Gluten Free/Vegan Hazelnut Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Tapioca Flour
• 3/4 to 1 cups Sweet Rice Flour
• 1/3 cup Hazelnut Flour (meal)
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 stick Softened Earth Balance Butter
• 1 TBS flax meal + 2 TBS hot water mix to create
• 1/2 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
• 1 teaspoon Applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

Directions

Creating this dough was a true labor of love. I made crust after crust until I finally figured out the dough needed 1 teaspoon of applesauce- that literally made it just right. I love this crust- It holds together  when rolling out . Baking yields a flaky, buttery crust with a yummy texture. If you want to make a tart out of it- it will pop right out of the pan after baking without the use of non-stick spray.  If you have some Almond Meal on hand- try using it in place of the hazelnut flour for an equally tasty crust.

1. In a Large bowl combine 3/4 cup of rice flour, Tapioca and Hazelnut flours, salt, sugar, Xanthan gum, and baking powder.
2. Mix together the flaxseed meal and hot water to create a gel. Add it along with the softened butter to the dry mix. Cut in the butter and gel to pea size pieces.
3. Using your hands kneed to dough together- add remaining rice flour if sticky.
4. Roll the dough out on a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper- dusting with additional Rice flour on both sides of the dough to preven the  dough from sticking to the rolling pin or your hands. Holding the plastic wrap or wax paper flip the dough into the pie pan.
5. Fill with whatever  you would like- or bake alone for a tart.
6. Bake at 350 roughly 30 minutes (or as long as your pie recipe calls for)

This recipe yields one large crust.