Suuuper flaky, buttery and tasty, this keto pie crust is ideal for anything from pies (think pumpkin and ‘apple’!) to empanadas and quiches.
Gluten Free & Keto Pie Crust
Suuuper Flaky!
Whip it up easily, roll it out, and go make some pie. Or empanadas, sweet hand pies, pop tarts (!!!), roll-ups… pfff! Endless possibilities await.
And did I mention just 2g net carb per serving?!
The Flours
I like a mixture of super fine almond flour and coconut flour best. Add a touch of xanthan gum, and we’re golden.
In terms of brands, for the almond either Anthony’s or WellBees work great. Both are super fine grinds. And for the coconut, I always favor Anthony’s (best taste and texture by a mile!).
And don’t be afraid of the seemingly long list of ingredients, as you’re likely to have most in your cupboard/fridge already.
Just One Rule
You must chill your pastry for 1 hour (at least) before using it. Similar to your good-old wheat flour, the almond and coconut (in particular) need the time to soak up the moisture evenly.
So chill for one hour, and up to 3 days.
On the subject of temperature, make sure that your filling of choice is completely chilled before filling up empanadas (or whatever it is you’re cooking up!). Otherwise you will (quite literally) see the pastry melt before your very eyes.
And remember that, like with any pastry dough, you need to work quickly and over a cool surface. Though do note that if the dough becomes too hard to manage, you can always pop it back in the fridge/freezer for 15 minutes before carrying on!
The Deets
When rolling out you may want to use parchment or wax paper. Given the lack of gluten, the crust is more fragile and it will break easily if not handled with care. So I suggest rolling it out between two sheets of parchment paper (see video).
And talking about lack of gluten, this is the reason why the dough will crack slightly when baked. I’ve noticed that the cracking can be lessened by allowing the dough to rest overnight (probably because moisture is distributed more evenly), though note that taste and texture will be the same.
I also noted that by increasing the xanthan gum you can get a silky smooth crust, but at the cost of losing a bit of flakiness. So I did sacrifice some aesthetics for the sake of taste and texture.
One last thing (promise!). Like with any pastry dough, make sure not to over-process the dough. The mixture ought to resemble coarse breadcrumbs rather than cookie dough. It will make the pastry much more flaky and (perhaps surprisingly) easier to handle.
And… The Video Story!
(The Flakiest!) Keto Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 96 g almond flour
- 40 g coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon or orange zest optional
- 100 g unsalted grass-fed butter cold
- 55 g cream cheese cold
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- egg wash optional (for glossy finish)
Instructions
- Please see recipe video for guidance!
- Add almond flour, coconut flour, xanthan gum, salt and zest (optional) to food processor and pulse until evenly combined.
- Add butter and cream cheese and pulse for just a few seconds until crumbly. Add in egg and vinegar and pulse until the dough just begins to come together (but stop before it forms into a ball). Like with any pastry dough, make sure not to over-process the dough. The mixture ought to resemble coarse breadcrumbs rather than cookie dough.
- Turn out the dough onto cling film (i.e. saran wrap) and pat into a round.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 3 days. You can, alternatively, freeze the pie crust at this point and thaw out as needed (just as regular pie crust!).
- Roll out the crust between parchment paper. It's more fragile than regular pie crust, so you need to work quickly and in cold conditions. You can patch up any cracks that occur by pinching the dough together. And if at any point the crust becomes unmanageable, simply pop it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before carrying on.
- Once shaped (pie, empanadas, etc), pop it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes prior to baking (as it will help to keep its shape better and come out flakier). Brush with egg wash for a glossy finish (optional, but highly suggested).
- Bake at 390°F/200°C for 10-12 minutes if making something small such as crackers. And up to 30 minutes for empanadas and such. Just keep an eye out for it, as grain free flours have a tendency to brown suddenly rather than gradually.
I had a question about the taste. Does it have a coconut taste to the crust/dough? This looks delicious and I want to try it, but I am not the biggest fan of a coconut taste in savory dishes.
Hi Lisa! No, it doesn’t taste like coconut at all 😉 xo!
