Baking Adventures: Vegan & Gluten Free Cherry Pie (Happy Twin Peaks Day!)

Diane, 11:30 am February 24th, entering the town of Twin Peaks, 5 miles south of the Canadian border, 12 miles west of the state line. I’ve never seen so many trees in my life.

Since today is Twin Peaks Day, I’m sharing how I make vegan and gluten free cherry pie!

I’ve experimented with 3 different ways of making vegan and gluten free cherry pie–the best way to make it is completely from scratch. I made a cherry pie from scratch for the first time this past Thanksgiving, and it turned out amazing. Like so good you couldn’t even tell it was vegan/gluten free, and so good my Dad liked it (he’s a meat eater/can be quite picky). It looks and tastes just like classic cherry pie you’d fine at the Double R Diner.

To make a vegan and gluten free cherry pie from scratch, I follow this recipe for gluten-free crust from Allergy Free Alaska, making a double batch so there’s enough for the bottom crust as well as the top. I use Earth Balance vegan butter rather than shortening and follow the rest of the recipe exactly. For this recipe, you will need to buy a few different types of gluten free flours and xantham gum, but I think it’s worth it because it’s so delicious.

For the filling, I use this recipe from Kathy Patalsky (5 1/2 cups cherries, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup corn starch.) I use frozen cherries and thaw them in the microwave first. For the baking time etc., I use this recipe (bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes/reduce the heat to 350 and bake for another 45-50 minutes).

This week, I made another pie following Allergy Alaska’s recipe, but instead of mixing all of the different flours and xantham gum, I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour (which has xantham gum) to save time, and it still turned out good, but not as good, and the dough was harder to work with/wasn’t as neat and pretty, as you can see in the photo. It was still quite tasty though if you’re pressed for time or don’t want to buy a bunch of different flours.

The last way I’ve tried making vegan and cherry pie is with pre-made vegan and gluten free pie crusts that I found at Whole Foods and premade cherry pie filling that happened to be vegan as well. This way is obviously the quickest, but also not as good as from scratch, and I didn’t bother with a picture because it doesn’t look very pretty either. But it’ll do the trick if you’re in a pinch! I think if I ever do this method again, I’ll make the filling from scratch, and brush the crust with soy milk and sugar, and it’ll probably come out better.

After trying vegan and gluten free cherry pie three ways, I found that the best way is to make it totally from scratch as Norma would recommend!

Have you tried making pie from scratch? How did it go? Are you doing anything to celebrate Twin Peaks Day? Let me know in the comments!