Jillee is back, and sharing her tips to grind your own gluten free flour, plus a delicious gluten free pumpkin pie recipe just in time for the holidays.

If you are someone who has to eat a gluten-free diet, you already know how expensive it is to buy gluten-free products. It's absolutely mind-boggling! I assume we are paying for some big company to create and maintain a separate gluten-free facility to make these products, etc.

Don't get me wrong, there are some things I am absolutely willing to pay a premium price for because it means that much to me to be able to make decent food for my son Kell who has celiacs disease. But if I can make it myself you can bet your life I'm going to do it! That's how I started making my own Rice Flour!

For a long time I bought those 24 ounce bags of Rice Flour for $6 at the grocery store, but one day as I was using my Blendtec it occurred to me that surely this blender could easily turn the rice in my pantry into rice flour in a matters of minutes for a LOT less money!

Sure enough, I was right! It was definitely one of those "lightbulb" moments for me. Since Thanksgiving is fast approaching I've been thrown into my usual panic over trying to come up with gluten-free alternatives to the gluten-filled Thanksgiving goodies that Kell loves!

Since Pumpkin Pie is probably his very favorite thing on the menu on Thanksgiving, this year I vowed to come up with a GF version for him. It was the perfect chance to use my new "grain mill" to make rice flour for the pie crusts.

There is no recipe for making the flour. I literally added the rice to the Blendtec and blended on a high speed until it was a VERY fine powder.  I used white rice, but you can also use brown rice for a more "nutty" flavor. Just make sure you blend it long enough and at a high enough speed to ensure it's very fine. Otherwise you will end up with a "gritty" texture to your finished product.

As I explained in my post Finally...Gluten-Free Bread That Doesn't Suck, in order to get the best results in your gluten-free baking, you want to use a GF flour BLEND. I took my freshly ground rice flour and proceeded to make make this very simple blend to use for my pie crust.

Gluten-Free Flour Blend

2 cups rice flour
⅔ cup potato starch (I used my Blendtec to make this as well by "grinding" up potato flakes)
⅓ cup tapioca flour
1 tsp xanthan gum

Combine well and store in container with tight-fitting lid.

Now you're ready to make pie crust! How exciting!

Gluten-Free Pie Crust

Ingredients

1¼ cups Gluten-Free Flour Blend
4 tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ cup cold shortening
1 egg
3 tbsp ice water
¼ tsp apple cider vinegar

Directions Combine flour blend, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Combine egg, cold water and apple cider vinegar in another bowl; beat with fork until mixed. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened.

Shape pastry into a ball; flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic food wrap; refrigerate at least 1 hour or until chilled.

Remove from refrigerator; let stand 15 minutes at room temperature. Unwrap pastry and place in ungreased 9-inch pie plate. Using your fingers, press the dough firmly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate, sealing any cracks as necessary with a little water on your fingertips.

Fill and bake as directed in pie recipe. (Note: you can also roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment paper and then transfer it to the pie pan, but I find this much easier!)

My Mom’s Pumpkin Pie Filling

(Makes enough for two pies)

Ingredients

1 large can pumpkin
2 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ tsp Mace
½ tsp Allspice
4 eggs (beaten)
2 cups milk
1 tbsp butter

Directions

Cook on low until thick. Pour into crust. Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool completely before eating. Store in the refrigerator.

Be sure and serve with lots of FRESH whipped cream!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!