Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Gluten-Free Pie Crust

You can be gluten-intolerant/Celiac diseased and still have pie. It's your holiday right! This pie crust is  more like really thin shortbread than a traditional flaky pie crust so those freaks who don't like traditional pie crust may actually eat this crust instead of leaving it on the plate and incurring your wrath.

Soundtrack for Cooking:  Amebix - Drink and Be Merry (check out some crust while you bake your crust!)

Important Note:  Refrigerate all of your ingredients, even the flours!
You Will Need:

2 forks (for mixing)
1 large mixing bowl
1 pie tin
3/4 C brown rice flour
3/4 C sorghum flour
1 T sugar (I use organic sugar or sugar in the raw for all of my recipes)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 C Earth Balance
1/4 C cold water, plus 1 or 2 T extra water, if needed

In your mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Mix 'em up! Now add the Earth Balance in small pieces and mix/mash it into the dry ingredients with your forks. Yes, it requires some elbow grease. Add the Earth Balance in a tablespoon at a time and mix it in until you have a crumbly, fall-apart dough. Now, combine the vinegar with the water and pour it into the dough a tablespoon at a time.  Mix the dough in between each addition of water. Mix, mash, mix! Give it a couple minutes of mixing before you decide whether or not you need that extra tablespoon or two of water. It takes this dough a while to get going.

When the dough will hold together in a giant ball, it's ready to get some kneading. This dough will not hold together like regular pie crust dough. It will break into pieces when you knead it. That's normal. After a good 30 seconds to one minute of kneading, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for one hour.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees before you take your pie crust out of the refrigerator.
After your one hour of torturous waiting is over, take that crust outta the fridge and roll the hell out of it with a rolling pin or a clean wine/whiskey bottle. Make sure you flour your rolling surface first or your dough will stick to your counter top. When your dough is roughly 1/5 to 1/6 inch thick, gently pick it up in large pieces and press it into your pie tin. It will inevitably break apart into smaller pieces. That's ok, just smush it together. Continue to lay large pieces in your pie tin and smush them together at the seams, as seen below.

 Take any remaining small pieces and fill in any cracks or holes. Try to keep the thickness even throughout the crust. When you've reached "good enough" status, pop it in the oven for about 12 minutes. Turn on your oven light and check it at 10 minutes just in case it begins to brown too quickly. After 12 minutes, take it out of the oven. It's done!

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