Shortcrust pastry is an awesome pastry – extremely simple to make and equally at home with sweet and savoury fillings. Made well, it is light and crisp and delicious. But it usually contains gluten…

…so use this super-quick, super-easy gluten-free shortcrust instead!

Generally, the difficult thing about making pastry is making sure you don’t overwork the gluten. Which means that gluten-free pastry should actually be easier to make as you can achieve a beautiful crumb without even thinking about it. The addition of xanthan gum, a binding agent, helps stop the pastry going the opposite way and being too crumbly, making it more manageable at the rolling stage.

Basic gluten-free shortcrust pastry

Makes about 180g pastry – enough to line an 18cm or 20cm tin

Ingredients:

– 120g gluten-free plain white flour (I use Doves Farm)
– 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
– pinch of salt
– 60g butter, chilled
– 2-3 tablespoons cold water

Method:

Sift the flour, xanthan gum and salt into a bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the dry mixture. Rub the butter into the flour with a food mixer (I use the beater attachment starting on the minimum speed and gradually increasing to a medium speed) or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse sand.

Add the water, a dash at a time, until the dough comes together in a ball (mixing either in a food mixer or with a knife). Tip: This dough will be a little stickier than a gluten-based dough but the mixture will absorb the excess moisture at the resting stage. Don’t freak out!

Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (this makes it easier to roll out).

Source: Recipe and photos by pip & little blue.