I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been intimidated by making my own pie crust. I’ve done graham cracker crusts before, where you crush store-bought crackers together with butter and press the mixture into a pan, but there’s something about rolling out a pie crust that has always intimidated me. If you feel the same way, I hope that this post will encourage you to give this easy pie crust a chance. I’ve made it over 10 times now, and I have yet to mess it up! Hopefully it will be fool-proof for you, too.
How to Make a Vegan Pie Crust
What I love about this recipe is that a food processor does the majority of the work for you. I don’t own a pastry cutter, because I don’t make pie crust often enough to justify it, so I relied on the food processor to break up the cold coconut oil and distribute it throughout the flour. It works amazingly well!
Vegan Pie Crust with Coconut Oil
Just like a traditional pie crust, you want to use cold/solid coconut oil so that the crust becomes buttery and easy to cut. Since I bake pies in the colder months, this works out perfectly because my coconut oil is already very solid sitting out at room temperature. If your kitchen happens to be warm and your coconut oil is liquid, I’d recommend measuring it, then put it in the fridge until solid. (That way it’s already measured when you’re ready to make your pie crust.)
You use cold water with this recipe so that the coconut oil doesn’t melt while you work with the dough. I simply use water from my fridge door, which is chilled, but if you’re using water from your faucet you might want to put a couple ice cubes in it before measuring so that your water is really cold. This vegan pie crust isn’t exactly like one made with real butter and white flour, but it’s certainly the best gluten-free pie crust I’ve ever made! I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Recipe Notes:
I haven’t tested this crust with other flours yet. It took a long time to get this one right! I imagine that you might be able to use a gluten-free flour blend instead of the oat flour + tapioca starch combination, so please let us know in a comment below if you give that a shot. I prefer making this pie crust with maple syrup, but if you’d rather use coconut sugar you can replace the maple syrup with 1/4 cup of coconut sugar. In that case, use 5 tablespoons of water to help the crust come together. You could probably use honey instead of the maple syrup, if you don’t need a totally vegan crust, too. (Honey isn’t vegan.) If you don’t have coconut oil, I image a vegan butter or shortening would work in its place. I haven’t figured out a totally oil-free crust yet, but I’m working on that so stay tuned. If you are making a crust for a savory dish, I would leave out the maple syrup and use more cold water instead.
Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite type of pie? Have you made a crust using other flours? I’m working on versions for a gluten-free flour blend and almond flour, too.
