Pie Crust

With Canadian Thanks Giving just around the corner, it only makes sense to have a recipe for pie crust that doesn't stink.

I honestly thought a flaky, delicious pie crust was never going to be in the cards for G free me.  I was so wrong!  It took some playing around and some research, but I found a crust that doesn't stink, and is pretty easy to make.

The trick in making any good pie crust is to make sure that your "wet" ingredients are cold cold cold, and the bowl you are using is cold too.  It's also important to let your dough sit in the fridge for at least half an hour before rolling it out.  

The Dough:

3/4 cup Bob's Redmill all purpose flour

3/4 cup this GF mixture 

1 TSP kosher salt

2 TBSPs brown sugar

2-4 TBSPs cold water

1/2 cup unsalted butter cut into cubes 

Mix all the dry ingredients together into a medium sized bowl.  With clean hands, blend in the butter by rubbing fingers together with the flour mixture.  You're looking for everything to be blended together into a mealy texture, don't over mix. The butter and flour should resemble small peas.  Blend in the water (this works best with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer), if you don't have a stand mixer work in the dough with your hands blending until everything is just wet.  You may need to add in a few more TBSPs of water.  Once the mixture is blended, kneed out onto a GF flour dusted surface, folding the dough over about 5 times, making sure to keep everything well dusted.  Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

When you're ready to roll the dough out, make sure to work quickly, handling the dough as little as possible.  I find it works best to sandwich the dough in between 2 pieces of wax paper to roll out.  Just roll enough to fit a 9" pie plate, making sure not to over roll.  

Cut the excess dough off the edges using a sharp knife.  With the leftovers you can make fun shapes to put on top of your pie.  Get creative!

Leaf cut-outs are so easy!

Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is so very easy to make, and is arguably the most delicious.  Who would argue that?  Maybe the French with their distinctly sweet teeth.  That being said; I am part way French blooded and bloody well love Pumpkin Pie.  

Ready for the oven!

With this recipe, you can either use pie pumpkins (which is how I do), or you can use the canned pumpkin purée.  When you're at the grocery store make sure it's the purée you're buying, not the prepared pumpkin stuff (which already has sugar and spices added).

How to do it the good ol fashioned way:

2 medium sized pie pumpkins
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Ginger 
Ground Cloves

Cut the top off the pumpkins like you were going to carve it for Halloween. Gut the seeds and stringy guts stuff and toss out.  Place the pumpkins as-is onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with your assorted spices along the inside walls and a bit into the bottom just to cover lightly. With the nutmeg and cloves, make sure to use a pretty scant amount, as it's quite a strong flavour. Bake at 350º for about an hour.  Once the pumpkins are done and soft, scoop out the innards right off of the skin into a blender.  Purée until just smooth. This yields enough for 2 pies, or 1 pie and some other creative pumpkin concoction.


Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie:


3 large eggs
2 cups pumpkin
1/2 cup thick coconut milk (Grace coconut milk is amazing for   this)
1/2 cup brown sugar

If you opted for the canned pumpkin you'll need these as well:

1 TSP ground cinnamon
1/2 TSP ground ginger
1/8 TSP ground nutmeg
1/8 TSP ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 350º.  Beat the eggs for just a few seconds, enough to be just broken up. Add in the pumpkin, coconut milk, sugar, and spices if you're using the canned pumpkin.  Beat again until smooth and blended, maybe just another 30 seconds or so.  Pour the mixture into an unbaked pie crust, either home-made or store bought.  Bake for about 45 minutes, if the filling is still liquidy bake for another 5-10 minutes keeping a close eye on the crust.  If the crust starts to brown too quickly, take a fairly long sheet of tinfoil and cut a hole into the middle.  Cover the pie with the tinfoil, making sure to keep the hole in the centre of the pie.  Let the pie stand for 10 minutes before cutting.