Since I always love a good culinary challenge, I decided to wing it and just make one up based on some of the grain-free baking I’ve done so far.
My first attempt was good but not amazing.
My family was pretty gracious about it and everyone had Pumpkin Pie on Thanksgiving but I couldn’t leave it alone.
I had an idea of what could make both the crust and pie filling recipe amazing and kept making both all weekend until I got it perfect!
I am so excited to share this paleo pie crust with you.
It is light and flaky, holds together beautifully, doesn’t crack when cut, and tastes like a traditional pie crust.
You can grab the Pumpkin Pie filling here!
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
This popular Paleo Pie Crust is so versatile. Free of gluten, grains and dairy, stays crispy and doesn't crack or break when filled and cut.
- 1.33 cups blanched almond flour
- .33 cup tapioca flour / starch
- 1/2 tsp finely ground sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup organic palm shortening
- 3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
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Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine almond flour, tapioca flour and sea salt in the bowl of a food processor (or blender). Pulse a couple of times to get out any lumps. (You can also use a hand mixer).
Add egg, palm shortening and vanilla extract.
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Pulse until dough starts to come together in the processor. It won't form a ball, you will have to scrape it together to get it out.
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Scrape all of the dough out, making sure that all of the egg and shortening were incorporated thoroughly. Place into a pie pan and begin the press the dough with your fingers from the middle out.
Keep pressing until the center is thin enough that you can see a shadow of the pan but the dough is not ripping or breaking. You need to be gentle and press slowly in short strokes.
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As you press the dough from the center and up the sides, you should begin to have a bit extra come up the sides and over the top. Use your finger to scrap this off.
Keep pressing until dough has a pretty even thickness all around. Take special care to flatten the "seam" or crease of the pan so you don't wind up with a thick doughy bite at the seam.
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Use a fork to poke several holes on the bottom and to gently indent the rim of the crust.
Place on a baking sheet and into the oven on the center rack for 12 minutes. Remove and place pie pan on a wire cooling rack.
Allow to cool and use in your favorite pie recipe! Enjoy!
- Almond meal (ground raw almonds with their skins on) and blanched almond flour (finely ground blanched and skinless almonds) are different. This Pie Crust used blanched almond flour and will not work with almond meal.
- I usually use Bob's Red Mill Tapioca Flour and have good results. I have heard that some tapioca flours can have a strong or bitter taste. This crust shouldn't have any off-taste, if it does, I would look at the brand of tapioca flour.
- Since every filling is different, I can't say for sure how this crust will hold up to every pie but with the Pumpkin Pie it stayed light, crisp, firm, and flaky after cooking for an additional hour at 350F, cooling, being refrigerated, and even later that night. It wasn't until about 24 hours later that I noticed the crust had gotten soggy.
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Update Notes: This paleo pie crust recipe was originally published in December 2013 and was last updated in November 2018.
This sounds great, would like to try it for an apple pie….should I still bake the crust first before adding filling? Or bake like a traditional (flour) crust, and bake everything together at the same time?
Thanks for posting recipe…
Hi Laurie,
I suggest par-baking – just follow the recipe and allow the crust to cool completely – then bake with your pie filling. Are you thinking of making a second crust for the top or leaving it open?
I found this when googling Paleo pie crust and i must say i would use it again. Such an easy recipe and really easy to use! Thank you for sharing!
Great to hear Brandy and thanks for taking the time to leave me feedback! 🙂
Could I use lard instead of the palm shortening?
Hi Pam,
I personally haven’t tried it but I have had some readers tell me it worked for them. Good luck and thanks for reading!
I have tried it once and am doing it again. I was surprised that unlike all other paleo recipes, the crust has a very good consistency and is hard enough to hold in your hands
Thank you so much for the compliment Frederique!
Nutiva makes organic palm shortening. It’s cold pressed and sustainably sourced. It’s kind of hard to find but I got it at my local co- op. Can’t wait to try this crust recipe!
I need to look for it Jennifer!