When I was growing up, my grandmother made the best pies anyone in our family had ever tasted. Her blackberry cobbler was my favorite. As a child, I spent hours in her kitchen learning to follow her pie dough recipe. This remains one of my favorite childhood memories. After her death, baking a pie became a communion of sorts — a way to remember her and spend time with her spirit (if you believe in that sort of thing). Upon experiencing symptoms of chronic illness and being told by my doctor to cut the gluten, I felt like something important was being taken from me. I struggled with how to honor my grandmother’s memory while also honoring the needs of my body. So I set out to write the perfect gluten-free pie recipe — one I could serve to my family with pride and feel connected to my late grandmother while baking it. It took years, but I finally mastered the pie crust…and am thrilled to share it with you.

Ingredients

• 2 cups gluten-free flour (Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-Free Flour or Cup 4 Cup All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup salted butter, COLD
• 1 egg
• 1-3 tablespoons water, ICE COLD

Preparation

Mix flour and salt.

Cut butter into small cubes. Add to flour mixture.

With your fingers, smush the butter and flour together until the texture is like peas.

Drizzle 1 tablespoon of water over the mixture and lightly mix with a fork.

Crack the egg in a separate small bowl and quickly whisk with a fork.

Pour egg into the flour mixture and lightly mix with a fork to barely combine. The pieces should be barely moistened and should be starting to come together into a ball. Add more water, SPARINGLY, if needed.

Knead the dough into a ball. DO NOT OVER-KNEAD, or the dough will be tough.

Roll out for the desired purpose.

Keep covered with a wet paper towel if not immediately used. No, seriously, just a few minutes of alone time will dry it out.