My mom taught me to make pie dough from the “Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.”
I was 7 and remember the wooden rolling pin, working the shortening in with a pastry cutter …
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My mom taught me to make pie dough from the “Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.”
I was 7 and remember the wooden rolling pin, working the shortening in with a pastry cutter “until like small peas,” sprinkling ice water by the tablespoon and tossing with a fork.
Her method was to teach once, maybe twice, and then I was on my own. This arrangement suited me fine and allowed hours of unsupervised play — rolling out crusts and devising fancy edgings and lattice tops.
I still love working with dough, but with baker’s asthma I can no longer eat most grains. My pie days were over until experimenting with alternative flours I found the right combinations.
Good pastry is good pastry, I know what it tastes like and wasn’t willing to settle for a second-rate gluten-free version. The recipe I’m sharing comes with hours of testing and perfecting.
My gluten-free pastry mix makes 28 cups. That’s enough for 14 double crusted pies. It’s easy to use and have on hand in the freezer.
My friend Kim Smith Brooks has a canister of pie crumbs, as old-timers called them, in her freezer.
She mixes the fat into the flour and keeps it as crumbs, adding the liquid when she forms the dough. The flour has time to absorb the fat, leaving less room for liquid and resulting in flakier pastry. She likes to have pie crumbs for the October through December pie season.
In a big mixing bowl, the bigger the better, mix:
4 bags (623g each) Bob’s Red Mill sweet white sorghum flour
1 bag (454g) Bob’s Red Mill tapioca starch
1 bag (623g) Bob’s Red Mill potato starch
1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons golden flax-meal
¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
2 tablespoons fine grain sea salt.
Sorghum: Is a whole grain, mild tasting and high in protein. I like it better than rice flours.
Tapioca starch: It helps provide a light, crisp crust.
Potato starch: Adds moisture and fluffiness.
Flax meal: Helps bind the mix and make a rollable dough.
Xanthan gum: Is a natural product that helps bind the dough.
Baking powder: Creates a lift to separate the flaky layers.
• They don’t stretch and are more like working with clay than wheat dough. You will need to patch and pinch. It’s not cheating to press a dough in with your fingers if you’re in a hurry or frustrated.
• Keep the dough cold. Chill before rolling. It’s sometimes easier to roll dough out between floured parchment paper.
• I often use a tortilla press, lined with parchment paper and floured to make small rounds for tartlets or pot pies.
Use an acid ingredient in your liquid. The acidity reduces the activity of the enzyme alpha amylase and leaves more of the starch intact. Not developing acidity will lead to a gummy dough that will collapse during baking. I use apple cider vinegar or yogurt mixed with ice water.
Makes enough for two single-crusted pies or one double crusted pie
I make this dough in the food processor. The eggs help bind the dough and take the guesswork out of how much liquid to use.
2 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon gluten-free pastry mix
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces/2 sticks/225 grams unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ½-inch pieces
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• Combine dry ingredients in food processor and pulse several times.
• Add butter pieces, pulse eight times.
• Add eggs and vinegar and pulse until dough almost forms a ball
• Take the dough out and press together. Divide into two balls. Form each into a flat disk, wrap and chill for 1 hour before rolling. Chill the pie for 15 to 20 minutes before baking
• When cold butter hits the hot oven, it creates steam. The gelatinizing starches firmly hold the air pockets creating flakiness.
• Dough keeps for up to three days refrigerated or up to one month frozen.
(Sidonie Maroon, abluedotkitchen.com, is culinary educator for The Food Co-op. Kitchen to Kitchen is sponsored by The Food Co-op.)
