If you’re a fan of alternative pie crusts, be sure to check out Vegan Oat Flour Crust, Quick Vegan Gluten-Free Crust and Chickpea Flour Quiche Crust!
In This Recipe
Why You Should Make This Gluten Free Tart Crust Recipe
Step-by-Step Guide for the Perfect Gluten-Free Tart Shell
Master the technique of laminating pie dough to achieve the flakiest gluten-free tart crust. With detailed instructions and photos, this recipe ensures that your crust will come out perfectly every time.
Mild Flavor and Tender Texture
This recipe calls for a soft, smooth dough made with a standard gluten-free flour blend, such as Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, which includes xanthan gum for better texture.
I recommend avoiding denser flour blends that contain ingredients such as quinoa, flaxseed, amaranth, chickpea, or almond flour, as they can alter the texture.
Curious about chickpea or almond flour? Check out my easy recipes for chickpea flour pie crust or almond flour tart crust.
Creamy Pear Curd Tart in a gluten free tart shell made with gluten-free flour.
Ingredients in This Gluten Free Tart Shell
Here’s everything you need to create a delicious gluten free tart shell.
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – Use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour (which contains xanthan gum) or another standard gluten-free baking flour.
- Granulated White Sugar or Monk Fruit Sweetener – Sugar helps the crust achieve a golden-brown color through caramelization, giving it an appealing look. For a lower-carb option, substitute with monk fruit sweetener.
- Salt – Just a pinch to enhance the overall flavor.
- Xanthan Gum – If your gluten-free flour blend contains xanthan gum, add ¼ teaspoon. However, if it doesn’t, use ¾ teaspoon. Xanthan gum in fact serves as a binder, providing elasticity and structure to the dough, which gluten-free flours lack.
- Cold Unsalted Butter or Cold Plant Butter – Cut into cubes. Cold butter creates pockets of fat in the dough, which melt during baking, producing steam. This steam then lifts the layers of dough, resulting in a flaky, light texture. If the butter is too warm, it will blend into the dough, making it dense rather than flaky.
- Cold Water – Cold water helps keep the butter solid while mixing the dough. If the water is too warm, it softens the butter or melts it prematurely, which prevents the crust from forming flaky layers during baking.
No Bake Vegan Pumpkin Pie features the plant-based version of this gluten-free tart crust.
How to Make Gluten Free Tart Crust with Step-by-Step Photos
Here are step-by-step photos and instructions to guide you in making this gluten free tart shell. For the flakiest crust, work quickly and be sure to refrigerate the cubed butter and water until you’re ready to use them.
1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk gluten-free flour, sugar or monk fruit sweetener, salt, and xanthan gum.
2. Add the cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture.
3. Gently mix the butter cubes into the flour until they are well coated when making this gluten free tart shell.
4. Using your fingers, quickly smash each cube of butter into a small, flat disk with uneven edges. Be careful not to overwork the butter with your warm hands, as you want to avoid softening the butter too much.
5. Then, toss the smashed disks of butter to make sure they are properly coated with gluten-free flour.
6. Then, slowly add the cold water and use a spatula to bring the dough together. It will be dry and shaggy. Resist the urge to add extra water, as doing so can result in a less flaky crust. But if you need to add water, pat it in with your fingers.
7. The ball of dough may have cracks and won’t look perfectly hydrated, which is completely fine.
8. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Use the Lamination Method to Make an Extra Flaky Tart Crust
Most home bakers simply mix the ingredients and roll out the dough. However, as Bon Appétit explains, pastry chefs often take a different approach.
They use a technique called “lamination,” which involves rolling and folding the dough to create layers that puff up in the oven and shatter under your fork, resulting in a crispy, light texture full of air.
It’s the pie dough equivalent of a delicious croissant, which, not surprisingly, also relies on the lamination technique.
We discovered that lamination works beautifully for a gluten-free tart crust as well.
