The other day we posted my friend Judy’s recipe for Gluten-free Sweet Potato Pie.  It sounded so good I had to try it.  It was on the spur of the moment and the only ingredient in the house to make a gluten-free crust was buckwheat flour.  So buckwheat flour it was!  The crust was good (but it can be improved next time).  Yet, the flavor was really interesting, unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before.

We’re not on a gluten-free diet in our house (though we have friends who are).  But, this crust has such potential, I’m going to figure out how to make it perfect.  Everyone in the family liked it except for my 9 year old daughter.

Here’s how the crust was made (with notes in parentheses telling how I’ll try it differently the next time).

2 1/2 cups Buckwheat Flour
(The dough was too thick, so next time I’ll use about 1 1/2 to 2 cups)
1 cup Butter
(I’ll keep this quantity the same since the crust was dry-tasting)
1 t. Salt
2 T. Sugar
(Next time I’ll use 3 or 4 T. Sugar to give the dough a little more flavor)
About 4 T. Cold Water
(This depends upon the feel of the dough.  It should be smooth.)

1. Grease a pie dish.  Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.

2.  Cut in the butter by cutting off slices of the butter and dropping them into the buckwheat flour mixture.

3. Mix the butter into the flour with your fingers until the whole mixture is crumbly.

Here’s the texture you want to achieve…

4.  Add in cold water one tablespoon at a time until you get a smooth texture and can form the dough into a ball.  Look at that beautiful color dough!

5.  Roll it out on a floured surface.

6.  Put into the pie dish.  Mine broke in half when moving it, so I had to pat it back together in the dish with my fingers.  I think when I make the crust again with less buckwheat, it will hold together better.

7.  Fill with whatever filling you’re going to use and cook for the amount on the recipe.

Above you can see my dough filled with the filling for Sweet Potato Pie. It was cooked at 350F for about 50 minutes.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa