Gingerbread Pie Crust

This is the Perfect Pie Crust for any fall-flavored pie or cheesecake. It will make your Apple Pie or Pumpkin Cheesecake over-the-top delicious. Your whole kitchen will smell like gingerbread cookies. It is easy-to-make, only 5 ingredients, gluten-free and vegan. What else do you need? 

Hands up, who loves pie season? Me! Me! My husband is busy making holiday dishes like Vegan Lentil Loaf or Hearty Vegan Beef Stew or Veggie Pot Pie. But I bake and bake and bake. Finally, it is not too hot to turn on the oven! Yeah! Have you seen my yummy Apple Crisp Pie or my Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake? Those are my staples for fall. And both of them are ideal candidates to use this Gingerbread Pie Crust.

⇒ If you need an Easy 7-day VEGAN MEAL PLAN, click to download our free e-book with a shopping list. 

What is Gingerbread Pie Crust?

No, it is not ready-made gingerbread cookies that are dropped in a food processor with some butter and are pulsed to get crumbs. Nope. Not at all.

It is a made from scratch pie crust that tastes and smells like soft gingerbread cookies.

Gingerbread cookies are these soft cookies that are typically flavored with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg and sweetened with honey or molasses. You know when they are in the oven because the whole house just immediately smells like Christmas.

It is the perfect pie crust to make any fall-flavored pie. If you need an example, check out below this drool-worthy photo of the Best Damn Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake I’ve ever tasted. And yes, I used Gingerbread Pie Crust to make it even more special. 

What do you need to make Gingerbread Pie Crust?

It is an easy-to-make, easy-to-roll, easy-to-handle pie crust with only 5 ingredients. This recipe is egg-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and gluten-free. So this gingerbread pie crust is one of the healthiest pie crust you can make.

• oat flour
• ground pecans or walnuts
• molasses or maple syrup (honey if you’re not vegan)
• ground flax seeds
• spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves (or pumpkin spice mix)

I eat gluten-free for a long time now, so I use certified gluten-free flours. However, if you have regular all-purpose wheat flour, you can sub 1:1 for oat flour.

How to make Gingerbread Pie Crust?

Do you want the quick method or the super-quick method? 

The super-quick method is to drop all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until combined. However, this pie crust dough is so easy to handle, I usually use my hands to make it.

First, you need to make the flax egg. I use 2 Tbsp ground flax seeds and 6 Tbsp water. If you wait for like 10 seconds, it becomes thick and rubbery. See in the photo #2 below, that it becomes like a thick paste.

The next step is to combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl: flour, finely chopped nuts, and spices (photo #1). Now, add flax egg and maple syrup to the dry ingredients (photo #2) .

Finally, combine until you form a ball and the gingerbread pie dough doesn’t stick to the sides.

• No need to chill!
• No need to wait!
• No need to knead!
• You can roll it out immediately!

How to roll out Gingerbread Pie Crust?

If I am working with any kind of pie crust, I always use two sheets of cling foil to make sure that the pie crust dough doesn’t stick to the rolling pin or to the board. This little trick guarantees me 100% success even if the dough is super crumbly. For a more eco-friendly approach, you can use a re-useable pie crust bag*.

THIS PIE DOUGH is the easiest dough to roll out! No magic trick is needed!

Why? Flax eggs give the dough great elasticity. It is the easiest dough you can work with seriously. I was over the moon happy when I got this pie crust dough to this consistency. Super easy to handle.

Where can you use Gingerbread Pie Crust?

For any pie or cheesecake, where you think the smell and the taste of gingerbread cookies would complement the filling:

• Apple (I have a delicious Apple Crisp Pie recipe)
• Pumpkin (I have the Best Damn Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe)
• Sweet potato
• Sour cherry

Let us know in the comments what is your favorite combination! Below is another drool-worthy photo of the pie crust in action. I just can’t get enough of this pumpkin cheesecake recipe. 

FAQs and Substitutions

What can I add instead of oat flour?

I think oat flour works best here. I would imagine buckwheat or millet flour maybe. Nothing high starch as that will make the dough sticky. If you have regular all-purpose wheat flour (and you don’t need the crust to be gluten-free), you can use that 1:1 instead of oat flour.

What other nuts can I use?

