work well.
How Can I Get The Gluten Free Dough Into The Pie Pan Without Breakage?
The easiest way to get this gluten free vegan pie crust into your pie pan is to use the parchment paper you rolled it out on. Since this pie crust obviously lacks gluten, it is not as stretchy as standard pie crust dough. If you were to try and lift it up from one edge it’s very likely it’ll just break. This technique solves that problem and makes it so easy to work with your gluten free vegan pie crust dough. You’ll see very detailed instructions on how to complete this step in the recipe card down below.
Your Shopping List
Below I’ve highlighted some favorite brands for each ingredient. Of course you don’t have to use these brands, but I do like to give you some ideas. I also try to find the most budget-friendly options.
- Nutiva Organic Shortening
- Earth Balance Soy Free Sticks or if you can tolerate soy you can use Country Crock’s Plant Butter sticks work well and are much cheaper
- For Gluten Free Oat Flour it’s far cheaper to just by oats and blend them up. You can find inexpensive oats here.
- Vitacost Brand Superfine Brown Rice Flour
- Vitacost Brand Tapioca Flour
- Powdered Sugar
- Anthony’s Xanthan Gum
- Ener-G Egg Replacer
- Dynamic Health Apple Cider Vinegar
Get the full Amazon shopping list here.
Gluten Free Vegan Pie Crust
Ingredients
Fats
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- 3/4 cup dairy free butter
Dry Ingredients
- 1/2 cup gluten free oat flour
- 1/2 cup superfine brown rice flour
- 1 1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
- 2 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Liquids
- 2 1/2 tablespoons Ener-G egg replacer
- 1/4 cup dairy free milk
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Cut shortening and dairy free butter for the crust into small pieces and place in a bowl. Place bowl in the freezer so they can get very cold while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Create “egg” by mixing the Ener-G egg replacer with your dairy-free milk. Whisk well then mix in your apple cider vinegar. Set aside to thicken as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- The crust can be prepared in a food processor, a stand mixer or simply in a bowl – I am describing the stand mixer method belowPlace all of your dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer. With the mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, turn on to low and then make your way up to medium to ensure all dry ingredients are mixed well without any clumps.
- Remove your chilled shortening and margarine chunks from the freezer. Use your hands to break up the chunks and disperse evenly into the bowl of your stand mixer.
Turn mixer on to low then work your way up to medium-low. Mix until shortening and margarine are broken down. Stop mixing as soon as a dough ball begins to form. Do not mix past this point. - Add your prepared liquids to the mixer and turn on one more time on medium-low until the dough begins to form into a ball. Do not overmix. Use your hands to scrape any bits of dough off the bottom and side of the bowl and form into a ball. It will be slightly moist, that’s ok at this point.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 10 minutes.
- Once the dough is chilled it's time to roll it out. Place the chilled dough between two pieces of parchment paper. You can also use two pieces of plastic wrap.
Roll the dough out with your rolling pin and measure its size by placing the pie pan upside down on top of it. Roll out until the dough is at least a 1/2 inch larger than your pie pan all around. This will ensure you have a nice crust.
*If you have an extra set of hands to help hold the parchment paper down while you roll that can be very helpful. - Flipping it into the pie pan is very easy since you already have your pie crust on parchment paper or plastic wrap.
Simply remove the top layer of parchment paper and put your pie pan upside down on top of the crust.
Slide your hand under the parchment paper that your pie crust is sitting on until you are near the middle.
With one hand under the pie crust and one hand on the pie pan, quickly flip both over so that the pie pan is sitting upright.
Don’t remove the parchment paper yet!
With the parchment paper still on, press the bottom of the pie crust into the pie pan then do the same with the edges. Now you can remove the parchment paper and fix any cosmetic issues and create your pretty edge.
Notes
Nutrition
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