Thank you!! I am definitely set on making this soon!!! I saw that you sprinkled some kind of flour on the dough before rolling out. Was it any specific flour and is it recommended to sprinkle it on before rolling out the dough? Thanks in advance!!
Hi Lisa! Coconut flour works the charm here! 🙂 xo!
Can I use just almond flour only? I don’t like coconut and I usually can taste even the slightest bit of it.
Unfortunately no… but have you tried Anthony’s? I find it’s taste is pretty much indistinguishable most of the time (unlike Bob’s?) xo!
I’ve tried *many* gluten free crusts, and this one is the best so far!
So happy you enjoyed Peter! And thanks so much for reporting back xo!
Hi, can I use something else in the place of cream cheese? more butter maybe or something else?
thank you
Hi Maria! You would get different results here using all butter unfortunately. But I’m working on an all butter pie crust to come out in a bit xo!
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it out, there is some turkey pot pie out there calling my name.
For a possible vegan substitution, do you think swapping out the cream cheese for 100% vegetable shortening/earth balance and increasing the amount of xantham gum would work? Thank you!
Hi Amanda! I’m sorry I missed your comment earlier!! Unfortunately I have never worked with earth balance so I can’t tell you for sure how it would turn out :-S
I just don’t get it. I followed the steps to the t and it’s always a gooey mess. I can’t even work it by hand. It tastes great and it’s flaky but it’s a nightmare to work with. Even tried to semi freeze it and it still sticks to everything.
Hi Alex! Could it be that you didn’t weigh the ingredients and accidentally added too much fat? Otherwise you need to work in a cool surface and quickly xo!
Hi just see the pics and eager to try. One question, is the ACV replaceable with other vinegar or maybe lemon juice? Thanks
Hi Vica! Vinegar works best here, but yes you can sub with another one (white or red!). xo Paola
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I grate some cheddar cheese into the dough and make olive cheese balls with it! Even my non keto family members go crazy for it!!
I’m not creative and versatile when changing/modifying recipes. Read some of the posts and a couple of the cooks turned this paleo crust into a cheeseake or apple pie type of treat. How exactly would I do that? Thankyou !! (mom of 1 in Canada)
Hi T.Vu! I believe they just used the crust as they would in their usual pie or cheesecake recipes. Just watch out, as the dough browns more quickly than normal pie crust. xo Paola
I just made this for the crust of my pumpkin pie. It browned VERY quickly. If I use it again I will put aluminum foil all around the edge to cover the edge of the crust.
Hi Susie! That’s the reason why I suggest that you cover the edges from the very start with the pumpkin pie xo!
Hi Paola I would like to make a keto cheesecake and am looking for a great crust. Would this work out for a cheesecake? I assume no pre-baking the crust (if you think I could use this for my cheesecake base.)
Many thanks!
Hi Leslie! Yes, this one would work great for a proper cheesecake too! You can choose to either bake it or not. If you’re not baking it, I would suggest popping it in the freezer for a few minutes before adding in your feeling. xo Paola
Can this be made with all almond flour? I have an allergy to coconut. What amount would be needed. Thank you so much. This sounds wonderful!
Hi Christine, unfortunately the result wouldn’t be the same.
Hey guys I’m am using this recipe to make mini Turkey pot pies.. I want to give some to my friends should I fill them and leave them in the fridge and let them bake it so it doesn’t dry out? Or will the filling effect the dough? Or should I just bake hem and have them warm them up in the oven and risk them drying out?
Hi Jennifer! I think this depends on a LOT of variables! How wet is your filling is the most important one! For e.g., with our baked brie you can assemble everything a day or two ahead and keep it well wrapped in the fridge (but the filling is completely dry). If it’s wet it will definitely affect the consistency of the dough so better maybe to go ahead and bake them (but this also depends on how long until your friends enjoy them!). xo Paola
Just curious, how do I see the video on this (under “The Deets” section)? The link above in the article doesn’t seem to work for me. I have made this and really like it, but I want to see the video, in fact, all your videos but can’t seem to find them.
