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Free Printable: Low Carb & Keto Food List
Get It NowI Use This Almond Flour Pie Crust Recipe For Every Pie
This almond flour pie crust has been one of my favorite almond flour recipes for years. It’s buttery and flaky, and works well in many kinds of low carb recipes — from sweet keto desserts and to savory meals. I’ve had it here on Wholesome Yum since 2017, but it was actually one of the first healthy baked goods I ever made, long before that. Here’s why I use it for practically every pie I make:
- Buttery, rich, and flaky – I love the texture of this almond flour crust. No, it doesn’t taste quite the same as a white flour version, but it reminds me of a shortbread cookie. You’re going to love it!
- Quick and easy – You need just 5 simple ingredients, plus salt. And it only takes about 15 minutes.
- Healthy and keto friendly – This crust is low carb (just 2g net carbs per serving), grain-free, and gluten-free, with a dairy-free option. It’s also just a healthier choice with clean ingredients and no refined sugar.
- Make it sweet or savory – I’ve used variations of this keto pie crust in so many recipes, from sweet lemon meringue pie and pumpkin pie to savory chicken pot pie and spinach pie. You can use it for any kind of pie! Even my low carb cheesecake has a similar base.
- Option for a top crust – This is often a challenge for almond flour pie crust, but I’ve got top crust instructions below by just adding an extra ingredient.
If you’re looking for a keto pie crust or just want a healthier alternative for your baking, this is it. Make it with me and just add your favorite filling!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my almond flour pie crust recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
Almond Flour:
I recommend Wholesome Yum Super Fine Blanched Almond Flour, which has the finest consistency and will give you the best texture. You can make this pie crust with almond meal, but the texture will be more grainy since it’s more coarse.
I do not recommend using coconut flour in this recipe — it will be extremely dry. Make my coconut flour pie crust instead.
Sweetener:
You only need this for a sweet almond flour pie crust — omit for savory. My keto sweeteners guide covers the differences between alternatives, but here’s a summary of what you can and can’t use for this recipe:
- Besti Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – My top recommendation, because it measures just like sugar, has 0 calories and net carbs, and has no aftertaste. Most importantly, it helps lock in moisture (unlike other sweeteners), for a flaky keto crust that isn’t dry.
- Erythritol – I used to make this almond flour crust with it, but no longer recommend it. It’s more drying than Besti and can taste a little gritty and minty. Because erythritol is less sweet than Besti, you’ll need more to achieve the same sweetness.
- Allulose – Similar to Besti above, but less sweet. You have to use more, just like erythritol.
- Coconut Sugar – A paleo option. It’s not keto friendly, but works if it fits your lifestyle.
- Liquid Sweeteners – Avoid these, they make the crust too runny. I’m working on a different recipe for these.
Use my sweetener conversion calculator if you use something other than Besti.
Even for sweet recipes, I’ve varied the amount of sweetener in this keto pie crust, depending on how sweet the filling is:
- If your filling is super-sweet, then 2-3 tablespoons of sweetener in the crust might be enough.
- If it’s more tart, you may want to use as much as 1/2 cup of sweetener.
- Most often, 1/4 cup of Besti is a good amount, so that’s what I put in the recipe.
Other Ingredients:
- Fat – Fat adds flavor, prevents dryness, ensures the correct wet/dry ingredient ratio, and gives you that golden edge. I use unsalted grass-fed butter most often and it’s delicious! If you need an alternative, you can use ghee (dairy-sensitive) or coconut oil (dairy-free, but imparts a mild coconut flavor). If you want to keep that buttery flavor, I love butter flavored coconut oil.
- Egg – Provides structure and gets you the right wet/dry ratio. If you need a substitute, the easiest is to increase the amount of butter (or other fat) in my almond flour pie crust recipe by 2 more tablespoons. It will be a little more crumbly, but still tastes great. You can also use a flax egg, my go-to egg substitute when I’m recipe testing for my dairy-free readers.
- Salt – Salt brings out the sweetness, so don’t leave it out. For a savory almond flour crust, omit the sweetener and double the amount of salt. I use sea salt for all my recipes, but any kind is fine.
- Vanilla Extract (optional) – I highly recommend it for a sweet crust. I like this brand.
How To Make Almond Flour Pie Crust
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, Besti (if using), and sea salt.
- Add the wet ingredients. Pour in the melted butter (mixed with vanilla, if using) and egg. Stir until well combined. Your almond flour pie dough will be crumbly, which is normal.
- Press into a pie pan. Transfer the dough to a greased or lined pie pan and press in, fluting the edges if you like. Poke holes in the surface with a fork to prevent bubbling.
- Bake until golden. Let your almost flour pie crust cool for at least 10-15 minutes before adding filling.
My Recipe Tips
- Use a food processor for even faster prep. It’s a little more cleanup, but makes it easier to incorporate the ingredients well. Plus, it’s less fuss: you basically dump everything in the food processor and spin. I have this food processor and love it. You can also use a hand mixer, but keep the speed low because the dough tends to go flying.
- Make sure your dough is mixed well. Mix the dry ingredients well to start (if doing it by hand, I like to use a whisk to break up any lumps). Then, mix very well again after adding the wet ingredients.
