Recipe: Gluten Free Pastry
Firstly - I hate those recipe posts where you have to scroll through mountains of faff to get to the recipe! This is one of those posts! BUT - it’s all relevant to the actual making of the dough, and will hopefully iron out any issues you may have before they crop up. So bear with me (and skip the details at your own peril!!)
When I posted a lunchbox pic on my socials last week featuring our homemade pies, I had a few messages from people asking me for the pastry recipe we used. This recipe comes with a few more notes than most of the recipes I post though, so this one’s going to debut on the blog.
I actually tweaked this recipe from what was originally a pizza base recipe by Rebecca Baron @ My Natural Family. And I have to say, the original recipe makes great pizzas! But I wanted a pastry recipe that held up to a bit of handling, and I had an inkling this recipe would work with just a little adjustment. So, here it is.
IMPORTANT - The main addition which makes this work as a pastry is psyllium husk. You can find this at the supermarket (usually in the ‘health food’ aisle), health food stores or even online - just make sure you buy psyllium husk & not psyllium husk POWDER!! Inconveniently, they look pretty similar, and at first glance it’s not always obvious which one it is. If you look closely at the picture below, you can see that the psyllium husk (whilst also fine and powdery looking) still has the texture and shape of the husk - the powder just looks like any light brown powder. If you do end up with psyllium husk powder instead, you will need more liquid - unfortunately though I have no idea on the quantity so it would be trial and error. Good luck haha!
Ok, so assuming you’ve got yourself some psyllium husk and made up the dough, leave it to sit for around 10 mins; this allows the coconut flour and psyllium to absorb the moisture and the dough becomes much easier to handle. Once the 10 mins is up you should be able to shape the dough into a ball without it really sticking to your hands. At this point you can also store the dough in the fridge for a day or so until you’re ready to use it.
We’re a family of 5 and I love leftovers so I also tweaked the quantities for this recipe. It’s so much easier to whip up a couple of large pie bases - or a couple of dozen mini pie cases - and freeze the extras for next time.
So divide your dough into at least 2 balls when you’re ready to roll it out. Roll each one out between 2 sheets of baking paper to avoid sticking. Then remove the top sheet of baking paper and sprinkle some extra tapioca flour over the pastry. Use a brush (or you hand!) and gently spread the tapioca so it completely covers the pastry. The dusting helps to make sure the pastry doesn’t stick when you transfer it over to your pie dish (which means less repair work!!)
Now, what you do next kind of depends on whether you’re making a family sized pie, or lots of smaller ones. If you’re making a family sized pie, gently slide a large baking tray or chopping board under the pastry (including the baking paper), then turn your greased pie dish upside down and place on top of the pastry. Then carefully flip the whole lot so the pie dish is on the bottom. Remove the tray/chopping board from the top, carefully peel the baking paper off, and gently work your way around, helping the pastry to slip down into the pie dish fully. If it tears a little don’t stress, just push the pastry down to re-join it and press lightly with your fingers in that spot. You can also press some off-cuts into any gaps, it’s generally fairly forgiving with repairs.
If you’re making lots of smaller pies, replace the baking paper after dusting the top of the pastry and carefully flip the pastry over so the dusted side is now on the bottom. Then peel the top sheet of baking paper off and use whatever you have handy to cut out smaller circles of pastry. Smaller circles of pastry hold up pretty well, so you should be able to lift them up and transfer them to your pie dish (muffin trays work quite well for the smaller sized ones, see the pic below). Sit it over your pie dish/tray (dusted side down still) and gently lift the sides and push it down into the hole.
Once you’ve got your pastry into your pie dish/es, prick the bottom with a fork (a few times for a family sized pie), then pop it into the oven and bake for around 10 mins just to par-cook the shells so they hold up better once you add the filling. At this point you can cool the pastry shells and freeze them as is, or fill them straight away, whichever you prefer.
And that’s pretty much it for the important stuff. So here’s the actual recipe (finally!)
Gluten Free Pastry
3 eggs
85g olive oil
60g coconut cream (the really thick stuff)
150g coconut milk*
30g psyllium husk (NOT powder!!)
150g almond meal
165g tapioca flour**
120g coconut flour
1 tsp salt
Combine the eggs, coconut cream and olive oil in a jug and whisk with a fork until yellow and creamy. Set aside.
Add dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly to combine, ensuring there are no lumps.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the milk, then add the egg mixture. Mix gently, but make sure all of the dry ingredients have been combined into the dough (leaving no powdery dry bits). Leave to sit for 10 mins, or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
See above notes for the best way to handle the pastry when rolling it out and transferring to your pie dish.
Bake in a fan forced oven for 10 mins at 180C then fill as desired, or cool on a wire rack and freeze for later use.
*other milk varieties should work too, but I haven’t actually tried them
** Tapioca flour is interchangeable with arrowroot flour. You can get it from the supermarket, but it usually has preservatives, so it’s even better if you can source it from a health food store or online (just check to make sure it’s preservative free still).
