Of all the gluten free baking techniques pastry making is definitely the most daunting. Do not fear, this gluten free shortcrust pastry is easy to prepare and far superior to store bought gluten free pastry which tends to be gluggy and full of artificial additives and thickeners.
I have chosen cornflour and sweet rice flour as my two main gluten free flours because they are both soft flours which produce a beautiful crumbly texture as opposed to a tough crust. The addition of sorghum adds a protein, fibre and antioxidant boost as well as smoothness to the pastry texture.
It is very important to rest the pastry in the fridge prior to baking to avoid shrinkage. Cool and relaxed pastry is easier to work with and holds it’s shape so don’t skip this step! If your pastry is too wet dust with extra flour and if it is too dry add a little cold water.
My trick to achieving a light delicate texture is to roll out the dough between two sheets of waxed baking paper. This also allows you to easily transfer the delicate pastry into your pie tin by inverting the sheet and peeling away the baking paper. If breakage occurs simply pinch pastry back together.
The gluten free shortcrust recipe below contains icing sugar for a sweet pie crust but you can easily convert to a savoury pastry by simply omitting the icing sugar and adding sea salt.
Let the baking begin!
- ¾ cup or 100g cornflour
- ¾ cup or 100g sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
- ⅓ cup or 50g sorghum flour
- ½ cup or 90g icing sugar*
- ⅓ cup or 30g almond meal
- 125g cold butter, chopped
- 1 egg
- *For a savoury shortcrust pastry omit the icing sugar and add 1 tbs sea salt flakes. At the final stage add 2-3 tbs of cold water and mix to form a dough.
- Put all flours and icing sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine.
- Add the butter and egg and pulse until dough roughly comes together. If required, add 1 - 2 tablespoons of water to help form the dough but only if necessary.
- Transfer dough to a surface and shape into a flat disc, wrap in cling film and rest in fridge for 1 hour before using.
- Put all flours and icing sugar in Thermomix bowl and combine 3 sec/speed 6.
- Add the butter and egg and mix 15 sec/speed 5 until dough roughly comes together. If required, add 1 - 2 tablespoons of water to help form the dough but only if necessary.
- Transfer dough to a surface and shape into a flat disc, wrap in cling film and rest in fridge for 1 hour before using.
Can you use another flour other than Sorghum?
Hi
If you don’t have sorghum just use some additional cornflour instead.
I have used a bit if gram( chickpeaa) flour which works well and gives a slight yellow colour to the pastey if you don’t mind that
This is BY FAR the best he pastry I’ve found. It’s been a huge hit all round.
I do wonder though if it’s possible to substitute the almond flour for those with nut allergies?
Hi Irene,
Glad you love my gluten free pastry recipe. If you have a nut allergy just omit the almond meal and add a little more corn flour. Enjoy!
Helen.
Hi helen, im converting your shortcrusy pastry to make a savoury pie; what temp & how long should i cook crust for? Thank you for your easy to follow recipes. I had 6months of limited success till i watched your cooking show on sbs. Im now having many successes in the kitchen. I esp appreciate you explaining why you choose particular ingredients and their impact on the recipes, it helps me to know how to adapt other recipes to gf. Many thanks.
Hello, I plan on making an apple and raspberry pie using your short crust pastry. Just wondering would one lot of the dough be enough for a full pie casing (top and bottom) or should I double this recipe? Also how long and what temp would I bake the pie?
One last Q, does this pastry need to be blind baked before adding the filling?
Helen U do not say how long these recipes need to be cooked for????
It depends on the recipe you are making, usually 20 – 30 minutes.
Hi! What might be a suitable alternative to the sweet rice flour component. It sounds like this adds a nice chewy consistency, but I can’t seem to find any near me…
You can just use regular rice flour