The perfect pie deserves the perfect crust. Traditional rolled crusts can be daunting for many, and some simply can’t eat the wheat flour. Whatever the reason, this nutty, cookie-like crust is a breeze to whip up–grain-free with a hearty dose of protein, too.
To make this recipe more similar to a classic pie crust (as opposed to a graham cracker crust) I adapted my original almond crust recipe in several ways. Importantly, I added an egg to mimic the protein in the traditionally-used wheat flour. An egg was the key to success in this pizza crust, so why not in a pie crust? I have also tried this recipe with two egg whites (the crust sticks more to the pie dish this way, but tastes virtually the same) and varying amounts of sugar. For a sweeter crust, you could add another tablespoon or two of sugar. For a savory pie, the sugar should be eliminated.
As an extra note, I’ve also experimented with this crust by substituting a portion of the almond flour with Bob’s Red Mill’s hazelnut flour–which complements pumpkin pie beautifully. There is a crust recipe using all hazelnut flour on the Bob’s Red Mill package, which I tried when I was working on a new pumpkin pie filling. The package recipe tastes amazing but is a bit crumbly when cut. I recommend trying if you aren’t striving for a perfect-looking wedge of pie. Additionally, I once baked the hazelnut crust recipe with coconut oil in place of the butter and coconut milk instead of the cream for a dairy-free guest.
We especially love this crust paired with Maple Pumpkin Pie.
Yield: 1 pie crust
- 2 cups (225 grams) blanched almond flour (almond meal–which often has bits of the dark brown skins in it–works but makes a heartier, more rustic crust)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (optional; omit for a savory crust)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (chilled briefly to firm up, if necessary; may substitute cold butter)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla (optional; omit for savory crust)
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Grease a 9-inch pie dish very well, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
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Place the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a food processor and pulse several times.
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Add the egg and vanilla, and then scatter small pieces of coconut oil over top. Pulse until the mixture forms a ball.
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Press the dough evenly into a 9-inch pie dish, working the dough all the way up the sides. (For added ease, I like to press the dough ball into a flat disc first.)
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With a fork, prick the crust several times over the bottom and sides, and then bake for 8-12 minutes. If you are baking again with a filling, bake the crust until the bottom is just dry. If you are adding a filling that does not require further baking, bake until the crust is lightly golden around the edges.
- When using this crust recipe with a filling that requires a second baking, I recommend a “crust protector” as crusts that include nut flours tend to brown much more quickly than standard all-purpose flour crusts. To fashion your own crust protector, simply fold a 12-inch square of foil into quarters. Cut a 7-inch hole out of the center. Unfold and loosely mold the foil over the edges of the pie. If the foil is too close to the filling, trim so that it does not touch. Keep this on the crust edges for the entire baking time.
This almond flour crust recipe can be pressed into the pie plate instead of rolled out and transferred and will fit a 9-inch pie plate perfectly.
This Maple Pumpkin Pie is pictured in a hazelnut crust, but the filling is equally delightful in the above recipe for Almond Flour Pie Crust.
I baked this for a pumpkin pie yesterday and we ate it at a family dinner tonight. Delicious. I did use the crust protector as I noticed the almond flour does brown much more quickly than crusts made with regular flour. We liked the texture and that the crust tasted good in and of itself. It wasn’t just a tasteless base for a pie. Thanks for the helpful baking tips and the great recipe!
Thanks for letting me know, Ellen. So glad it went over well!
I have to try this!! I am so reluctant to try traditional pie crust due to rolling it out and so on, but this looks right up my alley.
I will let you know if I try it. I have nice little pie pumpkin in our cellar (ha ha basement) and plan to roast it like you had recommended a while ago.
Mary Lou
I hope you enjoy! I have a maple pumpkin pie recipe coming tomorrow, if interested. It’s especially good after sitting in the fridge overnight!
How on earth do you keep a fully cooked, ready-to-serve pumpkin pie overnight in the refrigerator?
Ha ha. You could certainly eat it right away, Ben. But when serving pie for, say, Thanksgiving, I always bake a day or two in advance. I also think the flavor of linked pumpkin pie recipe improves as it rests.
My mom had a fridge in the basement with a padlock. Nanaimo bars under lock and key- say no more.
Love it!
