Cassava Flour Pie Crust Recipes

PALEO PIE CRUST (WITH WONDERFUL AIP VERSION)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cut butter (or preferred fat) into 1 Tablespoon sections. Place in freezer for 10 minutes.
• Put cassava flour, arrowroot and tapioca into food processor (or work bowl, if you're using handheld pastry blender). Add sea salt. Blend to mix. Remove cold butter from freezer and cut tablespoons in half, so they are in 1/2-tablespoon rectangles/sections. Add these to food processor and pulse to blend, until largest pieces are pea size (or a bit smaller if using a pastry blender by hand).
• Add egg, water and apple cider vinegar, and pour over flour in a donut-shaped gully. Pulse. Use Pulse button until mixture begins to come together: see photo - about 10 seconds.
• Dump out contents of food processor onto a large square of parchment paper. (Reserve half if you've doubled the recipe to cut out shapes for the top.) Form into a circle with your hands, pressing and patting it together. The circle will be about 7" in diameter. Place second large square of parchment paper onto dough and begin rolling out with rolling pin, from the center, until you have an 11"-12" circle. (Ideally the center is rolled thinly, as this creates a flakier texture.)
• Transfer pie crust to pie plate by peeling off one side of parchment, placing pie plate upside down on pastry, sliding your hand under pastry that still has parchment, then flipping the whole thing over using both hands. If any breaks off you'll be able to piece it back together. Carefully peel remaining parchment paper off of top.
• Allow crust to slide down into pie plate, fitting into concave shape. Fold over and flute/crimp top edges. If dough breaks during transfer, it easily pieces back together. Dust your fingers with cassava flour if edges are sticky. To bake the crust blind (without filling), prick all over with fork and bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes. (To prevent the sides from collapsing in a couple of places, you can line the crust with parchment and pie weights for the first 10 to 15 minutes of baking; then empty and continue for remainder of baking time.) Otherwise fill and bake according to chosen recipe. If you wish, brush crimped edges of pie with egg yolk, to create a really golden outcome.

PERFECT PIE CRUST (AIP)

Steps:

• Mix the cassava flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the lard, then use a whisk or two knives to cut the lard into the cassava flour until the mixture resembles dry oatmeal; the largest pieces of lard should be no bigger than peas. (You can also use a food processor to do this job quickly, pulsing until the mixture resembles rolled oats.)
• Add the apple cider vinegar and then the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and work it into the dough. Stop as soon as the dough easily holds together. (In some climates, you may need an extra 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.)
• Roll out immediately or wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge until needed (will keep for at least a week).
• Use as you would for any recipe that calls for pie crust!

CASSAVA FLOUR PIE CRUST

Steps:

• WHISK together the cassava flour, arrowroot, and salt. Add the coconut oil, and work it into the mixture until the flour is evenly coated and crumbly.
• CUT the butter into ½-inch cubes, and add to the flour mixture. Use a stand mixer or your fingers to work it in roughly. Mix until the dough is very unevenly crumbled-with both big and small chunks of butter.
• ADD water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing, until the dough starts to become a chunky, cohesive mixture. When it starts to hold together when you squeeze it, stop adding water.
• POUR the dough out onto the center of a large piece of parchment paper. Fold the paper from all sides towards the middle, creating a square with the dough. Round out the edges to make a disc of dough, and wrap it up in the parchment paper. Wrap in clear plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (up to overnight).
• TAKE the dough out, and let it warm until it's soft enough to roll. Place the dough between two lightly floured pieces of parchment paper, and use a rolling pin to roll it flat, patching cracks as you go.
• TRANSFER the dough to a pie pan by carefully peeling off the parchment paper on both sides. Then place the dough back onto one of the paper pieces. Using a very large spatula or your hands, carefully flip the crust into (or on) the pan, patching cracks with your finger.