Thanks!! 🙂
Hi Kat! We’re currently working on moving all the videos from Facebook to a new platform so things run more smoothly… but can’t you see the Facebook videos? The salmon roll has making the pastry from start to finish! xo! Paola
I’ve been using your website. I don’t use FB much so my issue has been clicking the videos from the website. Glad to know you’ll be working on those!
Thanks
It’s a bit of a slower roll out, but the eggnog got the new video format this morning! Just bear with me as gnom-gnom is not my full time job 😉 xo P
Curious if maybe whey protein could be substituted for the xanthan gum? Has anyone tried it?
Hi Sara, I haven’t tried unfortunately and in my experience they don’t do the same things… the recipe will still work without the xanthan gum, will just be more fragile.
Has anyone tried this crust for a pumpkin pie? Would you bake the crust first and then add filling? Or just put the filling into the unbaked crust and cook all at once?
Thanks!
Hi Karmyn! I haven’t tried it myself for a pumpkin pie yet, but I have for a couple others. From my experience, this crust browns more than your usual one so it wouldn’t be able to withstand a double bake in the case of pumpkin pie (15 mins + 40 or so) would make it brown too much.
You should also go ahead and cover with foil the edges from the very start!
A reader did write that she did a layer of finely chopped pecans before adding her pumpkin pie filling and that the crust baked perfectly. She also said she put the crust in the freezer for 15 minutes before adding the filling and baking. Hope this helps! Paola
Forgive me if i miss this info/answer somewhere else but can this crust be “blind baked” that way you do for a custard or cream filled pie?
Hi there GeorgieGirlBlue!
It can indeed be blind baked. But keep in mind if you’re double baking that it does brown more than your usual pie crust (ahem coconut flour…). So if you’re doing fancy edges and such, I would cover those from the start to make sure they don’t over-brown.
xo Paola
What about switching the other way to ALL coconut flour as we have nut allergies? Has anyone tried all coconut flour and if so at what amount??
Hi Laureen! I did try all coconut in trials and it was highly unpleasant (just dry crumbly and tasted too sweet). If you cannot do almonds, I would suggest subbing instead for sunflower seed flour, as it’s the closest thing out there to almond flour. xo Paola
Oh, never even thought of sunflower seed flour!! Thank you I will give that a try! Thanks so much!!! I really want to try your recipe. I have a couple with just coconut flour and yes they do crumble easily!!
I decided to give a few of your recipes a try after the success of the ice cream and boy am I glad I did! THIS ONE’S AMAZING! I still cannot believe it’s actually flakey?! It definitely has to be handled with care, and I had to patch mine up a bit… but with practice this will be perfect!
I actually missed the part were you said to refrigerate it if it was getting too fragile… but anyways! thank you thank you thank you!
Hi Marianne! So glad you’re enjoying the recipes and THANK YOU for reporting back! xo! Paola
I’d like to try your recipe, it sounds fantastic!
I have no issue with gluten, I’m just plain Low Carb. I’d like to know whether you think I could sub Vital Wheat Gluten for 20-25% of the “flour” to make it more manageable?
Can’t give you a rating as I haven’t tried it yet. Will opt to receive your weekly email.
Hi Guinan! To be honest I have no idea how Vital Wheat Gluten would work? I have celiacs, so I haven’t worked with gluten flours in years… Having said that I’m sure that any gluten introduced would make it more manageable, I’m just not sure in what amount. xo Paola
Hello, I can’t wait to try this out! After going to different family events and not being able to eat the empanadas this will be a reward for both my husband and I! Thank you for this recipe.
Typically empanadas are fried so can this dough be fried instead of baked? I was thinking of using either avocado oil or macadamia oil because of the high smoke point but wanted advice before going forward with it.
Thanks!
Hi Diana!
I actually haven’t tried frying this dough, as we mostly bake our empanadas down here in Mexico. Given that the dough is fragile though, I would think that the dough would need to be incredibly cold before putting it in the oil so it wouldn’t fall apart. xo Paola
Thank you for the suggestion to keep the dough cold for frying. Also I had no idea that empanadas were baked in Mexico. I’m so used to latin caribbean cooking so this will be a good opportunity to try something different by making them both ways. Thanks for sharing!
