Pumpkin Pie

Pamela’s Tips for Making Gluten-free Pie Crusts

Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix makes excellent gluten-free pie crusts, as in Pamela’s Easy Pie Crust. Remember not to use the enclosed yeast packet in pie crust recipes.

You can vary Pamela’s Easy Pie Crust using alternative fats like vegetable shortening, margarine, or lard, using alternative liquids like stock (for a savory crust,) milk, cream, or fruit juice, and by adding sweeteners, nuts, or seasonings for a specialty crust.

Also try substituting Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix for the dry ingredients in your own favorite pie crust recipe.

As for all fat-based pastry doughs, expect to achieve best results with well-chilled ingredients. Freezing or refrigerating butter and refrigerating shortening are simple steps to foolproof crusts. Freezing butter is always advisable when making food processor pastries. If the day is warm or the kitchen very hot, chilling all ingredients and utensils (fats, dry ingredients, liquids, bowl and pastry cutter, food processor bowl and blade) helps ensure success in spite of the heat. Working on chilled marble or other stone surfaces also eases handling of dough in such extreme situations.

Never overwork the dough. Whether making pie crust in the food processor or by hand, the dough is ready when it just starts to come together. Dough should be crumbly, but should squeeze easily together in the fingers to form a clump.

Always divide the dough in at least two equal parts for easier handling. Use plastic wrap to help bring together the crumbly dough into a disc-like shape, wrapping it tightly and patting it flat between the hands.

Chill the dough well before rolling. The dough should feel stiff and hard when sufficiently chilled. Depending on the temperatures of the dough and the refrigerator, the dough could require as few as 30 minutes or as many as 90 minutes to be properly chilled. [Holiday Reminder: Preparing for big holiday meals sometimes requires opening the refrigerator with unusual frequency, which can affect the time required to chill pastry dough well.]

Tightly-wrapped pastry dough can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 days or frozen for up to 6 months for convenient use anytime. Thaw completely before rolling. You can roll out most pastry doughs made with Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix between 2 layers of parchment paper. Start from the center and roll always away from your body, rotating dough, together with its parchment layers, 1/8to 1/4 of a turn with each pass of the rolling pin. To avoid wrinkles as you roll, occasionally peel away the top parchment layer, pull taut and replace smoothly. Flip over entire package and repeat procedure on other side. Resume rolling. As an alternative to rolling out between 2 layers of parchment paper, dust rolling surface, rolling pin, and chilled dough with Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix.

If dough becomes too sticky to handle at any point, return to refrigerator to chill further. For easy release, always lightly oil the pie pan before placing pastry dough. Although proportions of fats in gluten-free pastry doughs compare to those in conventional wheat pastry doughs, gluten-free doughs tend to be stickier than conventional counterparts.

To avoid over-browning, choose metal pie pans over glass ones when making pie crusts with Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix.

To place round of dough in oiled pan or on top of a filled pie, peel away top layer of parchment paper, if using. Use remaining layer of parchment paper to invert dough into place. Carefully remove remaining layer of parchment paper and arrange crust so excess dough hangs evenly around edge. Trim off excess dough and seal, crimp or flute as appropriate. Thicker, smoother edges do not brown as quickly as thinner, more detailed edges, so thicker, smoother edges may be desirable when baking filled pies with cooking times that exceed 40 minutes.

To pre-bake pie crust (also known as blind-baking) preheat oven to 350° and bake pie for 35 to 40 minutes on bottom rack. Placing pie pan directly on a pizza stone or bread stone on the bottom rack of the oven helps ensure a perfectly golden-browned bottom crust. Weighting a pie crust during initial pre-baking can help ensure that crust holds its shape. Carefully line the shell with aluminum foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights, dried beans or uncooked rice. Gently bank weights against shell wall to hold sides in place during baking. Bake weighted pie for 15 to 20 minutes, remove from oven, and carefully lift aluminum foil or parchment paper containing pie weights from shell. Continue baking for remainder of time without weights.

If filling a partially pre-baked pie shell with an un-cooked filling as some recipes require, avoid a soggy crust by preparing a glaze of one large egg yolk whisked with a dash of salt. Brush glaze on interior of shell for the last minute or two of pre-baking.