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would this crust work for making into savory meat hand pies without the sugar & vanilla of course? would adding 1 Tbsp. of water & 1 Tbsp. of apple cider vinegar, be helpful additions to the dough make a flakier texture? How many 6 inch hand pies would I be able to make out of this one recipe. thank you
Hi Monica, I don’t think this particular recipe would work so well for hand pies, but I will link two other possibilities below. The first is my favorite GF pizza crust, although it is a softer dough so may be difficult to work with for hand pies. The second is a great basic pizza crust where I have successfully substituted my all-purpose GF flour blend that is on this site. You could likely use your favorite cup-for-cup mix in it’s place. That recipe should be enough for about 6 hand pies. I hope this helps!
https://fountainavenuekitchen.com/gluten-free-pizza-crust/
https://fountainavenuekitchen.com/gluten-free-grilled-pizza/
And here is a link to a blend that I really like, if interested: https://fountainavenuekitchen.com/helpful_tips/all-purpose-gluten-free-flour-blend-2/
I am looking for a low carb option to top meat pies. Would you recommend the recipe, or the pizza crust you linked above?
Hi Aimee, I think I would try the pizza crust. Like many gluten-free doughs, it’s on the sticky side which makes it a little harder to work with than traditional pizza dough. The flavor and texture once cooked, however, are excellent. If you try, I’d love to know how you make out!
I used this recipe for hand pies made with dried fruits and honey. They were perfect!
So happy you enjoyed, Robin. Hand pies sound lovely!
This GF pie crust is the bomb! Thank you for sharing a truly flakey, delicious pie crust. I paired this with a Southern-style fudge pie, craving a pie from my childhood at the old Zim’s restaurant in San Francisco (closed long ago). Simply divine — and your GF crust is a keeper.
I’m thrilled this was a hit, and the thought of your fudge pie is making me hungry! Feel free to share the recipe.
I tweaked this recipe, subbing a basic GF flour (organic brown rice, potato flour, tapioca starch) for the wheat flour. I also add a large pinch of salt to your pie crust recipe to contrast with the fudge filling. This pie needs a small scoop of vanilla ice cream to cut the tooth achingly sweet filling. So good.
Oops, sorry, I forgot to post the recipe: http://inasouthernkitchen.com/old-fashioned-fudge-pie-easy-and-amazing/
Looks heavenly! So glad the crust recipe worked well with it!
We are going to try your gf almond meal crust to make lemon bars. Will try to let you know how they turn out. Thanks for posting your hints.
Oh yum! A lemon bar sounds delicious. Hope you enjoy!
I tried this with a pumpkin pie. Don’t pre-bake the crust for pumpkin pie. It was excellent.
Thanks for the feedback, Scott. So glad you liked!
Your tip of liking the crust better the second day, after refrigerating it… Do you mean mix, press into pie plate, pre-bake 8-12 minutes, then refrigerate? Or, do you mean, make the completed pie, then refrigerate? Or, refrigerate after pressing into pie plate, before pre-baking? Thank you!!!
I think it’s better once the completed pie has been refrigerated overnight. Thanks for checking in, and if you try, I hope you like!
I just popped this into the oven, not sure what I did wrong, it’s totally greasy. I made the dough into a ball and it was dripping oil. I put into the fridge for 10min hoping he coconut oil would solidify again but it didn’t. I pressed into the pie dish and there was a layer of oil over the whole thing which I poured off, then pressed with paper towel for a while. I only used 2 tbsp coconut oil, and made the almond meal myself which was powdery but dense. Is there maybe some oil from the almonds in factor here??
With only 2 tablespoons of oil to 2 cups of flour, it’s to believe it was dripping oil. I think you’re right that it must have something to do with the homemade almond meal. I have only used finely ground almond flour for this–and I haven’t ground it myself.
I have a standby, healthy pumpkin pie recipe that I have used many times. This year, I found a new one! The almond flour crust is more substantial than recipes I have used in the past and has an awesome nutty texture. I like that the filling in your maple pumpkin pie uses coconut milk (dairy free), and is extra smooth. All I can say is YUM! Delicious AND nutritious!
I’m thrilled you found a new favorite, Amber. Thank you for the great feedback!
Going to try this for a bakewell tart so I can share a taste of home with my gluten allergic friend. Going to try it hand mixed though, since I don’t have a gluten-free food processor! Thank you for the recipe.
You are welcome, Naomi. I’m sure your friend will be delighted…so very thoughtful!
I find this almond flour recipe makes tasty pastry but it crumbles too easily to be used as a normal pie crust in quiches or fruit pies. Any suggestions for making a low carb pie crust that behaves like normal short crust pastry would be appreciated
I agree, Margaret. Nut flour-based crusts aren’t as versatile as a traditional crust–and I haven’t even attempted using this for a top crust. There are other options, but most are not low carb…
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What temperature???
The baking temperature is stated as 350 degrees F. Hope that helps!
What is the carb count in the crust?
