Vegan Gluten-Free Pie Crust

A simple, flaky, buttery vegan gluten-free pie crust for all of your favourite pie recipes. This multi-use crust can be blind-baked for pre-cooked fillings, the recipe can be doubled for a double pie crust, AND it can be used for either sweet or savoury pies.

Follow this step-by-step so you can start baking some pies for your loved ones!

Years ago, any time I was invited to a potluck or get-together, my contribution to the food table was always a pie. Usually a pecan pie.

Back then, I was not vegan or gluten-free yet, so the crust and filling recipes weren't either, but I have taken the crust recipe I used to make over and over again and converted it to be both vegan and gluten-free. And the pecan pie filling? I'm still working on that!

Back then, my go-to pie crust recipe was a basic pie crust, it was not complicated and the ingredient list was simple, much like this one.

As mentioned above, this pie crust recipe is versatile. It can be used anywhere a pie crust is called for. Vegan quiche recipes, your favourite single-crust pie recipes (like my apple pie, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, and chocolate pumpkin pie!), double-crust pie recipes, tarts, galettes, and hand pies.

It can also be used for sweet AND savoury recipes (mmm...veggie pot pie...)

You can also use it for recipes that call for a pre-cooked pie crust, like banana cream pie, fresh strawberry pie or chocolate pie.

So let's get started! There's no longer a need to buy pre-made, store-bought pie crusts when you can make your own nut-free, egg-free, gluten-free, dairy-free pie crust at home, and no need to be intimidated, it's easy and you can do it! I foresee some delicious pie recipes in your future.

Ingredients You'll Need

To make this vegan gluten-free crust, all you'll need is FIVE ingredients.

Gluten-free flour blend, sugar, salt, COLD cubed vegan butter, and the iciest of ice water.

I use all butter for this recipe, but of course, there are different combinations like all shortening, or half butter and half shortening, and coconut oil.

My preference is an all butter crust because I prefer the taste and the lighter, flakier texture and I think you'll like it, too!

Are you new to vegan gluten-free baking? If so, be sure to read all of my vegan gluten-free baking tips!

Why Does the Butter and Water Need to Be Cold?

It's very important that your butter and water are cold and there's some interesting science behind the why. Simply put, you want to prevent the butter from melting as you're making the dough. If the butter melts, your crust won't end up flaky, as a pie crust should be.

When made correctly, your pie dough should have little visible pieces of butter. These little pieces of butter will melt as the pie crust bakes and the water from the butter creates steam that separates the dough into layers, creating the flakiness we all love.

If your butter is too warm and melts as you're making your dough, you'll end up with a tough and crunchy crust, which is not ideal for a pie.

So always be sure that your butter and water are as cold as possible before starting and only remove them from the refrigerator when you're ready to add them to the bowl.

How to Make It

(Note: I’ve outlined the step-by-step on how to make this recipe here, but find the full recipe, ingredients, and directions at the end of this post.)

Making your own gluten free vegan pastry dough is not complicated at all! Follow along with the images below and you'll be a pro in no time!

1. The first step is to whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together. After that has been done, add the cold, cubed butter to the bowl.

2. Next, using a pastry blender or two forks, cut the butter into the dry mixture

3. Continue until the butter has broken down and only pea-sized chunks remain (see image #3 below).

4. Next, add the ice water. The brand of flour I use needs only four tablespoons (¼ cup), but if you use another gluten free flour blend, or if your altitude or kitchen temperature is high, you may require either slightly more or less water for the dough to come together.

When Adding the Water...

It's important to not add too much water (you'll end up with a sticky, wet dough that is hard to work with) or too little water (you'll end up with a dry, crumbly dough that will not hold together).

If you end up adding too much water, add a little more flour, if you add too little water, just add more water, a little at a time until the dough is at the proper consistency.

5. Next, mix with a spoon until large chunks of dough are formed like in image #5 below.

6. After that, get in there with your hands, working quickly so the butter pieces don't melt, and form the dough into a tight ball like in image #6.

7. Finally, flatten the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate it so it can rest and chill for at least 2 hours.

Rolling Out the Dough

After the dough has chilled, it's time to roll it out.

Generously dust some of your gluten-free flour on a piece of parchment paper, unwrap and place the chilled dough disk on top of the flour.

Sprinkle some more gluten free flour on top of the dough and then place another piece of parchment paper on top. Using a rolling pin, gently roll the dough into a 12-inch circle

Your dough doesn't have to be the perfect circle (as you can see from my image below!) just try to get it as round as you can. Do this by starting to roll from the center and then rotate the dough slightly after each roll. You also want the rolled-out dough to be approximately ⅛ of an inch thick.

Once it's rolled out to the proper size, remove the top piece of parchment paper and repair any cracks around the edges by pressing them back together.

Placing the Dough In the Pie Dish

Now, this next part is the trickiest part of this recipe. Because this dough does not contain any gluten, it's less pliable than dough made with wheat flour. So just picking up the dough and placing it into the pie dish isn't going to work well for you.

What I do instead is I place my standard 9-inch glass pie dish upside down on top of the dough, like in the image below:

I then place one hand on top of the dish and the other hand under the parchment paper, and I then turn everything right side up.

I'll then remove the parchment paper and gently press the dough into the corners of the pie dish. There may be little cracks here and there, that's okay, simply repair them by pressing each side together.

At this point, I'll also trim off any overhang. If you want fancier fluted edges, leave about a half-inch of overhang. If you don't want to crimp the edges, simply slice off the overhang and you can leave it as-is or you can use a fork to press the edges to make it look pretty.

After all of these steps, I place the pie dish in the refrigerator to chill again for about 15-minutes so the butter in the dough stays nice and cold.

Crimping the Edges

This part is optional, but don't let it scare you, you probably think it's harder than it actually is.

The half-inch of overhang you left in the last step, fold it under itself and then using both hands, work your way around the edge of the pie crust, crimping it as shown in the image below.

And that's it! Your gluten-free vegan pie crust is ready for a delicious filling!

FAQ

Tips for Success

• Keep everything cold to ensure you end up with a deliciously flaky pie crust. Feel free to stop and chill the dough at any time during the process if you feel it has been worked with for too long and is getting warm.
• I always use a glass pie dish for my pies because it heats evenly and because you can get a peek at the bottom and sides of the crust as the pie bakes.
• If you find your pie crust edges browning a little too much for your liking, use an adjustable silicone pie shield like this one (Amazon link).
• Before you bake the crust, be sure that you've preheated the oven so the pie crust doesn't have a chance to get warm as you wait for the oven to come to temperature.
• To par-bake or fully blind-bake the crust follow this step-by-step that will show you how to blind-bake a pie crust.
• Double this recipe for a pie that calls for a top and bottom crust.
• This is optional, but you can use my vegan egg wash to make the top of your double pie crust recipes golden.

If You Make This Recipe...

...tell me all about how things went! Leave a comment below and tell me what kind of pie you made 🙂

And If You Like This Recipe...

...you may also like these:

• Pumpkin Pie
• Just Egg Quiche
• Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
• Sweet Potato Pie
• Blueberry Galette

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