I'm currently in love with this pie crust, so I had to share it ASAP, given that it is "pie season", or at least I know many folks are making pies soon. This crust is made using the cinnamon cookie dough, which happens to be a reader favorite. I plan to make several pies, including blackberry, apple and possibly pumpkin, and I'm using this crust (at least for the bottom portion of the pie).
This pie crust tastes a lot like a graham cracker crust. A really great thing about it is that it does not get soggy - at all - which is a minor feat for an almond flour-based crust.
The pie in the first photo is pumpkin ice cream pie, which came out smashing; it tastes just like pumpkin pie. I used cream and whole milk to make the ice cream, but you can use coconut milk or almond milk. I would suggest using extra-concentrated versions of coconut or almond milk to get the ice cream thick. Alternatively you can add gelatin or butter to the milk to thicken it.
If you have extra ice cream, it pairs well with cookies, especially the cinnamon cookies. I had some cut-out cookies hanging around, so I used those to make pumpkin pie ice cream sandwiches.
If you're going to make the pumpkin ice cream pie, add the ice cream to the cooled pie crust, and freeze for about 1 hour. Cover it with plastic or other wrap, sealed as tightly as possible. About 10 minutes before serving, take it out to defrost a bit.
To use this pie crust to make pumpkin pie, first press the pie crust into a pie dish and freeze it for about 30 minutes. Then pour the custard filling into the pie dish and bake at 275 degrees F for 60 minutes, or until the custard is set. This will prevent the crust from burning.
Heidi Swanson says
I tried this crust in my peach pie. I baked the crust first and then put it in the fridge before adding the glaze and sliced peaches. After sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours the crust became completely soggy! It was ruined! I had to quickly make a different crust recipe that used spectrum shortening. And a lot less honey and I transferred to pie filling to the new crust. That one seems to not become soggy like this one does.
Erica says
Hi Heidi. I've never used this with a peach pie filling but when I do use almond flour crusts I make sure the filling is cooked and not very wet. If your peach filling was very liquid or wet and then sits for a while, it will become soggy. I always bake the crust before putting the filling in and I only put the filling in when I'm ready to bake it. So, yes, I'm not surprised it got soggy.
Laila says
I just used your cookie crust recipe to go with my cinnamon/coconut sugar cheesecake, and it tastes diviiiiine. Nice and soft too. Thanks for this awesome recipe! 🙂
Erica says
Yes, love this pie crust!
Gillian says
Hi Erica,
How do you make concentrated almond or coconut milk? And how much gelatin would you suggest adding to thicken the milk if it's not concentrated?
Thanks!
Erica says
You can simmer the milk to make it more concentrated. I'm on the road somican't chech my notes but a rough estimate is 1 teaspoon of gelatin for each quart.
cryste cole says
when you say "pumpkin custard" do you use the same mixture that you use for this icecream recipe or do you use your other "pumpkin pie" mixture? Love the flavor of this one!
Erica says
The custard is referring to the traditional pumpkin pie custard (or filling).
kristy says
Erika, the updates you posted to not burn the crust, will that work for the pumpkin/squash pie also?
Erica says
Yes 🙂
Michelle says
Have 2 cups of cream that expires today and a real pie pumpkin, with my newly acquired from scratch roasted pumpkin recipe thanks to you...did not know what to make so searched your site and remembered this recipe, a great pre Thanksgiving treat for this weekend if we can't wait til Thanksgiving!! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and thanks again for all the yummy recipes! (:
Erica says
Update to this post: To use this pie crust to make pumpkin pie, first press the pie crust into a pie dish and freeze it for about 30 minutes. Then pour the custard filling into the pie dish and bake at 275 degrees F for 60 minutes, or until the custard is set. This will prevent the crust from burning.
inna says
thanks fo rthis site. is is awsome. i will try this with custard and let you know how it goes with this adice thanks
Susan says
Good ideas, as usual. Doing the crust edge separately is logical. I will mess around with this in the future and get back to you if I come up with anything. Like I am curious about a lower temperature longer, or even heating the custard through but catching it before it sets, then putting it in the shell.
Susan says
this is an awesome recipe. I made it with the coconut milk and it was super. Only glitch was the edge of the crust burned even though I covered it in foil, but I just cut that off.
