3 days Ago By [email protected] (Cara J Suppa)
When you're living the gluten-free life, it can often feel as though you're missing out, especially where desserts are concerned. When you watch others enjoying their flour-y cookies (why oh why ?), cakes, and especially store-bought pies, you know you've got to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. So, what types of flour do you need to make not just a passable gluten-free , but an actual tasty and flaky dessert, so that you can also ? According to Jerrelle Guy, food blogger, author of " ," and owner of the website , you can use a 1:1 ratio of pre-mixed gluten-free flour to regular flour along with your other pie crust ingredients.
Guy also explains that "you can experiment with a blend of different gluten-free flours based on their particular characteristics: Rice flour and sorghum flours are good neutral bases and create a more traditional, flaky pie texture because they have a light, fine crumb and they're both mild in flavor." The ties that bind (the pies) Of course, because you're making your own gluten-free flour blend from various starches, you'll need to add a component that will help hold the dough together, both as you're working with it and after it's baked. Jerrelle Guy notes that "you'll need something like xanthan gum, psyllium husk, or guar gum to bind the dough and give it some elasticity so it doesn't crumble apart.
" Psyllium husk is likely your best bet. Bonus — it's full of fiber and is derived from plantain seeds, so you're not only enjoying a delicious pie at the end of your labors, you're aiding your digestive system too. This ingredient makes the dough workable, and it also gives the finished product some chew.
Psyllium husk also comes in powder form, but because the powder is so fine, it can absorb more moisture, so you would use less than regular psyllium husk. Especially if you're a novice gluten-free baker, it's probably best to just use whole psyllium husk, following the amount called for in the recipe. Tips for baking gluten-free pie crust Jerrelle Guy also has a few tips for making your gluten-free pie crust.
"Gluten-free dough tends to be a bit more delicate, so you'll need to handle it gently to avoid crumbling," she says. "It also tends to crack more easily when you're rolling it out, so rolling between two sheets of parchment paper is especially helpful here — just pinch edges together if they happen to tear." Once your dough is rolled into a ball, you should put it in the fridge for at least half an hour (and up to two days if you're making it ahead) so that it gets less sticky and it's easier to roll out, too.
Guy continues, "When baking, gluten-free pie crusts might bake faster too, so you may want to lower the oven temperature slightly to avoid over-browning." You can keep an eye on your pie crust while it's baking up if you use a glass pie pan (a will do the job), as glass lets you view the bottom of the crust and use visual clues — the color has turned golden brown, for example — to check if your pie is done. Recommended.