It’s my pleasure! If you do decide to do a fry test please report back! Though I’ll be doing some frying this weekend, so I might just give it a shot myself as well.
And yup Carribbean empanadas are the bomb!! But Mexican/Argentinian style are also fantastic 😉
Is there a possible substitution for the coconut flour? I have a child that is allergic to coconut, but I love the idea of using cream cheese!
Hi Kera, I haven’t tried anything that works here like coconut flour (as it helps soak up the liquids quite a bit). If you sub in with almond flour, you will need to decrease the fats (butter and cream cheese) as almond flour is fairly oily itself.
Made as pie crust & was wondering if you have made biscuits from this recipe. To me it tastes exactly like a southern buttermilk biscuit!!! It’s awesome!!
Hi Joann! Glad you liked it!! 🙂
I cannot say I have ever had a southern buttermilk biscuit, but that sounds delicious!
And YUP, we use it as sort of crackers all the time… also amazing baked with brie 😉
xo! Paola
I made a batch last week, used half to make mini tart shells and the other half I used to make a small no bake cheesecake, using this crust as the base. Both turned out fantastic!! I have my 2nd batch in the fridge right now and I’m going to make a fake apple pie using chayote squash as the ‘apples’, in a full sized pie plate. Any idea how long I should bake that for? I’m assuming 350 for maybe 30 mins?
Hi there again Krista! Glad you’re enjoying the dough as much as we are! We’re dying to give it a go with a cheesecake ourselves!
Regarding your chayote squash ‘apple pie’ (what a GREAT idea!) I have no idea about the cooking time tbh. But I am also assuming a 30-40 minute bake (depending on how cooked you like your fruit).
My one advice would be to be sure to cover the pie crust with aluminum foil after minute 15-20, as we have noticed that coconut flour browns VERY suddenly!
Hope this helped, even a tiny bit! xo Paola!
I made a mock apple crisp with chayote squash and cooked it before adding the streussel topping. Even after continuing to bake it with the topping It stayed pretty firm so you may want to cook the pie filling until its fairly soft before adding it to the pie crust. Or slice it fairly thinly. I added apple extract and it really did taste like apples. Gonna try it for pie myself!
Sue thank you so much for this! We’re actually experimenting with chayote pie this week and apple extract is indeed AMAZING! Still working a bit on timings to get the crust perfectly flakey and the filling well cooked though… but nearly there! xo!
😊. I just found your website yesterday through a Facebook post for hand pies (which I WILL be trying!). Ive been keto/low carb for about a year and a half and I’ve been searching for a decent pie crust recipe but all of the almond flour ones I’ve tried taste and have a texture like cardboard! I’m going to try yours for a quiche today. Soooo excited! I’ll let you know how it turns out 😀
Ohhhh quiche! You’re making me hungry!! Well hopefully this crust will work out for you as well! We LOVE it over here and have heard great things from readers, so fingers crossed! xo! 🙂
I don’t know what I did wrong, followed the directions (and ingredients) exactly. I could not really shape it. I rolled it between parchment paper and it stuck while trying to pull the parchment off. I’m doing empanadas and while I used small mold to cut the dough into a circle shape, I couldn’t lift them off the paper. I ended up just grabbing some dough with my hands, flattening it, and putting some filling in. I have 3 test ones in the oven. Hopefully, they taste good. Then I’ll just need to figure out my issue with the dough and rolling it, etc. (by the way, I did chill the dough for about 3 hours).
OK, so the taste of the crust is GREAT!! OMG, so flaky!! Now if I can just figure out where I went wrong with rolling it, I’ll be all set!! YUMMY!
Hi Cammi! Glad you still loved the crust! By other help we’ve given to readers in social media etc, I’m fairly certain your problem was the temperature. Given that the dough is mostly fat, it melts rapidly if not chilled enough. But this can also happen if your counter is too hot, you take too long, or your hands are hot (seriously!). So what we suggest is popping all your utensils in the freezer for a bit, and if you notice it begins to fall apart once again just pop it in the fridge (for 15-20 minutes) or a quick freeze (5-10 minutes). And you will see it will get its shape back!
