Pumpkin Pie/apple Pie Crust

[jaimek]

Can anyone provide me with a tasty (preferably easy) recipe for a pumpkin and/or apple pie crust? Pumpkin pie is my favorite and this will be my first season not being able to eat the real thing so any help would be greatly appreciated. I can't imagine Halloween/Thanksgiving without my pumpkin pie!

[Mom22]

You can modify the chebe bread mix for pie crust and it is pretty good. Have you ever ordered chebe bread to make pizza crust? My mom made our son a pumpkin pie and it was delicious! On a recent order I placed, it came with several recipes and pie crust was one of them. I am at work and the recipe is at home, but I will post it soon for you!

[jaimek]

That would be great. Thanks!

[tarnalberry]

I crushed up Pamela's Shortbread cookies (that's it) and pressed it into a pie tin for a pumpkin pie crust. Quite tasty. Bob's Red Mill site listed something simple and lowish in fat for a couple pie crusts as well - might be worth taking a look.

[gf4life]

This is the best pie crust I have made. It worked great! I used it for individual apple pies (like turnovers) and it actually held together enough to pick up the pie and eat it by hand! I used a tortilla press to shape the individual crusts and filled each one with a spoonful of apple pie filling, folded them over and pinched the sides together. The recipe made enough for 10 individual pies. It should work great for a whole pie. I used the egg and vinegar in my recipe. It does give alternatives for those if you can't use then, but I am not sure how it would come out. It also works well being rolled out between layers of parchment paper for thinner crust, but can be used just like regular pie crust as well. It doesn't crumble and break like many other gluten-free crust recipes.

It works best if you keep the dough cold and don't handle it too much.

Pastry Recipe for Pie Crust

1 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch flour

1/4 cup potato starch flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

4oz (1 stick) margarine

1 large egg, beaten (or use 1/4 cup extra ice water if allergic to eggs)

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (or water if you can't use vinegar)

3 tablespoons ice cold water

*Mix flours, salt, and xanthan gum in a bowl. Rub in the mrgarine, but not too much. The mixture should resemble baked beans rather than breadcrumbs.

*In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, vinegar and ice water. Slowly stir the egg mix into the flour mix, until a ball is formed.

*Knead the pastry (with a little gluten-free flour if needed) for 2-3 minutes.

Wrap the pastry and place in the fridge for at least an hour. **It can be frozen at this stage.

*If the pastry is a little hard when removed from the fridge, knead again a little bit.

*Roll out on a floured surface. Place in pie pan and follow baking instructions for your pie recipe.

*If cooked pastry is needed for your recipe the pastry can bee cooked at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

[Mom22]

Jaime:

Here is the recipe that I promised:

Pie Crust

1 package Chebe Bread Mix makes 2, 9" deep-dish crusts. (when my mom made it she made a single deep dish one and made the crust thicker. I have never made a pie in my entire life, despite how much I enjoy cooking.

a) Prepare the Cehbe mix according to package directions. If using original mix, white cheddar cheese is well suite to combine with some fruit pies. Otherwise, omit cheese and replace with 1/2 cup sugar.

Place 1/2 of the dough on a sheet of wax paper. Flatten it out modestly with hands, then place another sheet of wax paper on top of this and flatten to 1/16 -1/8" with a rolling pin until it is wider than the diameter of your pie tin.

c) Slowly remove the top piece of waxed paper. Place the pie pan upside-down over the flattened dough, then turn the pie pan back over together with the dough and waxed paper so that the paper is now on top of the pie pan.

d) Slowly remove the waxed paper from the dough, allowing the dough to gently fall into the pie pan. It should fall in one piece, but if it separates in any place, you can mend it with your fingers.

e) With your finger, push the dough that is hanging over the outside of the pan and crimp it to make the edge of the crust. Pour in pie filling. REmaining dough may be prepared the same way and used as the top crust, or a second crust if baking an open-faced pie.

NOTE: For a harder crust, bake at 375F oven for about 10 minutes before adding filling. Bake according to the recipe you use for fruit or pumpkin pie. I would recommend that it the edges brown quickly to put foil around the edges once they become browned to your taste. Enjoy! I actually thought the pumpkin pie tasted better the second day after being in the fridge overnight. I really enjoy the Chebe bread mixes and have found alot of new recipes using them. Our kids love them and even though I do not have celiac, I always sample anything new that I make for them, sometimes sampling a couple of times!!!

Mom 2 2

[FreyaUSA]

gf4life, my family LOVES turnovers, be they fruit filled or meat filled. They're also a total pain in the you-know to make (and with gluten-free dough? I didn't think I'd ever make them again.) Thank you for posting your recipe and the wonderful way you made the turnovers! Now, I have a new recipe to try AND a new gadget I want!!! (I just love new gadgets! Lol!)

I'm not one to buy pre-mixes very much, but at the latest support group meeting here in my area (first one I've been to) someone made a lemon meringue pie with the Gluten Free Pantry pie mix. I loved it! I have to say it was excellent. I am thinking that gluten-free pie crusts just might be superior to regular pie crusts.