9. Once you remove the dough ball from the refrigerator, it will feel slightly firm. Let it sit for a few seconds to soften, then gently roll it out. During the lamination process, the larger chunks of butter will be flattened into long sheets. At this point, if you notice any cracks, use your fingers to pat a little water on them.
10. Once you’ve rolled the dough into a rectangle, fold the dough over vertically. Tip: You can also place parchment paper over the dough before using the rolling pin – this makes the process easier.
11. Next, fold the dough over horizontally. Then, roll it out into a rectangle again. Don’t over-roll the dough. Each time you roll out the dough, you are flattening the disks of butter more.
12. After repeating the lamination process 4 times, the dough will in fact be smooth and supple. Then, shape the dough into a round disk. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove Dough from Refrigerator and Preheat Oven to 425°F (218°C)
13. Put the disk on your work surface.
14. Roll the dough into a 12-inch (31 cm) circle on parchment paper. The parchment paper is essential, as you’ll be flipping the tart dough into the pan.
15. Put the pie or tart pan on the dough and make sure it extends at least 2 inches (5 cm) beyond the edge of the pan.
16. Then, flip over the tart pan with the dough and parchment paper, and slowly peel off the parchment paper.
17. Using scissors, trim the rough edges, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of extra dough hanging over the edge. This allows you to fold the dough under, creating a thicker, sturdier edge that can be crimped or fluted for decoration.
18. Next, fold the extra dough under the sides.
19. The dough now has sturdier edges.
20. Flute the crust: Pinch the dough at regular intervals with one hand while using the index finger of your other hand to flute the edges.
21. Dock the dough by pricking it with a fork to prevent the bottom from bubbling up.
22. Insert crumpled parchment paper into the gluten-free tart shell; it’s easier to fit into the tart pan when it’s slightly crumbled. Next, trim the parchment paper with scissors, leaving enough to cover the edges. Finally, add pie weights – you can also use rice or dried beans.
Bake the Gluten Free Tart Crust
Fully Bake the Crust
Bake with pie weights in a preheated oven at 425°F (218°C) for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and continue baking for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the crust turns golden brown.
Parbake the Crust
Bake with pie weights in a preheated oven at 425°F (218°C) for about 10 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden brown. Remove the pie weights and parchment, then let the crust cool before continuing with your recipe.
And there you have it! An extra flaky gluten-free tart crust.
Storage Tips for This Gluten Free Tart Crust Recipe
This is how you store this gluten free tart crust.
Refrigerate Gluten Free Tart Shell
You can refrigerate unbaked gluten-free pie dough for up to 5 days. Make sure to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap.
Freeze This Gluten-Free Tart Crust Recipe
You can also wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze it for up to 1 month. Just be sure to thaw it in the refrigerator before using it.
In conclusion, that’s everything you need to know to make this delicious gluten-free tart crust. If you love making gluten-free tarts and pies, I definitely recommend trying this extra flaky tart crust.
Happy Baking!
Want More Healthy Recipes?
Here are some more recipes to enjoy:
- Almond Flour Tart Crust
- Chocolate Pie Crust Recipe
- Gluten Free Apple Tart
- Upside Down Plum Cake
- Vegan Almond Flour Pie Crust
Recipe Card
Gluten Free Tart Shell Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Pie or Tart Pan
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Spatula
- Rolling Pin
- Plastic Wrap
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 1½ Cups Gluten Free Flour Blend or another standard gluten-free baking flour. (222 grams) I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour (which contains xanthan gum).
- 2 Tablespoons Granulated White Sugar or Monk Fruit Sweetener (24 grams) For a lower-carb option, substitute with monk fruit sweetener.
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- ¾ Teaspoon Xanthan Gum if there's no xanthan gum in your flour. If your flour contains xanthan gum, add ¼ teaspoon.
