Let’s face it: most gluten-free baked goods just taste kinda funny.

I’m not saying there aren’t some tasty products out there (remember when I was obsessed with millet bread?), and I know a girl who comes up with fabulous GF treats pretty regularly, but in general, the packaged stuff has a ton of weird ingredients and binders, and the homemade goods are kinda crumbly or dry. One area where this is a particularly prevalent problem?

Pie crusts. They’re hard enough to make flaky and soft with gluten, so removing the stuff adds an extra challenge. And if you want to make it sans butter, as well? Fuhgetaboutit.

Until now.

I’m not sure how we pulled it off, but two members of my group worked super diligently on perfecting this gluten-free, vegan pie crust for our Friday night dinner, and it’s freaking fabulous. After the jalapeno jam, this particular item got the most questions, and I’m not surprised- it has the taste of a thick, buttery pecan cookie, with the baking purposes of a pie crust. Nothing dry, crumbly or weird tasting here. Just in time for Thanksgiving, a recipe that will make all your gluten-free, vegan pie dreams come true. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Vegan Pecan Pie Crust

Yields seven 3″ tartlets, or one 9″ pie

Created by the members of CTP 203 at the Natural Gourmet Institute

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup rice flour
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon potato starch
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons tapioca starch
  • 1/2 cup pecans (untoasted)
  • 1 tablespoon maple crystals (or brown sugar)
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon melted coconut oil
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Procedure:
  1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Oil tart shells or pie pan. (For best results, use a pan with a removable bottom.)
  2. In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk rice flour and starches together until well combined.
  3. In a food processor, grind pecans to a meal. In mixing bowl, combine pecans, flour, maple crystals, baking powder and salt.
  4. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the oil and maple syrup.
  5. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, one tablespoon at a time until the dough just sticks together but doesn’t feel wet.
  6. Press crust into pans. Refrigerate 15-20 minutes, then bake 20-25 minutes, or until dough is just starting to turn golden brown. Let cool completely before removing from pan.

This recipe works best as a pre-baked pie crust; therefore, the best fillings for this would be no-bake ones: think peanut butter pie (or pecan butter pie?! hmm….), chocolate pudding, sweet potato, or sauteed apples. However, we did try half-baking the pie crusts before adding a bakeable filling and popping it back into the oven, and that worked decently as well- it’s just harder to guage the doneness. For our pies, we simply diced some apples and lightly sauteed them in coconut oil with maple crystals, cinnamon and nutmeg. It was a simple filling that had a lot of flavor and a really rustic feel, especially when paired with some dried cherries and a salted caramel sauce (anyone interested in those recipes, as well?).

Happy baking!

Have you ever experimented with gluten-free baking? What’s your favorite GF treat?