Erica says
I used this crust yesterday for pumpkin pie - I froze it in the pie dish for about an hour before I added the pumpkin custard, and yes, it did burn on the edges (even though I covered it as well). Nice idea to just cut the burnt edge off. Another idea I have for next time is to cut off the edge before you bake the pie, and then in the last 15 minutes, take the pie out of the oven and place a layer of crust back on the exposed edge. In any case, it was good. Wish there was a way to pre-bake the custard or shorten the baking time.
Cheryl says
Yep, that helps!
Cheryl says
When you measure out the almond flour, do you pack it?
Erica says
I'm not too careful about measuring, to be honest. But I never pack the flour down or level it. Hope that helps.
Michelle says
Erica,
Just want to let you know that the pie was a big hit with my kids...They loved it and so did I. I sprinkled a litte cinnamon on top for added color. What a great taste combo...you are quite the creative chef!The icecream and crust were sweet, but not too much. Your recipes are a staple in our household.
Erica says
Glad it all went well. Yes, I like that it's not too sweet. Best wishes!
Victoria Boundy says
Sounds delicious! Any substitute for the almond flour that you might recommend (more tradit. sub.)? Whole wheat flour? If so, what amounts would you recommend?
Thanks much!
Erica says
great idea - I think I would sub the almond flour with whole wheat pastry four. It is much finer than almond flour, but it has a great flavor. I guess regular whole wheat flour would work as well. You've peaked my curiousity, so I may try this today, or soon 🙂
Victoria Boundy says
Thank you Erica - I'll try it (and let you know how it goes).
michelle says
Thanks for another great recipe. I had to make this before we left town for a pre Thanksgiving treat and plan to serve it for desert tonight with our dairy dinner. It looks delicious. The crust is cooling and the icecream is in my icecream maker now, to be added later. Only thing I changed was I whipped by hand the pumpkin mix because I did not want to heat the milk...I use raw milk and did not want to chance killing the good bacteria, enzymes...but I tasted it mixed and the flavors seemed to blend and I tasted the icecream while thickening and it tastes good...so will see what the family thinks. I have taken your chocolate chip cookie dough recipe and used it for pie crust and added chocolate(carob for us due to sensitivities) chip icecream to make a pie and it has been delicious, so I do like the cookie dough crust idea!! Thanks again and hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family!!!
Karen says
Well, I'm loving this pie crust idea. Now. If I were making a traditional pumpkin pie, would I make the crust and put the filling in and then bake it all at once? Or would I bake the crust part way and then put the filling in and bake the pie? I love the idea of it not getting soggy but I don't know if that would work if you didn't prebake the crust. And if you prebake the crust, I'm concerned that baking the pumpkin pie would over cook the crust.
I have to say, I love your site. You and Elana are my favorites. I can't do gluten, casein, or soy and I am in love with nut flour since leaning paleo has helped with a whole host of issues. Thank you for such great ideas. I especially LOVE and go to your fig newtons....which BTW are super with homemade (no sweetner added) applebutter.
Thanks!
Erica says
Thanks Karen! Yum - apple butter. Anyway, good question! Happens to be one that I'm asking myself right now because I'm about to do just the same. With all of my pies, I bake the pie crust separately, for the most part, and cook the filling, mostly separately, and then combine the two for a bit in the oven to brown the top. If you look at my other pie recipes (apple, cherry) I cooked the pie in two parts: crust and filling. I've never used this crust with pumpkin before, so what I'm going to do is bake this pie crust enough to brown the top, and then bake the pumpkin pie filling in the crust. I'll also cover the part of the crust that is showing so it doesn't burn (which can happen with any pie crust). Hope that helps.
Andrea says
I'm curious if you've tried cooking the crust partially yet? I used this crust and your pumpkin pie recipe and it burned. It tasted fantastic, but burned. Before I saw this reply thread I was going to ask the same thing today. I love these recipes and feel like I've almost perfected them...
Erica says
Andrea - not yet. That's tomorrow. Did you bake the crust completely and then bake the pumpkin custard - or did you bake the crust half-way?
Andrea says
I baked the crust fully, then baked the custard inside. Next, didn't bake the crust at all, which was less burnt but mushy near the custard.
Erica says
Try freezing the pie crust in the pie dish for about an hour, and then add the custard.