Next, you’ll need to make a little oat flour. You can always purchase oat flour, but why do that when it’s so easy to make your own in about 2-minutes?
Simply place the whole oats in your blender and blend or pulse the oats until they are ground into powdery flour, approximately 1-minute or less. Time will depend on the power of your appliance.
If you’re using walnuts, add them to the flour and pulse briefly to break up the nuts. The walnuts are completely optional.
In a large mixing bowl, add fresh oat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar and whisk together well. This is not a very sweet crust, so if you like things sweeter, you'll need to add more sugar.
In a smaller bowl, combine the applesauce and vanilla. Then combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients in the larger bowl.
This is going to be a very thick batter, so you’ll need to roll up your sleeves and knead the dough a bit with your hands. It will form into clumps, so keep kneading.
Once the ingredients are well blended into a stiff dough, place the clump in the center of your pie dish.Lightly wet your hands and begin to press the dough with your fingers and thepalm of your hand to push it flat and up the sides of your dish. I do not add any oil to my pie pan. It sticks just a little, but I’m able to use a fork to make it release, especially when the whole pie has been made hours before and chilled. Chilling overnight is even better.
If you don’t want to deal with any sticking at all, line the pie plate with parchment paper before adding the crust.
You’ll likely need to dampen your hands a few times to keep the mixture wettened enough to work with.
Place the pie crust in your oven and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes until it is lightly crispy. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool before using.
I have an amazing Chocolate Mousse Pie that is perfect with this pie crust recipe.
The finished crust is only lightly sweet and, in my opinion, it’s even better when the pie is made the day before because the pie filling has a chance to marry-up with the crust flavors.
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Notes
Frequestionly Asked Questions:
Q: Are store-bought pie crusts vegan? There are a few, and many of the store-bought graham cracker crusts are vegan. However, they are not oil-free.
Q: Is this vegan pie crust gluten-free? Yes, it is! Since it's made with oat flour, this crust is completely gluten-free as long as the oats specifically say they are GF. This Easy Gluten-Free Pie Crust is another great option. Want more Gluten-Free Recipes?
Q: Can this pie crust be made a day ahead? Absolutely, and I recommend making the whole pie a day ahead so the pie crust can soak up the flavors from the pie filling.
Q: Do I have to use brown sugar in this recipe? No, but you'll want to use some sort of sweetener. Any type of less refined sugar will work just fine. Date sugar is a good substitute.
Q: Shouldn't I grease my pie pan? I do not add any oil to my pie pan. It sticks just a little, but I'm able to use a fork to make it release, especially when the whole pie has been made hours before and chilled. Chilling overnight is even better. If you don't want to deal with any sticking at all, line the pie plate with parchment paper before adding the crust.