Gluten-Free Pastry

I finally tried my hand at gluten-free pastry. The flour I used was a blend of freshly ground quinoa, buckwheat, and millet. I planned on making enough pastry for one pie bottom (for pumpkin), and one pie top AND bottom (for an apple pie with a "lid").

3 cups gluten free flour

1 1/3 cup cold or frozen butter

1 tsp salt

2 to 5 Tbsp cold water

Usually I add water a tablespoon at a time, taking care not to add too much. I only want the pastry dough to stick to itself when pressed. With these pastries, for some reason, I didn't need any water at all. It varies depending on the flour and temperature of the ingredients.

I squished the dough into a ball and chilled it in the fridge for 15 minutes. I then separated the dough into thirds and rolled it out. 

Rolling out gluten-free pastry? Good luck. It totally crumbled when I tried to transfer it to my pie plates. What I ended up doing was piecing together a shell and pressing it into shape with my fingers. It worked well for the pie bottoms, but I had to be creative with the top because there was no way to pick up a complete pie lid in one piece.

I decided on a lattice, which was very much a patchwork effort. Also I had the same experience when making an extra apple pie for us gluten eaters (the star pie at the top.) 

I really love looking at other people's kitchen blogs, where there are often photos (looking damn near professional) of beautiful goodies, offering tried and true recipes along with careful tutorials explaining tips and techniques for perfect results.

Yeah. This isn't that kind of blog. Sorry.

I have learned that when you put love and care and attention into your baking, things can come out simply delicious even if they don't look perfect. The nutty blend of flour was exquisite with the pumpkin pie. The lids of my apple pies kind of looked like they came out of a kindergarten class. But, I promise, they were mighty tasty, too. How can you go wrong with that much butter?

Thanks for reading!