Gluten-Free Pie Dough

Cut the butter into small cubes. Put them in a freezer bag and freeze.

The next step is actually a few notes about your Gluten-Free Mix to make your life easier (boy do I wish I had someone to do this for me!). Gluten-Free baking can be a real pain in the toosh if you know what I’m saying. I don’t even know how celiac sufferers (people who HAVE to live on a gluten-free diet for health reasons) did it before the last few years. Even now when you go into a gluten-free recipe there might be 37 ingredients for making table salt….or you may have your 37 ingrediants and get down to the last step in your recipe with your xanthum gum, sorghum flour, and potato starch and realize you are still missing something! It even took me 5 trips to the store to locate sweet white rice flour, which just takes the wind right out of your gluten-free sails! So, in an effort to make your lives easier and healthier in the process, here are a few notes that have helped me along the way:
-Please save yourself the gas and frustration trying to explain potato starch and tapioca flour to your local Ralph’s or Stater Brothers associate. No harm to the big supermarkets, but they do not carry these products, haven’t heard of these products, and will have you walking from the Asian products on aisle 19 to the produce department and back again before you realize they just don’t have what you need. Trust me on this one.

-Call first if you have a list of ingrediants you are unfamiliar with or are planning on going to a store you’ve never been to before. Be VERY specific (ie: White Rice Flour and Sweet White Rice Flour are 2 VERY different things, but the average associate may not notice or even know the difference and this could ruin your recipe)

-Look online if you have the time and aren’t in a rush to get what you need. There are many websites that offer great pricing on gluten-free flours and products and deals on shipping as well. There are even a few really good websites that sell ready made gluten-free flour mixtures for a good price and good shipping. Googling what you are looking for will save you time and money and make your gluten-free journey so much less cumbersome.

Ok….there you go on the gluten-free Dr. Phil helpers…I will post this as a stand alone tutorial project as well.
My next Tutorial:
Organic Fruits and Locally Sustainable baking will be next on my to-do helper step tutorial.

Place the flour mixture into the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times or until combined. Add the cream cheese and pulse several times. Add butter pieces and continue to pulse until butter is incorporated and no pieces are larger than pea-sized. Add the ice water through the chute and pulse until a dough is formed. Remove dough from food processor and knead until a dough that holds together is formed; you can do this on the counter or place the dough inside the freezer bag and squash it together (saving your hands from getting really messy).

Roll dough into an 1/8″ for your pies in a jar, pie pops, bliss bite pocket pie recipes, and mini-me bite-sized pie recipes.
*Note-To save yourself from the mess, roll your pie dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper, wax paper, or plastic wrap. Dust with cornstarch or tapioca starch to avoid sticking.
It all depends on the recipe you will be using for baking temp, but I usually bake this dough at 375 for my pies in a jar, pie pops, bliss bites and mini-me bliss bites. Happy gluten-free, bliss-filled baking!