Extra Flaky Gluten Free Pie Crust

 This comes from Gluten Free on a Shoestring.

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Gluten Free Flour 

3/4 tsp Xanthan Gum 

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

1/2 cup Sour Cream

Add ice water

Directions:

In a large bowl, place flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine well. Add the chopped and chilled butter and toss to coat in the dry ingredients.

Flatten each chunk of butter between your fingers. Add the sour cream and mix to moisten the dry ingredients with the sour cream. The dough should be shaggy and somewhat crumbly.

Knead the dough together with clean hands until it begins to come together. Add ice water until the dough holds together.

Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a disk as you close the plastic wrap around it. It will seem rough. Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375. Grease a 9 inch metal pie plate generously and set aside.

Once the dough has chilled turn it out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle the dough lightly with more flour and roll out into a rectangle that is about 1 inch thick moving the dough frequently and sprinkle it lightly with flour if it begins to stick. 

Fold the dough over on itself like you would a business letter. Sprinkle the dough again lightly with flour and roll out the dough once again into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. 

Twice more remove the top piece of parchment paper, sprinkle lightly with flour and fold the dough over on itself like you would a business letter.

Roll the dough into an approximately 12 inch round about 3/8 inch thick. Roll the pie crust loosely onto the rolling pin and the unroll it over the prepared pie plate.

Trim the edges of the crust with kitchen shears. Lift up the edges of the crust to create slack in the crust and place the crust into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate, tuck the excess pie crust under itself and crimp the edge gently all the way around the crust by pinching the dough at regular intervals with one hand and creating a crimped impression with the forefinger of the other hand. Cover the pie crust with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill until firm. (About 30 minutes and up to 3 days).

Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator and unwrap and discard the plastic. Pierce the bottom of the pie crust all over with a fork. 

Place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the raw crust and cover the bottom with pie weights. 

Place in the center of the oven and bake until the crust is golden brown on the edges about 10 minutes.

Remove the pie weights and parchment paper and allow the crust to cool before proceeding with your recipe.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I grow rhubarb in the garden and find that it's sour/sweet taste goes well with strawberries. My plants were huge this year and so I picked a lot of rhubarb to freeze. It is really easy...all you have to do is cut it up into 1 inch pieces, put it into containers and then put it in the freezer. So for Thanksgiving I made a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. This is my daughter Jenessa's favorite pie.

1 -10 inch double pie crust (I used the Never Fail Swedish Pie Crust)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. orange peel
3 cups rhubarb, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 cups strawberries, cut up
2 TBS butter

Mix flour, sugar and orange peel together. Then mix in the rhubarb and strawberries. Pour into the pie shell and dot with butter. Place the top crust on the pie and spread milk on the top and then sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 40 to 50 minutes.

Raspberry Pie

Once in a while a person gets published in the newspaper and this recipe is the one that made me famous in Vancouver. I submitted it to The Columbian in a recipe contest one year and they loved it. This is a very easy to make recipe.

1 1/2 cups water
10 oz frozen raspberries (I use the ones from my garden)
1 cup sugar
6 Tbs cornstarch
1 9 inch pie shell, baked

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add the raspberries. Mix cornstarch in 1/2 cup water and stir in. Boil 1 minutes until thick. Cover and cool this mixture and then pour it into the pie shell. Serve with whipped cream.

Trolley Pasties

I remember my mother making these meat pies where she worked at The Trolley. The Trolley was an ice cream parlor restaurant on The Last Chance Gulch in Helena Montana. It closed many years ago but these meat pies will bring back memories for my brothers and sister. You may also use the No Fail Swedish Pie Crust for these meat pies.

Pastry:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz. shortening
cold water to mix

Filling:
1/2 pound round steak
1 medium potato
1 medium onion
1 tsp. salt

Mix flour, salt, and shortening together with a pastry cutter or fork until like coarse bread crumbs. Add about 3 Tbs water to form a firm dough. Roll out on a floured board and cut into 5 or 6 inch circles. Fill with filling.

Filling: Cube potatoes, meat, and onion. Fry meat until brown and add onion, then potatoes. Cook until slightly tender. Then add 2 Tbs. flour to 1 cup of water. Mix until smooth and there are no lumps. Add this to the meat and cook to thicken. When slightly cooled, fill pastries. Fold pastry dough in half and pinch together. Cook in a 400 degree F oven for 20 minutes. Pour brown gravy over the top and serve with vegetables.

Never Fail Swedish Pie Crust

This is one of my favorite pie crust recipes and it turns out every time. It makes enough for 4 crusts and will keep in the refrigerator.

4 cups flour
2 cups shortening
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs sugar

Blend with hands. Add:

1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup water
1 Tbs white vinegar

Blend with the first mixture. Roll out. You can handle this dough with your hands all you want and still get a flaky cryst. This will keep in the refrigerator for quite awhile if you can't use it all at once.

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

This pie is a little more difficult than the cheesecake. It comes from one of many Relief Society cooking classes that I have gone to. If you love creamy lemon try this recipe.

1 cup sugar
4 TBS corn starch
¼ cup butter
1 TBS grated lemon peel
6 TBS lemon juice
3 unbeaten egg yolks
1 ½ cups milk
1 cup sour cream

1 baked pie shell

Mix sugar, milk, cornstarch, lemon juice and lemon peel. Cook in microwave for 6 to 8 minutes (until thick). Add 3 unbeaten egg yolks and cook about 2 minutes longer. Add ¼ cup butter. Add sour cream. Cool and top with sweetened whipped cream.