A gluten free oat flour pie crust recipe made simple without the need for special flour blends. Instructions include the methods for making by hand and also in a food processor.
I have a wildly popular recipe for the Best Gluten Free Pie Crust here on the website. It’s been around for awhile and truly tastes the most like a traditional (gluten full) pie crust. (For those not sensitive to gluten, I highly recommend my all butter pie crust that I dubbed No Excuses Pie Crust because it is made in a food processor.) As tasty as my other gluten free pie crust recipe is, I’ve been playing around with ingredients with the hope of creating a gluten free pie crust recipe that does not require expensive specialty flour blends. I generally prefer oat flour in place of those specialty gluten free flour blends when baking. Oats impart such a lovely, nutty flavor to baked goods, and the mouth feel is anything but gritty. So oat flour was where I began the process.
And boy, let me tell you, this was a process. I’m not too proud to say that it took eight different trials before nailing down the right proportion of ingredients for this recipe. EIGHT! For the Pie Girl!
Part of that process was because I want to be able to easily roll out a gluten free oat flour pie crust on a lightly (oat) floured surface, just as I would a traditional pie crust. I don’t want to fuss with rolling the dough between two pieces of parchment that may or may not want to peel away when it comes time to fill the pie plate. Sticky pie crust can be a real bummer.
If you don’t like to roll out pie crust, no worries! This recipe can also be “pushed in” to the pie plate as you would a graham cracker crust.
What’s in a gluten free oat flour pie crust?
Well, it begins where all good things do–with copious amounts of butter! Other simple ingredients like gluten free oat flour, cornstarch, granulated sugar, salt and iced water also make an appearance. I had the most success when testing the recipe using Bob’s Red Mill (gluten free) Oat Flour. The fine grind makes for the softest, flakiest texture. I also was successful in making the crust vegan, using Earth Balance Buttery Sticks.
Can’t I just grind my own oat flour?
Of course you may. I also test the recipe by grinding Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oats into a fine powder to make my own oat flour. If you choose to grind your own gluten free oat flour, I do caution you to use old fashioned oats, ensure the oats you choose are gluten free, and also that the resulting flour is finely ground.
What’s up with the cornstarch?
Since the recipe for gluten free oat flour pie crust is, well, lacking gluten to hold it all together, the cornstarch acts as a binder. I tried various amounts cornstarch, xanthan gum, and arrowroot powder to act as a binder in the recipe. In my experience, straight up cornstarch yields the best texture and ease of rollability in the finished product. That said, you may substitute arrowroot powder 1:1 for the cornstarch in the recipe if you prefer. Just know that the arrowroot makes the dough a tad trickier to work with. I do not recommend using xanthan gum in this application.
Assemble the gluten free oat flour pie crust but cutting the butter into the dry ingredients before adding the water. Once you get the big clumps seen in the upper right photo of the collage, go ahead and gently smoosh it all together to form a ball. Press the ball into a disk, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap before chilling in the fridge for 30 minutes.
OR take the easy way out and follow the instructions to make the gluten free oat flour pie crust in a food processor in half the time. You do you, Boo.
Once the dough has been sufficiently chilled, roll it out, nestle it into a 9-inch glass pie plate, fill & bake it according to your favorite pie recipes. The resulting gluten free oat flour pie crust has a rustic shortbread texture with a slightly nutty flavor that pairs well with most any recipe.
Kirsten Kubert
Yields One 9-inch pie crust
Serves 8
A gluten free pie crust recipe made simple without the need for special flour blends. Instructions include methods for making by hand and in a food processor.
15 minPrep Time
15 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 C. plus 2 Tbs. finely ground gluten free oat flour*
- ¼ C. corn starch**
- 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 8 Tbs. unsalted butter, well chilled
- 5 to 7 Tbs. iced water, strained*** (I routinely use 6 Tbs.)
Instructions
- To Make By Hand:
- Measure the oat flour into a large bowl. Whisk the cornstarch, sugar and salt into the gluten free oat flour. Make a well in the center of the mix. Cut the well chilled (firm) butter into ¼-inch cubes. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and toss to coat. Use a pastry blender to work the butter into the dry ingredients until butter is broken into irregular, pea sized crumbs. A few larger or smaller pieces are fine, but try to get them roughly the same size. Use a gentle hand but work quickly so as to keep the butter cold and the dough as flaky as possible.
- Add the (strained) iced water to the center, one tablespoon at a time, working it in by hand until a moist, crumbly dough forms. The crumbles should compress in shape and stick when squeezed together. The pie dough should not be sticky. In my experience, a gluten free pie crust requires more water to come together than a traditional pie crust to prevent it from being too dry and difficult to manipulate. This is even more applicable when using oat flour, as it absorbs more water than (gluten full) all-purpose flour.
- Shape the dough into a large ball then press it into a smooth disk. Wrap well with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Chilling the dough enables to butter to firm up again while the oat flour continues to absorb the water. The chilled dough is essential to prevent sticking when rolling out the pie crust. Once chilled, unwrap the pie crust and place it onto a clean, smooth work surface that has been sprinkled with additional gluten free oat flour. Sprinkle a small amount of gluten free oat flour over the disk.
