By Mary Capone

Gluten-Free Pastry Crust

MAKES ONE 9-INCH CRUST

This easy crust can be made sweet or savory, the perfect companion to any filling. Use flax gel* as an egg replacement.

1 cup Mary’s All-Purpose Flour Blend
2 tablespoons sweet rice flour or tapioca starch/flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar (for a savory crust, eliminate sugar)
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter or dairy-free butter alternative, well chilled
1 large egg or flax gel*
1 tablespoon ice water, more as needed

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch glass pie plate.

2. In a food processor, mix together flour blend, sweet rice flour or tapioca flour, brown sugar (for a savory crust, do not add sugar) and salt. Pulse to blend. If using a bowl, whisk ingredients together until combined.

3. Cut in butter just until mixture resembles coarse meal. If using a bowl, cut butter in with a pastry knife.

4. Add egg (or flax gel) and water, and mix just until dough forms a ball.

5. Flatten dough into a 6-inch disk and place between two sheets of parchment or wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

6. To make a piecrust, remove dough from the refrigerator and roll it out between paper sheets to an 11-inch round. Place in pie plate, crimp border, add filling and bake according to pie recipe. To make Sweet Potato Torte, roll dough to fit a 9-inch springform pan and follow instructions of Sweet Potato Torte recipe.

*TIP To make flax gel, combine 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons hot water. Let sit until thickened.

 

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Mary’s All-Purpose Flour Blend

MAKES 6 CUPS

2 cups brown rice flour
2 cups white rice flour
1⅓ cups potato starch (not potato flour)
⅔ cup tapioca starch/flour

1. Mix ingredients together. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator until used.

Each cup contains 564 calories, 2g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 4 mg sodium, 127 g carbohydrate, 4g fiber, 7g protein.