Almond Flour Pie Crust Chilled Before Rolling

For Almond Flour Pie Crust Chilled Before Rolling, the counter starts with all-purpose flour, almond flour I used Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour, and granulated sugar. Portion it for 12 people.

Count on 15 minutes of prep, 2 hours of resting, about 2 hours from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons almond flour I used Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup vegetable shortening cut in small pieces
• 1 whole egg well beaten
• cold water

How the cooking goes

Make the pie dough

1. It helps if all the ingredients are cold but it isn’t necessary. You do usually freeze the shortening because it warms so quickly.
2. In a mixing bowl or in the bowl of a electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all-purpose flour, almond flour, sugar, and salt. Add the cubed shortening and cut in with a pastry blender or mix on low until they are worked into the dry ingredients and are the size of peas. The dough will change colors when it is done being mixed. When the shortening is “under cut in” the flour mixture will look white and dry. When the shortening is appropriately mixed in, the flour mixture will look like wet sand. This is almost more important than the size of the shortening pieces.
3. Whip egg with a fork until the texture looks smooth and no visible whites remain. Add to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Toss with a fork to incorporate or mix in on low.
4. Put just enough water to hold dough together. You used 2 tablespoons but this will vary. You want the dough to stay in a ball, so if chunks are falling out, then add some more water. It doesn’t take as much as you think! Roll into a ball, place on plastic wrap, and flatten into a disk.
5. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Rolling & latticing the dough

1. Roll out to ¼ inch thick. If it cracks, it is a little too cold. Let it sit out for 5-8 minutes. This dough is more fragile than the other go-to crust, so you use the rolling pin method for transferring the dough to a pan. Gently roll the dough onto the pin and unroll it over your pie dish.
2. If you are make a single crust pie, decoratively crimp the edges, place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes and then either add your filling or pre-bake the crust. If making a double crust, roll out the top crust. You can lattice like you did with the strawberry rhubarb pie or you can just cut a few vent holes like in this peach pie. You can watch this video on how to lattice a pie crust on the Youtube channel.

How to pre-bake the almond flour pie crust

1. Pre-heat your oven to 425 °F prior to adding the pastry to your dish, cut baking paper to fit inside and crumple it into a ball. Smooth it out. Now it is flexible enough to line your dough without poking holes.
2. Cover chilled pie crust with prepared parchment, making sure to curl the edges over the entire crust. Add pie weights or fill with beans.
3. Oven-bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Remove parchment and either cool for a partially (par) baked pie crust, add filling per your recipe’s instructions, or continue baking uncovered until it is a deep gold in the center and no longer looks doughy. This last option is if you will not be baking the crust a second time with the filling like in banana cream pie or French silk pie.

After it comes off the heat

Wait until the loaf is cool before slicing. Wrap it at room temperature, and freeze slices you will not eat in a couple of days.

If you want another plate from Pie crust, open Almond Flour Tart Crust in a Pastry Shell and How to Lattice Pie Crust Chilled Before Rolling.