[gf4life]

FreyaUSA,

My family just went nuts over the apple turnovers! My oldest said they tasted like a mix of homemade and McDonald's apple pies. My younger son said they tasted just like McDonald's pie! Needless to say the treats went over really well.

The tortilla press I have only cost me $6.99. It is made by Bene Casa, and is made of a high density plastic. Very heavy and solid! I found mine at Rite Aid Pharmacy, of all places. I had been looking all over for a tortilla press, and the only kind I had found it the kind that press AND then cook the tortilla and I didn't want one of those... I hope you are able to find a press. If you can't, just separate the dough into golf ball sized pieces and roll them out between two sheets of waxed paper. It would work about the same way. The dough is so easy to work with!

God bless,

Mariann

[FreyaUSA]

Rite Aid...Okay. I know where one is. I really want to make these. What was the recipe you used for the filling?

[gf4life]

I cheated and used the Comstock canned apple pie filling. I could make my own if I had a bit more time, but the Comstock pie fillings are gluten-free, so they work when you don't have the time to make homemade. I think I would precook the homemade filling before making turnovers, because they don't take long to cook that way.

God bless,

Mariann

[plantime]

Hmm...I guess I must be weird. I don't like the crust, so I make mine without it. I just put it in a pan, cook it, and eat it with a spoon. It still tastes good to me!

[debmidge]

When we used flour, I used to use the Orinique Farms (CT) frozen pie shells. Now that we are gluten-free I make the Gluten Free pantry pie crust mix and my non celiac family members (in laws & such) thought the crust was better than wheat crust. They want to use gluten-free Pantry mix just for the taste of it.

One bag of it makes enough for two pies that need and upper and lower crust. Too much for me, but I try to "half" the flour and make it. the company doesn't recommend that you do that, but I guess I am a gluten-free rebel!

[kabowman]

I am looking for a pumpkin pie crust receipe that does NOT use butter or Crisco sicne I cannot have soy, corn, gluten (I have gluten-free receipe that I can convert to non-corn but it still calls for Crisco or butter/margarine), lactose/casien (goats milk is OK), or vinegar.

Also, I am trying to make this as invisible as possible for Thanksgiving so I am looking for close to normal if possible.

Thanks in advance...Kate

[tarnalberry]

look for an oil based pie crust recipe. they're out there - though they have a different texture than shortening based ones. (they make oil based wheat based pie crusts, so it's not like this is a wacky gluten-free thing.) alternatively, you could try making some pumpkin bread (like banana bread, but with pumkin instead) and then crumble it up and dry it in the oven and press that it a pan...

[gf4life]

kabowman,

Have you ever tried the Spectrum Naturals Organic Vegetable Shortening. It is made from palm oil, so it is soy and corn free. It is non-hydrogenated and trans fat free, it is NOT the unhealthy palm kernel oil that everyone says is bad. It works just like Crisco for recipes and I have not noticed any difference in the taste. I buy mine at our local Save Mart shopping center, but you should be able to find it at healthfood stores also.

Open Original Shared Link

God bless,

Mariann

[kabowman]

Oooh...no I have not seen this yet. Thanks!!! I have only been gluten-free for about 2-3 months now and am trying to expand my cooking wings again. Wow! You have no IDEA how this will help. Thanks again!

-Kate

[FreyaUSA]

When we used flour, I used to use the Orinique Farms (CT) frozen pie shells. Now that we are gluten-free I make the Gluten Free pantry pie crust mix and my non celiac family members (in laws & such) thought the crust was better than wheat crust. They want to use gluten-free Pantry mix just for the taste of it.

One bag of it makes enough for two pies that need and upper and lower crust. Too much for me, but I try to "half" the flour and make it. the company doesn't recommend that you do that, but I guess I am a gluten-free rebel!

Here's what I grew up doing You make one, two crust pie (apple for example) then, with the rest of the dough, you make two individual pie crusts and stick them in the freezer if you don't want to use them right away or bake for pre-cooked pie crusts.

Mariann, on another note, I still haven't found a tortilla press! (But, I haven't made it to Rite Aid either, so I'm still hoping.) I don't want one that cooks, too, either, and that seems to be the ones out there.

[FreyaUSA]

Mariann, gf4life, I found a tortilla press! I bought it at a little Latino market today. It weighs a TON. Iron or heavy aluminum, I'd guess. $7.88 I'm so happy! Tomorrow I'm making tarts. Now, three questions. How thin do I press the crust, what temperature do I bake them at and for how long? (I'm just so excited! The people at the market thought I was nuts, I was so excited to find it. )

[gf4life]

I'm so glad you found one. I put a golf ball sized ball of dough in between two small pieces of waxed paper and pressed it until it was about the size of a corn tortilla. It was pretty thin, but if you are gentle with the dough then it won't break.

Just have fun with it. I did. I haven't gotten around to making more, but I plan to use this crust for my pumpkin pies this month.

God bless,

Mariann