Otherwise, due to the lack of gluten, the dough is still more fragile of course. But It ought to still hold it’s shape!
Hopefully this solves your problem and thanks for getting back 😉 xo!
Can the dough be frozen? I was thinking about splitting a batch and freezing a portion to use at another time.
Hi Krista! It can be frozen, just make sure to thaw it completely in the fridge before using again! xo
this may sound a bit crazed, but i made this dough 3 times already this week! blame it on it fitting mine and my husband’s macros. we usually struggle to up the fat in meals, so we’ve been using this as a sorta bread. we loved it in empanadas with beef and chorizo and as a pizza base, which someone up there made too.
i’m writing because i think i’m already getting the hand of this dough, and i think the key is that everything must be very well chilled! we’re Texas based and i even found it useful to ice the counter and run my hands under cold water before handling the dough. otherwise it seems that it cracks slighly if you put a filling in it that expands, but if you use it as a pizza or pie base it is perfectly smooth. tastes great either way.
so THANK YOU! we really love it! ??????
HA! Thank you Marta! Glad you guys are enjoying the pastry as much as us! And thank you for sharing your tips for hot climates!! 🙂 xo!
I saw a few people commenting this weekend on facebook that they loved this crust. I was highly skeptical, which is why I’m leaving this comment. This is SUCH A GOOD RECIPE! And I’m talking in terms of real food, not just keto food. Thank you, I will be cooking my way through your entire site after this.
The same thing happened to me! Even today I keep seeing people rave all over about this recipe, and it really is all that! I never leave comments, but I’m honestly excited about the possibilities here!!!
One other thing is that the macros are fantastic! very high in fat and very little carbs!!
Blushing here Kendra! Thank you for taking the time to report back 🙂
Interesting what you mention about the macros! We did notice that this dough is much more keto-friendly than bread recipes because of the high-fat content. Win-win! xx
Hehe 😉 So glad you loved it Justine! We’re fairly obsessed with it as well! Thanks for reporting back xo!
how many cups are the almond and coconut flour
Hi Sherry! Please click on US Customary and it will change measurements from grams to cups 😉 xo
Hi,
I tried changing to US and it doesn’t change from g to cups… Is there a conversion?
We used this dough for turnovers yesterday and the whole family loved it! thank you
So I used this dough for two things and I think I can give my two cents on the cracking!
I used half the batch to make a mini pizza. I blind baked it first and it was smooth as a baby’s but. Nicely golden and actually very flakey in texture. Not dense, rock solid or even gummy like other keto crusts i’ve tried. I did notice though that it doesn’t begin to brown until about minute 20, and then it browns very quickly.
And for the second one I made pumpkin hand pies. And they cracked more than your regular dough as the filling expanded quite a bit. So I think that it is just that without the gluten, as the filling expands the dough cannot expand with it so it cracks in some places.
I’m not really sure though why were so focused on the looks though when the taste is really quite superb. Very tasty both sweet and savory thank you! I can see myself making this weekly.
– D
Hi. could i make this without the xanthan gum? I have everything else but that! <3
Hi Lau! You can, but it will be much more fragile. Cream cheese actually has some xanthan gum itself, so the dough will still stick together somewhat. Just be extra careful when rolling it out and transferring the dough (and expect some extra cracking when cooking). The taste will be the same though 😉 xo!
Thank you!! I went ahead and did it without the xanthan gum, and used about 1 teaspoon of ground flaxseed in place and I it worked out very very nicely! It is definitely more fragile, so I will try with xanthan gum again, but it was VERY yummy!! Don’t mind some cracks here and there tbh. Thanks again!
So glad you liked it Lau! Thanks for reporting back with your subs!! xo!
This is EXCELLENT!! I’d been dreaming of a keto/primal pie crust and this is it! Reminds me quite a bit of rugelach in terms of taste though it’s definitely a bit more solid. And it’s very tasty with beef.
Ha! Rugelach dough was in fact our inspiration for this dough, after the just-butter version was too fragile (cream cheese has extra xanthan gum!) Glad you loved it Jennifer and thanks for getting back! xo
Can I use this dough for empanadas?
Definitely!