How do I make gluten free pie crust that is not crumbly?

Use a starch heavy flour blend with plenty of cold butter. Press the dough into the pan rather than rolling it. An egg yolk or cream cheese in the dough helps binding. Chill the assembled crust for 30 minutes before baking. And handle the dough as little as possible since overworking makes it tough.

Can I blind bake a gluten free pie crust?

Yes. Line the crust with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until lightly golden. Blind baking is essential for cream pies and any filling that does not require long oven time.

What is the best flour for pie crust?

A blend heavy on starches works best. Try equal parts tapioca starch and potato starch with a smaller amount of white rice flour. Commercial blends work but tend to produce a less flaky result. For a foolproof option, almond flour pressed into a tart pan makes a tender, buttery crust with minimal effort.

How do I thicken fruit pie filling without flour?

Cornstarch, tapioca starch, and arrowroot all work perfectly. Use about 2 tablespoons per pie for juicy fruits like berries or stone fruit. Tapioca starch gives the clearest, glossiest filling. Cornstarch produces a slightly more opaque result. Both thicken during baking and set as the pie cools.

Why does my pie crust shrink when baking?

The crust was not chilled enough before baking, or it was stretched rather than pressed into the pan. Always chill a finished crust for at least 30 minutes before it goes in the oven. Press the dough gently into the pan without stretching it. Pie weights during blind baking also help prevent shrinking.

Can I make pie crust ahead of time?

Yes. Unbaked pie crust freezes well for up to 3 months. Press it into the pan, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and freeze. Bake directly from frozen, adding a few minutes to the baking time. You can also freeze the dough as a disk and thaw it in the fridge overnight before pressing into the pan.

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Recipe Type

Pies & Tarts Recipes

14 recipes

Curated by Evelina Melnikova

Pie crust was the last frontier of my gluten free baking journey. Everything else felt solvable: cookies, cakes, muffins, even bread eventually. But a pie crust that was flaky and tender and held together without being gummy? That took me a solid year of experimentation.

The breakthrough was accepting that gluten free pie crust will never roll out like wheat pie crust. Stop trying to make it. Instead, press it directly into the pie pan with your fingers and the heel of your hand. This is how tart shells have been made for centuries anyway, and it produces a beautifully even crust without the frustration of dough cracking and sticking to the rolling pin. For double crust pies where you need a top, roll the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and peel it onto the filling. It does not need to be perfect.

The flour blend matters enormously for pie crust. You want a starchy blend, heavier on tapioca and potato starch than rice flour, because starchier blends produce a more tender result. Cold butter cut into pea sized pieces creates flaky layers as the butter melts during baking. Some of our tart recipes use almond flour as the base, which produces a completely different texture, more like a shortbread cookie crust, that works beautifully with creamy fillings.

For the fillings, most fruit pie and tart fillings are naturally gluten free. Just swap the traditional flour thickener for cornstarch or tapioca starch. Custard and cream fillings are naturally GF too. Pecan pie, pumpkin pie, key lime pie: all naturally gluten free except for the crust, which is the only part that needs adapting.

These 14 recipes cover classic fruit pies, elegant tarts, and a few creative combinations that showcase what gluten free pastry can really do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Use a starch heavy flour blend with plenty of cold butter. Press the dough into the pan rather than rolling it. An egg yolk or cream cheese in the dough helps binding. Chill the assembled crust for 30 minutes before baking. And handle the dough as little as possible since overworking makes it tough.
Yes. Line the crust with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until lightly golden. Blind baking is essential for cream pies and any filling that does not require long oven time.
A blend heavy on starches works best. Try equal parts tapioca starch and potato starch with a smaller amount of white rice flour. Commercial blends work but tend to produce a less flaky result. For a foolproof option, almond flour pressed into a tart pan makes a tender, buttery crust with minimal effort.
Cornstarch, tapioca starch, and arrowroot all work perfectly. Use about 2 tablespoons per pie for juicy fruits like berries or stone fruit. Tapioca starch gives the clearest, glossiest filling. Cornstarch produces a slightly more opaque result. Both thicken during baking and set as the pie cools.
The crust was not chilled enough before baking, or it was stretched rather than pressed into the pan. Always chill a finished crust for at least 30 minutes before it goes in the oven. Press the dough gently into the pan without stretching it. Pie weights during blind baking also help prevent shrinking.
Yes. Unbaked pie crust freezes well for up to 3 months. Press it into the pan, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and freeze. Bake directly from frozen, adding a few minutes to the baking time. You can also freeze the dough as a disk and thaw it in the fridge overnight before pressing into the pan.

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Pies & Tarts Recipes

Editor's Picks

Apple Ricotta High-Fiber, High-Protein Tart

Keto Sourdough Lemon Bars

Frequently Asked Questions

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