Gluten Free Lemon Pie

This gluten free lemon pie is nice, tart and tangy, with a buttery, crisp cookie crust. You serve it chilled, so it is the proper make-ahead dessert.

After years of creating gluten-free recipes, I’ve perfected this straightforward filling to make sure it units right into a agency, creamy custard that slices cleanly each single time. And I am going to present you precisely learn how to serve these good slices with the crisp cookie crust utterly intact.

Why this recipe works

• The filling is made with solely 3 substances, plus salt!
• Versatile recipe might be made with any kind of citrus juice, or a mix.
• No difficult methodology for the crust or the filling; simply combine every in a single bowl, then bake.
• Parbake the crust in the suitable pan so every slice comes out of the pan cleanly.

Components defined

There are so few substances on this recipe, so that they do numerous work. Here is the aim of every:

• Gluten free cookie crust – The straightforward base of this pie, containing crunchy cookies with some sugar to assist it set extra firmly, and butter so as to add taste and maintain it collectively because it cools.
• Lemon juice – Gives all of the tangy taste and far of the moisture of the filling. Make sure to use the actual stuff, not bottled. It ought to take about 6 lemons as soon as they’re strained of pulp.
• Sweetened condensed milk – Excessive in sugar, which offers all of the sweetness of the filling, some moisture, and all of the creaminess of the filling.
• Egg yolks – The egg yolk proteins break down within the oven and kind a community of strands that units the custard filling. In addition they include lecithin, which prevents the custard from separating because it cools. The extra egg yolks, the firmer the custard.
• Salt – Brightens the tangy lemon taste of the juice, and balances the sweetness of the condensed milk.

🔄 Ingredient swaps and variations

Dairy free

Instead of sweetened condensed milk made with cow’s milk, use sweetened condensed coconut milk, which is bought in most bigger grocery shops.

Egg free

Instead of egg yolks to set the filling, attempt a cornstarch slurry (2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 1/2 tablespoons lukewarm water) plus 1/4 cup (120 grams) room temperature bitter cream for texture.

Lemons

As a substitute of lemons, you should utilize orange juice and zest, key limes to make gluten free key lime pie, common limes, or a mix of lemon and lime juice and zest. You possibly can even use ruby pink grapefruit juice for a grapefruit pie filling.

Cookie crust

You should use any crunchy gluten free cookie as a substitute of graham crackers for the crust, like gluten free vanilla wafers or gluten free digestive biscuits (with out the chocolate topping). As a substitute of a cookie crust, you should utilize our recipe for gluten free shortcrust pastry. It is considerably richer than a daily gluten free pie crust and a bit crumbly, which makes it good for a pie served chilly.

Knowledgeable suggestions for an ideal lemon pie

Select a pie pan with straight sides

In case your pie plate has sloped sides, whenever you attempt to parbake the cookie crust, it could sink down the edges towards the bottom of the pan.

Parbake the crust

Partially baking the cookie crust first helps the crust maintain collectively a lot better whenever you slice the pie and attempt to take away it from the pan. When you’re utilizing a pan with sloped sides, although, skip parbaking the crust, and put together the pan by greasing it very properly, and lining it with a parchment spherical with tabs on either side like we do for our gluten free cookie cake.

Use fresh-squeezed, strained lemon juice

It is best to squeeze lemons recent for this pie and pressure the juice to take away all seeds and any pulp. There are some higher manufacturers of jarred lemon juice that you would be able to buy, however all of them have preservatives that give them a bitter style that baking right into a pie emphasizes.

The best way to make gluten free lemon pie (step-by-step)

Observe together with my directions under to see learn how to make this recent gluten free lemon pie in your personal kitchen.

1. Put together the graham cracker crust

To make a gluten free graham cracker crust, mix 8 ounces of gluten free graham cracker crumbs, 1/3 cup (67 grams) granulated sugar, and eight tablespoons (112 g) unsalted melted butter. Press the sandy combination into an excellent layer on the underside and up the edges of a 9 to 10 inch pie plate that is not less than 1 1/4 inches deep.

Bake the crust in a 350°F oven for about 8 minutes, or till largely set. Let it cool not less than 5 minutes earlier than filling it so the crust has an opportunity to set within the pan. Each steps will make slices of the totally crammed and baked pie simpler to take away from the pan.

2. Make the filling

This filling is tremendous easy, with solely 4 substances: egg yolks, recent lemon juice, salt, and sweetened condensed milk. I like so as to add the lemon juice to the blending bowl first because it tends to splatter in case you add the thicker substances first.

Beat every part collectively till the combination is creamy, easy, and has lightened barely in shade. It is best to do with a handheld or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, however you possibly can whisk it collectively by hand, too. Simply make sure your substances are all at room temperature or they will not mix correctly and you will have clumps within the filling.

3. Fill and bake the pie

Pour the filling into the parbaked and cooled crust. The small bubbles you see on the floor are nice, however bigger bubbles within the middle can create gaps and tunnels within the pie. Bang the pan firmly straight down on a flat floor a number of instances to interrupt these bigger inside bubbles.

For a well-set pie filling, I choose to bake the pie low and sluggish, at 325°F for about 25 minutes. It is accomplished when it is a single, barely darker shade all the way in which to the middle, and it jiggles in a managed, jello-like manner whenever you shake the pan gently back and forth.

4. Cool, chill, and enhance

Let the pie cool utterly to room temperature, nonetheless within the pan, which takes about 2 hour. Elevate the pan on a wire rack so air circulates all the way in which round it.

Cowl the cooled pie with plastic wrap or tent with aluminum foil if the pie pan is simply too full and the plastic would contact the highest of the pie. Refrigerate for not less than 3 hours, and ideally in a single day for the firmest filling that slices cleanly.

Embellish the entire pie or every particular person slice with lemon zest and whipped cream. For clear slices, slice with a pointy knife or serrated pie server in a single clear movement, wiping the sting clear after every lower.

Run a straight edge like an offset spatula across the perimeter of the crust to assist free the crust from the sides earlier than eradicating the primary slice.

Storage directions

The entire pie, or particular person slices, will maintain properly within the fridge for about 5 days. Make sure to cowl it with out permitting something to the touch the highest of the pie or it should stick and destroy the graceful end.

For longer storage, freeze the pie or particular person slices uncovered for about 2 hours. Then, wrap tightly with freezer-safe wrap and return to the freezer for as much as 3 months. Defrost within the fridge in a single day. When you defrost at room temperature, the surface will soften earlier than the within is unfrozen.

FAQs

What to do with leftover egg whites?

Do not waste the 6 egg whites you have got from separating the yolks. You possibly can freeze them to make use of later (defrost at room temperature first). Use them up in different nice recipes for every part from muffins to cookies and even bread: