For some of us, our bodies humble us at times, or maybe anytime we eat a bite of gluten.

We’re stumped at how even a little bit of a sweet delight such as a slice of carrot cake or even an organic sprouted wheat bagel can create havoc for our bodies.

Yet it does.

As we approach the holiday season—filled with those awkward moments of putting our hands up, and gracefully saying, “No, thanks,” to the offer of gluten goodies, awaiting that dialogue about our choice to be gluten-free (knowing that gluten-free is not just a fad for us, but an essential part of our well being)—let’s share a pie with our friends and family that will make all gluten-related questions (except for this recipe) disappear from our holiday conversations.

Pamela’s Products is my go-to for making gluten-free baking goods. Their products are consistent, and the Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix doesn’t have the garbanzo or tapioca flours that often leave gluten-free baked goods tasting like cardboard.

Here are the core ingredients for the pie crust:

1 1/2 cups of Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix
2 tsp sugar (don’t use if you’re making a savory crust for vegan Shepard’s Pie)
4TBSP unsalted butter (vegan), chilled
2 TBSP organic canola oil
1/4 cup ice water

*(It makes one crust, so double the ingredients if you’re making an apple pie.)

Filling:

1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen fruit (blueberries, cherries, blackberries)
2 TBSP of honey, maple syrup, or organic sugar (or don’t use any sweeteners)
a splash of water

Mix the 1 1/2 cups of Pamela’s baking mix with two tsp of sugar in a large mixing bowl, and then cut in the chilled butter until the butter is in small pieces. Tedious, right? Don’t get impatient, and use a food processor (or melt the butter) because you won’t get the flaky crust.

Once the butter pieces are small, add the oil, and the ice water (yes, ice cold!) slowly to the gluten free mix until it begins to get doughy, but not sticky. (You probably won’t use all the water, so go slow.)

Here’s the tricky part—and certainly, the humbling part—getting this dough into the pie dish.

Put the dough on a piece of parchment paper, and cover with another piece of this paper. Keeping your dry hands on the outside of the paper, shape the dough into a circle, and then slowly flatten it. You can use a rolling pen, but this dough is so pliable that using your hands seems to work better.

Once the dough is flatten to about a 1/4 inch think, peel off the top parchment paper slowly (a few pieces may come off, but keep going), and invert the dough into a greased pie pan. Gently peel off the other parchment paper. Honestly, you’ll probably get a few pieces of the dough stuck on the paper, but that’s okay. Scrap them off, and shape the edges of your pie.

If it’s a total mess (don’t give up!), then push the dough into a thin layer on the pie pan just as if you were making a ceramic pinch pot.

Once the dough is in the pan, bake it—without the filling—at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes in a pre-heated oven (seriously, pre-heat the oven, as the pie will cook much better).

In the meantime, cook up the 1 1/2 cups of frozen or fresh fruit (depending on the season) with a dash of cardamon, cinnamon, and a little bit of the gf baking mix (to thicken the sauce) in a medium sauce pan under low-to-medium heat. Constantly stir until the fruit thickens, and then turn off the heat.

Pour the sauce (or a pumpkin pie filling) into the baked crust, and put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so.

Viola!

A humble pie to share with our family and friends for the holiday.

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Author: Jes Wright

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Images: Author’s image.