To make the pastry, you need gluten-free plain flour (I use FREEE by Doves Farm or Shipton Mill), xanthan gum, salt, unsalted butter, a large egg, and a little water. Then, follow this simple method, and you’ll have wonderful gluten-free shortcrust pastry in no time at all.

The resulting pastry is buttery, perfectly s, short, and just melts in the mouth. You’ll find it easy to work with and holds its form really well when baked, yet isn’t too hard, rather it has just the right amount of crumble when you bite into it. Yummy!

Only Plain Flour?

No tapioca? No sorghum? No cornflour? That’s right, just good old plain gluten-free flour!

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I’ll admit I was always a bit untrusting of simple gluten-free shortcrust recipes. The ones I had tried either made pastry that was rock hard, or horrible crumbly stuff that fell apart and made a mess.

Until recently I tended to use a mixed flour pastry recipe instead (Naomi Devlin’s shortcrust was a particular favorite of mine).

You tend to get more depth of flaflavorth mixed flour pastry, however tho, some recipes tend to require a lot of different ingredients. The different flours serve a purpose and can yield fabulous pastry, but they can be tricky or expensive to get hold of in the shops.

Lots of you had asked me for a simple gluten-free shortcrust instead. One that you can make using the contents of your existing storecupboard. I am very happy to finally be able to oblige!

I use the FREE gluten-free plain flour for my shortcrust pastry, generally, although also find the M&S flour works really nicely.

My Top Tip for Great Gluten-Free Shortcrust Pastry…

Grated butter! You’ll see in the method that the butter in this recipe is grated before being mixed into the dry ingredients. This helps to ensure a really even distribution through the flour.

Plus you won’t have to work the mixture as much to get to the breadcrumb stage, which makes for much cooler, happier pastry.

If you are using lactose-free butter, it might not be possible to grate it as it tends to be a bit softer. Don’t fret, just cut it into small cubes and rub them into the flour per the method. The pastry will still be lovely.

Or a few followers making it lactose or dairy-free have said popping their spread in the freezer has made it grateable (not a word but you know what I mean!).

Can I Make Sweet Shortcrust Using this Recipe?

Sure thing! I use this recipe regularly for both sweet and savory bakes. For sweet pastry, simply omit the salt from the recipe and instead add 1 tbsp caster sugar to the dry ingredients in step 1. Easy peasy.

Does It Take Long To Make?

Nope, this pastry is really quick to make. You’ll need about 10 minutes to make the dough, 30 minutes to chill, then it’s ready to use.

You can leave it in the fridge for an ong if you want to get on with other things, but I’ve found a short little chill is all this pastry needs to be fully workable and delicious.

Can I Chill This Pastry Overnight?

Yes – I did a trial run recently and the pastry was still fine if you chilled for longer than 30 minutes. You can even make it the day before.

You will find it may be a little crumbly when you start working with it, after a long chill. Simply break it into pieces, sprinkle it with a few drops of water, and knead the dough until pliable again.

Gluten-Free Shortcrust Pastry Recipe

Here’s the recipe! If you enjoy making this gluten-free shortcrust pastry, please leave a review on the recipe card below.

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You’ll also find some step-by-step pictures below the recipe, to help you know what the pastry mix should look like at each stage.

Ingredients

• 280g (10oz) plain gluten-free flour
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 0.5 tsp salt (for savory pastry) OR 1 tbsp caster sugar (for sweet pastry)
• 140g (5oz) unsalted butter, chilled
• 1 large egg
• 2-3 tbsp water

Instructions

1. Sift the flour, xanthan gum, and salt (OR sugar for sweet) into a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
2. Grate the chilled butter into the bowl (use the large grater setting on a cheese grater) and toss the butter strands through the flour with a spoon. Once the butter is coated with flour, use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a coarse breadcrumb-like texture.
3. Beat the egg and add to the bowl. Stir through with the spoon.
4. Add 2 tbsp water (you may not need the third) and use your hands to bring the ingredients together to form a nice ball of dough. It should come away from the sides of the bowl and the dough will be smooth and pliable. If it is still a bit crumbly, add the third tbsp water and work to combine.
5. Take a large piece of greaseproof paper (approx 40cm long) and place the ball of dough on the waxed, non-stick side. Press it down gently with your hands to form an oval shape a couple of cm thick. Now fold the paper over to cover the other side of the dough and then fold the edges over so that you have a nice little dough parcel. Now place into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
6. Once chilled, the pastry is ready for use! Bake according to the relevant recipe instructions. For some ideas on how to use this pastry, see the recipes I have linked to in this post.