This is my favorite gluten-free crust so far out of those I’ve been playing with / creating.  Here’s why, health-wise:

• Brown rice flour offers some body to the crust
• Quinoa flour pumps up the protein value and also is a healthy source of magnesium and vitamins B12 and E
• Amaranth gives a bit of sweetness and the soft texture blends well
• Flax seed offers the fiber we all need, and a bit of nuttiness
• Real butter – now and then you need some fat, and organic butter is always better than margarine (horror!)

It’s also easy in that you don’t NEED to refrigerate the dough, like you do with many standard recipes. I recommend dusting a piece of parchment paper set on your rolling board with rice flour, and doing the same with your rolling pin.  Roll halfway, then flip the dough and roll to size.  Use the parchment paper to flip the dough into your pie plate.

Ingredients: This makes enough for a bottom and top crust

• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 3/4 cup quinoa flour
• 1/4 cup amaranth flour
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
• 1/3 cup tapioca starch
• 2 tsps xantham gum
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons date or palm sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 sticks unsalted organic butter, cubed small

All dry ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment.  Cut butter in small cubes and toss into flours.  Start mixing the dough on low, until the butter starts to cut into the flours.  Kick the speed up a step or two, and watch the bowl to see how the butter cuts in.  If not pulling together, add ice-water one tablespoon at a time – you should only need one to get the dough into a ball.  As soon as it pulls, stop!  Divide the dough in two and roll out.

With this crust, I prefer to par-bake the filling so that the crust itself doesn’t spend as much time in the oven.