The best easy paleo pie crust for your favorite dessert pies or savory pies and quiches! The dough comes together in minutes in a blender and is gluten free, grain free, dairy free, family approved, and very versatile.
Three years of blogging snuck up on me just like that! Seriously, if I’d remembered my third blog-iversary prior to Wednesday of last week, I would’ve planned something with frosting and a candle. But, oopses, no cake in sight today!
Instead of a piece of cake though, I have something that just might be more appealing to you, and certainly versatile. It’s THE best, (or at least my favorite) Paleo pie crust.
Did you know that for the longest time, making a pie crust intimidated me? Must be the traumatic pre-paleo memories of bathing myself in flour while failing to properly roll out the dough (it was always sticky, I don’t get it) followed by a crust that never browned quite evenly and just downright frustrated the heck out of me.
Maybe it was simply inexperience, or maybe it was the heavens calling upon me to go paleo – not sure. Either way, I want you to know that this PALEO pie crust is WAY easier to make, in my opinion, than the gluten-filled pie crusts of my cooking past.
You can see in the photos above, that the “easy” part of this whole thing might be me letting my food processor do all the heavy lifting, so to speak. I recommend you do the same! However! If you don’t happen to have a food processor, or prefer to combine the dough by hand using a pastry blender, it will work just as well.
The dough is made up of a (many times tested) ratio of almond flour, coconut flour, and tapioca flour. I measured the coconut flour in Tbsps to ensure you get just the right amount (darned sensitive coconut flour!) I then used palm oil shortening for the fat, though refined coconut oil would be an option if you can’t locate palm oil shortening.
BUT! The palm shortening version REALLY has my heart – and makes this crust taste sort of like a Ritz cracker, which is a good thing. If you do wind up going with coconut oil, you must use the refined kind to avoid a heavy coconut flavor in the final product.
After testing several times, I achieved the “perfect” flavor with fine grain sea salt and just a bit of maple sugar or coconut sugar. Even for savory pies, I recommend adding 1/2-1 tsp of either of those sugars to cut any bitterness and enhance the flavor.
See how pretty and smooth that dough looks? It feels that way too! Not sticky at all, which made me happy. If yours feels a bit sticky, you can chill it wrapped in plastic for 10 minutes or so before rolling and pressing into the pie dish. Using parchment paper for the rolling/pressing helps quite a bit, too. Whatever you do, don’t add any extra flour!
Depending on the recipe you’re making, you’ll either bake the crust after filling the pie (for recipes using an unbaked pie shell), halfway, or fully. If you need to make a double crust pie, you can easily double all the ingredients and then form the dough into two equal balls.
I have not tried freezing the dough, but you can definitely keep it wrapped in the refrigerator for a couple of days before using it. It will harden quite a bit when chilled, so you’ll need to let it sit out at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out.
One other recipe note! This dough is very smooth, however, it breaks easily once rolled out, so simply pressing it into the pie dish might work better for you.
On the positive side, it can be repaired as easily as it breaks, so no worries about overworking it the way you have to for a gluten containing crust. Once baked, the crust is very stable, flaky and flavorful and goes perfectly with any pie!
Mainly due to my many many fails at a paleo lemon meringue pie (ugh, don’t ask!) I’ve made this crust over and over and each time it’s consistent in texture and flavor. Since giving up on the lemon meringue, I’m now working on a coconut cream pie (needs some tweaking) and have a delicious broccoli quiche coming soon! Are you ready to swoon over pie? Let’s bake!
Best Easy Paleo Pie Crust {Grain Free, Dairy Free}
Best Easy Paleo Pie Crust {Grain Free, Dairy Free}
Ingredients
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 2/3 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup palm oil shortening*** or grass-fed butter, or a combination of both
- 1 tsp for sweet pies or 1/2 tsp (for savory) maple sugar OR coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1 large egg
Instructions
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In the bowl of a food processor, pulse all ingredients EXCEPT egg to create thick crumbs*, then pulse/process in the egg until a dough forms** Gather the dough into a ball prior to rolling or pressing into your pie dish.
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If the dough is overly sticky (I haven't had it happen), you can wrap it in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc, then chill until it firms up. You can also chill the dough this way until ready to use - simply remove from the fridge to soften it up prior to using.
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To get the dough into your pie dish, you can either:
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Roll out the dough into a circle between two sheets of parchment. Place your pie dish upside-down over the dough, then using the bottom parchment paper, flip the dough into the dish. Finish by pressing it into the bottom and sides of the pie dish to fit - this dough will break easily since it lacks gluten, however it also repairs incredibly easily and can withstand a lot of manipulation without affecting the final product!
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If you don't wish to roll out the dough, you can simply press it into 9 inch pie dish using your hands or a piece of parchment paper as shown in the photo above.
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Once pressed into the pie dish, gently pierce the dough with a fork all over so it doesn't puff up while baking.
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For a partially baked crust, bake at 375 degrees F for about 6-8 minutes, or until barely set.
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For a fully baked crust, bake at 375 degrees F for 15 mins or until very lightly browned. You can use a foil tent to avoid the edges browning too much.
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Use for quiches, or any one-crust pie, sweet or savory! For double crusted pies, the recipe can be doubled and the dough formed into two balls of equal size. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pastry blender to blend the flours with the shortening until a thick crumb forms as shown in photo
**If not using a food processor, whisk the egg prior to adding, then stir in with a wooden spoon until a workable dough forms
***If you can have dairy, solid, cold grass-fed butter will work well. If dairy isn't an option and you don't have palm shortening, you can also use refined coconut oil, solid, at room temp or colder, BUT the crust will break/crumble more
Nutrition
Products I Recommend to Make My Pie Crust:
Want more Paleo baking recipes? Try one of these!
Paleo Key Lime Pie with Coconut Pecan Crust
Paleo Lemon Bars with Coconut Whipped Cream
Tell Me!
Two things:
Favorite sweet pie? Um, can I list 10?!
Favorite savory pie? Any quiche. Seriously, any quiche at all!
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Yum – great recipe for sweet or savoury – thanks 🙂
I’m in Colorado at an altitude of 6,000ish ft. Do you think any adjustments would be needed for high altitude?
I used this pie crust recipe, and it is delicious, and works very well. I used cold butter, cut up, for my fat. I thought it needed a bit more sugar, plus I added vanilla, and it baked up tasty, browned nicely, and held it’s shape. I froze it after pressing it into the glass pie dish. I made a fruit pie, and it also held the filling well. but I would have baked it a bit longer than recipe stated, as the center dough was bit underdone. Delicious, brown, held shape, easy to make in food processor! Loved it!
I see there is dairy in here..I am allergic to all dairy. I am not interested in using palm oil. Could I use coconut oil or something else? Thank you Michelle
Hi, this sounds and looks amazing. Do you think it would work with a flax or chia egg?
Super easy to make, great consistency, and very tasty!
since my husband became celiac ive been struggling to find delicious gluten free recipes so i was skeptical and i dreaded making a homemade crust when he requested a pumpkin pie but i was very happy with this recipe. it was easy and delicious. great work! and many, many, thanks!!!
Just made this crust for first time to make a quiche and will definitely be making again. Tastes great! So excited to be eating quiche again.
Love this crust and have made it several times! I have also subbed cassava flour when I needed it to be nut free and it worked great. I’d like to make it ahead of time for Thanksgiving and freeze it – have you tried freezing it? Thanks for any input.
I tried a number of different paleo pie crusts last year for Thanksgiving — this one was simply the best!! So excited to have this. Thank you!!!