- Roll the pie crust until it is 2-inches larger that the pie plate. Carefully lift the dough and drape it over the center of the pie plate. If the crust breaks apart in a few spots, just pinch and press the dough back together in those spots.
- To Make with a Food Processor:
- Cut butter into ½ inch cubes and freeze for at least one hour.
- Place the oat flour, cornstarch, and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 2-3 times (in 1 second pulses) to mix.
- Add the frozen butter cubes to the food processor bowl, and toss with a fork to coat. Continue pulsing to work the butter into the oat flour mixture, until the butter is the size of small peas. (About 8-12 pulses, depending on the size of the motor on the food processor.)
- While the food processor is running on high, slowly add the iced water through the feed tube, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together, and a stiff dough forms. (This process usually takes 15-20 seconds total in my Cuisinart food processor.)
- Dump dough onto a clean, oat floured surface. Lightly shape the dough into a ball, and then pat the ball into a ½ inch tall disk. Wrap the disk snugly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes before rolling out.
- Once the dough has chilled, roll it out on a smooth surface that has been dusted with oat flour and use in your favorite pie recipe.
- To Make Pie:
- For a Double Crust Pie – double this recipe and prepare according to directions. Fill the bottom crust with the desired filling. Place a second crust over the filling, and crimp the edges of the two crusts together. Vent the top crust and bake as directed by the pie recipe.
- For a Single Crust Pie – Crimp the edges of the gluten free oat crust, as desired. Fill the crust and bake as directed by the pie recipe.
- To Blind Bake a Gluten Free Oat Pie Crust – nestle the pie crust into the pie plate and crimp the edges of the crust, as desired. Freeze the crust in the pie plate for at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the frozen (crust lined) pie plate onto a light colored (not non-stick) baking sheet. Line the frozen crust with a double thickness of aluminum foil. Fill the foil with 2 cups of dried beans or ceramic pie weights. Bake the crust on the baking sheet for 12 minutes. Remove the foil and pie weights. Continue baking for another 2 to 3 minutes or until crust begins to brown. Allow the crust to cool completely before filling.
- To Par-Bake a Single Crust - Crimp the edges of the gluten free crust, as desired. Freeze the crust in the pie plate for at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line the frozen crust with a double thickness of aluminum foil. Fill the foil with 2 cups of dried beans or ceramic pie weights. Bake the crust for 5 or 6 minutes or until crust begins to set but is not brown. Remove the foil and pie weights. Fill the pie and continue baking as directed by the recipe.
Notes
*Gluten free pie crusts are not as flaky as a traditional pie crust made with (gluten full) wheat flour, nor will it behave in exactly the same way. Gluten free pie dough is more fragile, so a little cracking when transferring the crust to a pie plate is normal. The dough also tends to dry out quickly, so if the dough will be sitting out while the filling is prepared, keep it covered with a damp paper towel. With all that said, this recipe is the closest approximation to a traditional wheat flour crust that I’ve been able to come up with, in that it is still flaky with a shortbread-like texture. This recipe was developed using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Flour. I cannot guarantee success of this recipe using different gluten free oat flour. **Cornstarch is a gluten free food. That said, be sure to carefully read all labels to ensure that the product you are buying is not processed on the same equipment as gluten in order to avoid possible cross contamination.
***Chilling the water with ice is to aid in keeping the butter as cold as possible while making the pie crust. STRAIN the ice out of the water before adding it to the recipe. Even the tiniest shard of ice will wreak havoc on a pie crust.
When baking in tempered glass pie plates, I place them on a light color, stainless steel (not dark, coated or non-stick) baking sheet for baking—doing so ensures the bottom of the pie is cooked thoroughly. Nobody wants to eat a soggy pie!
This recipe can be made vegan by substitution Earth Balance Buttery Sticks in place of the butter.
Additional notes:
Gluten free pie crusts are not as flaky as a traditional pie crust made with (gluten full) wheat flour. Gluten free pie crust does not behave in exactly the same way. Also, gluten free pie dough is more fragile. A little cracking when transferring the crust to a pie plate is normal. The dough also dries out quickly. If the dough will be sitting out while the filling is prepared, cover it with a damp paper towel.
This recipe was developed using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Flour. I cannot guarantee success of this recipe using different gluten free oat flour.
Cornstarch is a gluten free food. Be sure to carefully read all labels to ensure that the product you are buying is clearly labeled gluten free in order to avoid possible cross contamination.
Chilling the water with ice is to aid in keeping the butter as cold as possible while making the pie crust. STRAIN the ice out of the water before adding it to the recipe. Even the tiniest shard of ice will wreak havoc on a pie crust.
When baking in tempered glass pie plates, I place them on a light color, stainless steel baking sheet for baking—doing so ensures the bottom of the pie is cooked thoroughly. Nobody wants to eat a soggy pie!
This recipe can be made vegan by substitution Earth Balance Buttery Sticks in place of the butter.
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