It's December. Yup, just like that--December. Most of the time I get to a new month and think "Wow, I can't believe it's ______ already!" but this month, I'm ready. Bring on the winter wonderland. I'll just cuddle up in this little house baking all weekend.

First up: pie! Pie is an essential to any bakers repertoire, no matter how you slice it (ha!). Making the perfect pie crust is the bane of many baker's kitchen life, and making a pie crust that's also paleo is even rougher. I can still hear my dad scoffing as I pull out a food processor to make pie crust. "The butter gets all warm!" he would say, pulling out the pastry cutter and a chilled bowl. Hmph.

Well, paleo bakers, I'm here to say: "Rejoice! The food processor is in!" and this crust will go from start to finish in 20 minutes flat. It comes out of a pie dish beautifully and while you might not expect a nut-based crust to stick together, this one holds solid. You could eat a slice of this buttery crust sans-plate, if you were really desperate.

Almond Flour Pie Crust

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free | Caitlin Sherwood

A simple, easy pie crust for any type of pie.

Serves: N/A | Total Active Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
pinch salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil, cold + more for greasing the pie pan
1 egg

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F. In your food processor, pulse the almond flour, coconut flour and salt together until well distributed and no coconut flour clumps remain. (Do not over-process, it will turn into nut butter!)
Add the coconut oil and egg. Pulse the food processor for several more minutes, until all of the oil and egg are incorporated and the dough turns into a loose crumb (depending on the temperature of your kitchen, it may also form a ball).
Grease a 9-inch pie pan with coconut oil. Press the dough into the pan, to form a 1/8 inch thin layer, working the dough up the sides of the pan. (Tip: use a smooth water glass or jar to roll out the dough in the bottom of the pan. Use your fingers to shape the scallops around the edge of the pie). Tip: alternatively, roll the dough out between 2 pieces of parchement paper until it's a 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch thick. Place in fridge for 5 minutes. Then, peel off top piece of parchment and transfer dough into pie pan, fitting to pan. For top crust, repeat the same process but shape top crust as desired after removing from fridge (cut strips for lattice, use a cookie cutter, etc).
Place the crust in the middle wrack of your oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until just golden.

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