I haven’t calculated the carb count, but I have a tool linked in the Helpful Tips section that you can use. Here’s a direct link if interested: http://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
I made 1 & 1/2 times the recipe, using 1 whole egg & 1/8 cup of ‘lite eggs’, I pressed the dough into a 10″ pan and had enough left for a top crust, but I rolled it out between parchment paper & cling wrap, froze it for 6 minutes, and it worked fine.
Great feedback, Alecia. Thanks for passing along and so glad it was a success!
Would this almond meal crust freeze well? I would like to pre-prep for a special occasion.
Do you think it would work well with a cheesecake filling?
I haven’t frozen this but I think it would freeze well, Debra. It would work for cheesecake, although a graham cracker crust would be nice, too. If you like that idea, you could use this crust recipe, substituting gluten-free graham crackers if needed. https://fountainavenuekitchen.com/classic-cheesecake-with-chocolate-hazelnut-drizzle/
Have you ever tried whipping egg whites and folding them into the crust? I am trying to see how to make a really crisp crust and thought this might be the best way to do it!
I haven’t tried that, Katie, but I’d love to know how you make out if you do. You could be on to something!
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I greased the pan well as recommended–good suggestion as I never used to do that with “regular” crusts–and followed your directions exactly using your maple pumpkin pie filling. It was divine! Thank you for two wonderful recipes that created one memorable dessert! (Ate a piece for breakfast this morning, by the way!)
So glad it was a success, Terry. Thanks for your thoughtful feedback!
Hi, Ann! Do you think this crust would work well for more moist fruit pies? Or, do you think the juices would deconstruct the crust too much?
Hi Zach, I tend towards fillings in the pumpkin and chocolate categories, but I think it would work well for a fruit pie. That said, I don’t want to steer you wrong as I haven’t used it for an apple or berry pie. If you do try, I’d love to know how you make out!
What if you wanted to do only half the recipe? Than what would the recipe be?
You could just cut everything in half, Elliana, using 2 tablespoons of a beaten egg.
When making this almond flour crust with pecan pie filling, does this crust need to be baked first?
Hi Annette, I’d follow your pecan pie recipe, but generally speaking, both pumpkin and pecan pies can have soggy crusts when they are not pre-baked. Just don’t let the crust get too brown if you blind bake it, and protect the edges with a shield made of foil (or a crust protector if you happen to have one) while your pie bakes with the filling to keep them from becoming too brown.
This is definitely the most disgusting crust I’ve ever tasted in my life. I was excited to try this, and have had lots of success with gf crusts in the past. There is no way this is something you should be proud enough to post on your website. Please make significant changes to this recipe if you plan to continue to flog it to the masses. Shame on you, it’s clear you have no business in the culinary world. It’s disappointing someone would post a recipe like this, I can only assume you did it to gain traffic, very disappointing.
I’m very sorry this didn’t work for you, Kelsey, although I’m not sure what you mean by trying to gain traffic from this recipe. It’s a recipe that’s been in the archives of my site for several years, and I haven’t pinned, posted to social media, etc., since that time. If you give me more information as to what went wrong, I’d be more than happy to help you troubleshoot.
I gave this recipe a go today. I left out the sugar to make it savory and made mini quiches. I was very happy with the result and look forward to trying out a sweet version. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure, Rosie. I’m delighted you enjoyed!
QUES: I’m making this almond crust and maple pumpkin pie for the first time today. I’ve prebaked the crust for 10 mins as directed. Do I let the crust cool before adding the pumpkin filling?
You don’t have to wait to fill the crust. For best texture, the aim is primarily to dry out the bottom before filling. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Hi Ann,
I’m Kim, I live in Normandy France, but I’m English.
There are many things you simply cannot get in France
and at Christmas I long for the traditional English mince pie!
So I have to make my own, I make them for my husband and
visitors including French who love them.
However I’m gluten free so I need a recipe for GF pastry.
So I’m going to try this one of yours. I’ll grind down to fine
some ground almonds and go from there.
I’ll let you know how they turn out.
I’ve also got a Christmas fruit cake to make and a Christmas
Pudding too.
Do have a look at our website and find out what we do and where
we are. Best wishes for your thanksgiving day!!
Kim
Hi Kim, I hope you enjoy this crust with your traditional English pies and Christmas desserts. I did click on your link and the photos are lovely…I wish I could speak French to read the details!
What about if I am making a mincemeat pie? Bake first, then add mincemeat, then bake again? Or just do it all at once? The mincemeat has a lot of fat and must be served warm or else the fat congeals and is not tasty.
Hi Annie, I’ve never made a mincemeat pie, but pre-baking firms/crisps the crust under the filling, so it’s often a good idea. The main thing you need to watch out for with a nut-based crust is over-browning, so keep an eye on it and cover the edges if necessary.
loved it yes
Wonderful! So glad you liked.