- 10 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter or Unsalted Plant Butter, Cold and Cubed (140 grams) Refrigerate butter cubes until needed. If you make this with plant butter, it definitely needs to be very cold because plant butter is a little trickier to cut. I made this with Miyoko's Unsalted Plant Butter and the crust was delicious.
- 4-5 Tablespoons Cold Water in a bowl If possible, put ice cubes in bowl. Otherwise refrigerate until needed. Use as little water as necessary to create a shaggy dough.
Instructions
You'll find step-by-step photos and instructions to guide you in the post. For the flakiest crust, work quickly and be sure to refrigerate the cubed butter and water until you're ready to use them.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk gluten-free flour, sugar or monk fruit sweetener, salt, and xanthan gum.
- Add the cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture.
- Gently mix the butter cubes into the flour until they are well coated.
- Using your fingers, quickly smash each cube of butter into a small, flat disk with uneven edges. Be careful not to overwork the butter with your warm hands, as you want to avoid softening the butter too much.
- Toss the smashed disks of butter to make sure they are properly coated with gluten-free flour.
- Then, slowly add the cold water and use a spatula to bring the dough together. It will be dry and shaggy. Resist the urge to add extra water, as doing so can result in a less flaky crust. But if you need to add water, pat it in with your fingers.
- The ball of dough may have cracks and won’t look perfectly hydrated, which is completely fine.
- Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove from Refrigerator and Laminate the Dough: Pastry chefs often use the lamination technique, which involves rolling and folding the dough to create layers that puff up in the oven and shatter under your fork, resulting in a crispy, light texture full of air. It’s the pie dough equivalent of a delicious croissant, which, not surprisingly, also relies on the lamination technique.
- Once you remove the dough ball from the refrigerator, it will feel slightly firm. Let it sit for a few seconds to soften, then gently roll it out on parchment paper. During the lamination process, the larger chunks of butter will be flattened into long sheets. At this point, if you notice any cracks, use your fingers to pat a little water on them.Tip: You can also place parchment paper over the dough before using the rolling pin – this makes the process easier.
- Once you’ve rolled the dough into a rectangle, fold the dough over vertically.
- Next, fold the dough over horizontally. Then, roll it out into a rectangle again. Don't over-roll the dough. Each time you roll out the dough, you are flattening the disks of butter more.
- After repeating the lamination process 4 times, the dough will be smooth and supple. Then, shape the dough into a round disk. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove from Refrigerator and Preheat Oven to 425°F (218°C)
- Put the disk on your work surface.
- Roll the dough into a 12-inch (31 cm) circle on parchment paper. The parchment paper is essential, as you'll be flipping the tart dough into the pan.
- Put the pie or tart pan on the dough and make sure it extends at least 2 inches (5 cm) beyond the edge of the pan.
- Then, flip over the tart pan with the dough and parchment paper, and slowly peel off the parchment paper.
- Using scissors, trim the rough edges, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of extra dough hanging over the edge. This allows you to fold the dough under, creating a thicker, sturdier edge that can be crimped or fluted for decoration.
- Next, fold the extra dough under the sides.
- The dough now has sturdier edges.
- Flute the crust: Pinch the dough at regular intervals with one hand while using the index finger of your other hand to flute the edges.
- Dock the dough by pricking it with a fork to prevent the bottom from bubbling up.
- Insert crumpled parchment paper into the gluten-free tart shell; it's easier to fit into the tart pan when it's slightly crumbled. Next, trim the parchment paper with scissors, leaving enough to cover the edges. Finally, add pie weights – you can also use rice or dried beans.
- TO FULLY BAKE THE CRUST: Bake with pie weights in a preheated oven at 425°F (218°C) for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and continue baking for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the crust turns golden brown.TO PARBAKE THE CRUST: Bake with pie weights in a preheated oven at 425°F (218°C) for about 10 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden brown. Remove the pie weights and parchment, then let the crust cool before continuing with your recipe.
Notes
This really is the perfect tart shell.
Thanks for letting me know!