This crust is flaky, delicious and gives white flour crusts a run for their money! It’s not super low carb, nor does it adhere to the paleo religion (if you swing that way), but it’s a great whole foods, gluten free option with superb texture and taste. It smells heavenly while baking as well. It is one of our three favorite pie crust recipes, and works well with both our pumpkin and lemon pies.
It’s also good for anyone with a nut sensitivity or trouble digesting nut flours. If you’re not so nuts about nuts, you can use the coconut option or just leave out nuts all together. Traci couldn’t eat nuts for a few years, so boy was she grateful for oat flour!
If you are nuts about nuts, you can use about any nut, but pecans make it wonderful if you can digest them easily. Check out ThePecanShop.com for the best tasting pecans we’ve ever had (we both grew up in pecan country). They are wild, beyond organic, and sprouted to boot! If there were ever a perfect nut… Around here, we refer to them as “pecan crack.”
You can make your own gluten free oat flour by taking gluten free oats and grinding them up in your blender. The trick is, the weaker your blender, the fewer oats you grind at a time. Even if you are using a Vitamix or Blendtec, only fill the pitcher about a third of the way, and do it in batches. It goes fast and you can freeze the extra to deter mold, moisture and critters.
Make sure you don’t preheat the oven before you are ready to slide it in (see recipe below). Also, check to see if your particular pie recipe requires a pre-baked or raw crust. Fill ‘er up, bake it if you need to, and enjoy the glory of a pie crust that is as tasty as it is nourishing.
Coming soon: Also, check out our no bake and almond flour crusts…
Oat Flour Gluten Free Crust (Nuts Optional)
Ingredients
- 1½ cups oat flour (gluten free if sensitivity)
- ½ cup extra virgin (unrefined) coconut oil or ghee from pasture butter
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons filtered water
- Sweet pies only: 15-20 drops stevia
- ¼ teaspoon high mineral salt (or to taste)
- Optional: 1 cup your choice of unsweetened shredded coconut, sprouted pecans or walnuts (if using nuts, pulse chop until crumbly but not goopy like nut butter)
Instructions
- Do not preheat oven yet!!! Oat flour dough will usually lose it's shape and slide down the edges of the pie dish into a puddle if you put it in a hot oven. Trust us, we learned this the hard way!
- Food process (pulse is better) first 6 ingredients, mixing thoroughly but careful not to over mix. You may now stir in the nuts if using. The resulting tough will be mighty pasty, so don’t think you did it wrong. It will firm up a little as the oat flour absorbs the liquid, so you can wait a few minutes if you want it to be a little easier to work with (not necessary, though).
- Using a rubber spatula, scrape the dough into a pie plate and using your clean hands, pat it into place, making sure to cover the surface evenly.
- This recipe makes one crust if not using the nuts (yields a little extra) and makes 2 if you use the nuts. You can freeze any extra.
- Place pie plate with crust in the freezer or fridge and let harden for a few minutes (not absolutely necessary but helps pie hold its shape).
- Note: some recipes, such as pumpkin pie, do not require you to pre-bake the crust, so please double check your recipe.
- Now preheat oven to 350 and bake for 15 minutes from the time your oven reaches 350, about 20-25 minutes total, dependiing on your oven. Once baked, remove immediately.
- Note: This crust doesn’t get too golden and if it bakes too long, it starts to dry out and crumble. You can still fill it if this happens, but do keep an eye on the time and texture. The dough should not be raw, either.
- Fill to your liking and enjoy!