Paleo Pie Crust (with wonderful AIP version)

Paleo Pie Crust (with wonderful AIP version)

This easy to work with Paleo Pie Crust dough crimps beautifully and works well for summer or holiday pies. Enjoy grain-free flaky crust again! You will need parchment paper to roll out the dough. (Or you can press the dough into the pie plate with your fingers.) This recipe doubles well, for a top and bottom crust.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, British, French

Keyword gluten-free, paleo, pie crust, pie dough

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 35

Total Time 1 15

Servings servings

Calories 180kcal

Author Megan

Cost $3

Equipment

food processor or hand held pastry blender
oven

Ingredients

1 cup cassava flour
½ cup unsalted butter or leaf lard; Grain Brain palm oil works too; (for AIP: use only the leaf lard or palm oil option [Do NOT use Spectrum palm oil.])
½ cup ice water (for AIP: use 4 to 5 Tablespoons)
3 Tablespoons arrowroot powder (omit for AIP)
2 Tablespoons tapioca flour (omit for AIP)
1 egg (omit for AIP)
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (for AIP: use 1-½ teaspoons)
¼ teaspoon sea salt omit if using salted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cut butter (or preferred fat) into 1 Tablespoon sections. Place in freezer for 10 minutes.
Put cassava flour, arrowroot and tapioca into food processor (or work bowl, if you're using handheld pastry blender). Add sea salt. Blend to mix. Remove cold butter from freezer and cut tablespoons in half, so they are in 1/2-tablespoon rectangles/sections. Add these to food processor and pulse to blend, until largest pieces are pea size (or a bit smaller if using a pastry blender by hand).
Add egg, water and apple cider vinegar, and pour over flour in a donut-shaped gully. Pulse. Use Pulse button until mixture begins to come together: see photo — about 10 seconds.
Dump out contents of food processor onto a large square of parchment paper. (Reserve half if you've doubled the recipe to cut out shapes for the top.) Form into a circle with your hands, pressing and patting it together. The circle will be about 7" in diameter. Place second large square of parchment paper onto dough and begin rolling out with rolling pin, from the center, until you have an 11"-12" circle. (Ideally the center is rolled thinly, as this creates a flakier texture.)
Transfer pie crust to pie plate by peeling off one side of parchment, placing pie plate upside down on pastry, sliding your hand under pastry that still has parchment, then flipping the whole thing over using both hands. If any breaks off you'll be able to piece it back together. Carefully peel remaining parchment paper off of top.
Allow crust to slide down into pie plate, fitting into concave shape. Fold over and flute/crimp top edges. If dough breaks during transfer, it easily pieces back together. Dust your fingers with cassava flour if edges are sticky. To bake the crust blind (without filling), prick all over with fork and bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes. (To prevent the sides from collapsing in a couple of places, you can line the crust with parchment and pie weights for the first 10 to 15 minutes of baking; then empty and continue for remainder of baking time.) Otherwise fill and bake according to chosen recipe. If you wish, brush crimped edges of pie with egg yolk, to create a really golden outcome.

Notes

*If you use animal fat to make the crust, chill small dollops of the fat, as if you were chilling butter: first measure the scoopable fat into a measuring cup; then place small dollops of the fat onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place fat into freezer for 10 minutes. Do not, however, chill tallow, as it will harden too much. Both duck fat and lard work well. Lard is best when it's leaf lard, the fat around the kidneys — perfect for making pastry dough. I often point clients to etsy for this product if you don't know a local pastured-pig farmer: here.

AIP Pie Crust

This recipe may be doubled.

Ingredients

1 cup cassava flour
1/2 cup leaf lard or Grain Brain palm oil (Do not use Spectrum palm oil.)
4 to 5 Tablespoons water
1-½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Scoop preferred fat into 1 Tablespoon sections (approximately, doesn't need to be exact). Place in freezer for 10 minutes on parchment lined plate.
Put cassava flour and sea salt into food processor (or work bowl, if you're using handheld pastry blender). Blend to mix. Remove cold fat from freezer and cut tablespoons in half, so they are in 1/2-tablespoon rectangles/sections. Add these to food processor and pulse to blend, until largest pieces are pea size (or a bit smaller if using a pastry blender by hand).
Add water and apple cider vinegar, and pour over flour in a donut-shaped gully. Pulse.
Proceed with Step 5 in the main recipe above.

Nutrition