Walnuts and pecans remind me the most of gingerbread, but you are welcome to substitute it with almonds or cashews. You can read about the variety of nut meals in our Gluten-free Flour Guide.

Can I make this pie crust ahead of time?

Yes, this Gingerbread Pie Crust keeps in the fridge overnight as a ball wrapped up in cling foil or in an airtight container. I recommend you roll it out only right before adding the filling.

Can I freeze this pie crust?

Yes, it freezes well. Again I recommend to freeze it as a ball wrapped up tightly.

This Gingerbread Pie Crust recipe is vegan, so dairy-free and egg-free. It is also suitable for vegetarians, WFPB (whole foods plant-based) and gluten-free diets.

⇒ If you need an Easy 7-day VEGAN MEAL PLAN, click to download our free e-book with a shopping list. 

More vegan dessert recipes

You can browse through our Vegan and Gluten-free Dessert Recipes or check out

• Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Cake
• Chocolate Peach Galette
• Vegan Chocolate Pudding
• Vegan Sweet Potato Brownies
• Vegan Tapioca Pudding

Gingerbread Pie Crust

Emese Maczko

This is the Perfect Pie Crust for any fall-flavored pie or cheesecake. It will make your Apple Pie or Pumpkin Cheesecake over-the-top delicious. Your whole kitchen will smell like gingerbread cookies.

4.6 from 22 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Total Time 10 mins

Course Dessert

Servings 1 9-inch pie

Calories 998kcal

Equipment

• Food processor
• Glass pie plate (9-inch / 23 cm)
• Cake pan with removable bottom (9-inch / 23 cm)
• Classic cake pan (9-inch / 23 cm)

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 cup Oat flour
• ▢ ¾ cup Nut meal (ground walnuts or pecans) aka nut flour
• ▢ 3 Tbsp Maple syrup or molasses
• ▢ 2 Tbsp Ground flax or ground chia
• ▢ ½ tsp Cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ tsp Ginger

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Instructions

 

• Combine ground 2 Tbsp flax or chia in a small bowl with 6 Tbsp fresh water. (It will thicken within a minute!)
• Take another bowl and add all dry ingredients: oat flour, ground nuts, cinnamon, and ginger. Mix until combined.
• Add the maple syrup and the thickened flax or chia egg. Mix it with your hand until you can form a ball and the dough no longer sticks to the sides. (You can use a food processor to finish even quicker!) - If it sticks too much, add 1 Tbsp oat flour.
• You can roll it out the pie dough right away or place it in an airtight container (or wrap it in cling foil) and store it in the fridge overnight.

Tried this recipe? Can we see it?Please share a picture with us by uploading an image to Pinterest below ours.

Notes

Is it suitable for Upper Pie Crust?

It is not really, as it can get really dry. It works best when the filling is nice and juicy. 

What can I add instead of oat flour?

I think oat flour works best here. I would imagine buckwheat or millet flour, maybe. Nothing high starch as that will make the dough sticky. If you have regular all-purpose wheat flour (and you don't need the crust to be gluten-free), you can use that 1:1 instead of oat flour.

What other nuts can I use?

Walnuts and pecans remind me the most of gingerbread, but you are welcome to substitute it with almonds or cashews.

Can I make this pie crust ahead of time?

Yes, this Gingerbread Pie Crust keeps in the fridge overnight as a ball wrapped up in cling foil or an airtight container. I recommend you roll it out only right before adding the filling. 

Can I freeze this pie crust?

Yes, it freezes well. Again I recommend freezing it as a ball wrapped up tightly. 

Video

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Gingerbread Pie Crust

Amount Per Serving (1 9-inch pie crust)

Calories 998 Calories from Fat 459

% Daily Value*

Fat 51g78%

Saturated Fat 4.4g28%

Polyunsaturated Fat 3.8g

Monounsaturated Fat 0.8g

Sodium 14.8mg1%

Potassium 136.5mg4%

Carbohydrates 115.6g39%

Fiber 20.1g84%

Sugar 37.9g42%

Protein 29g58%

Vitamin A 13.5IU0%

Vitamin C 0.1mg0%

Calcium 198.5mg20%

Iron 7.8mg43%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in Oct 2019, but was rewritten and republished with new photos and tips in Oct 2020.