- The dough consistency can vary a bit. It depends on how you measure, and whether you include the sweetener (for a sweet almond flour pie crust) or not. This recipe is pretty forgiving, so as long as you can press the dough together between your fingers without crumbling apart, you’re good. You can add a little extra melted butter if it seems super dry.
- This almond flour pie crust recipe is for a shallow 9-inch pie pan. I use and love this glass pan. If yours is a different size or material, you might need to adjust the amount of dough and/or oven time.
- Do you still have to pre-bake if your filling is baked? Yes! The crust will get soggy if you don’t. But see my other tips below to avoid burning.
- If your pie filling needs baking, cover the crust edges. Since we blind bake this crust (that means bake it before filling), it will get too dark when you bake your pie if your edges aren’t covered. I usually just cover the edges with foil, but you can also use a non-stick pie shield or a silicone shield.
- Be careful not to over-bake. If the edges get dark golden when you blind bake, they will burn by the time your baked pie is done, even when covered. I aim for just the slightest hint of golden during the blind bake step if I’ll be baking it again, but let it get darker if I’ll be adding a filling that doesn’t need baking.
- Let the crust cool a bit before adding fillings. This helps it set, so that it doesn’t get soggy. It doesn’t have to be completely cool, but do wait at least 10-15 minutes.
- Want extra flavor? This almond flour pie crust is a neutral base that works with just about any filling. You can mix some garlic powder or Italian seasoning with the dry ingredients for a savory crust, or cinnamon (with the dry ingredients) or maple extract (with the wet ingredients) for a sweet crust.
Almond Flour Pie Crust (Keto, 5 Ingredients)
My almond flour pie crust is buttery and flaky, with 5 minutes prep, 5 ingredients, and 2g net carbs. It's a gluten-free, keto pie crust, too.
Instructions
[ See my tips ]Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line the bottom of a 9 in (23 cm) round pie pan with parchment paper, or grease well.
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In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, Besti (if using), and sea salt.
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Stir in the melted butter and egg, until well combined. (If using vanilla, stir that into the melted butter before adding to the dry ingredients.) The "dough" will be dry and crumbly. Just keep mixing, pressing and stirring, until it's uniform and there is no almond flour powder left. (Alternatively, you can use a food processor to mix it all together.)
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Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. You can flute the edges of desired; if it crumbles when doing this, just press it back together. Carefully poke holes in the surface using a fork to prevent bubbling.
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Bake for 6-12 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden — the time can vary depending on your pan, your oven, and the sweetener you use (or don't use).
Add fillings only after pre-baking. If your fillings will require baking again, you'll want to parbake the crust for the shorter end of the time spectrum, around 6-8 minutes, and use a pie shield or foil to cover the edges when baking again with filling.
Did You Like It?
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Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 slice, or 1/12 of entire recipe
- Almond flour note: You can make this pie crust using almond meal, but the texture will be more grainy since it’s more coarse. I recommend Wholesome Yum Super Fine Blanched Almond Flour, which has the finest consistency and will give you the best texture.
- Sweetener note: The amount of sweetener that is best will vary based on the filling. Use 1/4 cup for a sweet crust, 2-3 tablespoons for a very lightly sweet crust (if your filling is super sweet), up to 1/2 cup for a very sweet crust (if you like a sweeter crust or your filling is tart), or omit sweetener for savory crust.
- Recipe tips: See my tips here! I’ve got a time-saving shortcut, notes on dough consistency and pie pan size, how to ensure your almond flour crust is not too dark or soggy, and add-ins for extra flavor.
- Making a top crust: This almond flour pie crust recipe won’t work for a top crust as written, but you can modify it by adding gelatin powder and water to make it sturdy enough for a top crust. See my top crust instructions.
- Make ahead: You can wrap the dough in plastic, press it into the pan, or pre-bake it ahead. With any of these options, store in the fridge covered in plastic for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 6 months. See more details in the make ahead section above.
- Pie fillings: Try my sweet keto pecan pie, sugar-free pumpkin pie, keto apple pie, keto key lime pie, keto lemon meringue pie, or keto coconut cream pie. You can also make savory chicken pot pie, spinach pie, or keto quiche.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Almond Flour Pie Crust
How To Make A Top Crust
I get this question a lot, and it’s important to know that you can’t use this almond flour pie dough for a top crust as written. But you can modify it to make a top crust! Here’s how:
- Multiply the crust ingredient amounts by 1.5. I can do this for you if you just update the number of servings on the recipe card above from 12 to 18! Or you can just see the amounts in my keto apple pie recipe.
- Add 1 tablespoon of unflavored gelatin powder + 2 tablespoons of water. Mix well. This doesn’t work well mixing by hand (you may end up with lumps of gelatin), so I recommend using either a food processor or hand mixer.
- Blind bake the bottom crust. Press half of the dough into the bottom and sides of the pie dish. (Leave thinner sides than you would if you were fluting an almond flour pie crust without the top.) Bake for 6-8 minutes, until set but not really golden.
- Add the filling and top crust. Fill your pie shell with your favorite filling. Roll out the remaining dough between sheets of parchment paper, flip over onto your pie, then peel off the paper. Seal the edges and cut slits on top to vent.
- Bake your pie. The baking time will depend on your filling, but I usually recommend an oven temperature of 350 degrees F.
Alternatively, check out my gluten-free pie crust, which is also almond flour based but more sturdy for a top crust.
Pie Filling Options
This almond flour pie crust works for all kinds of pies! Here are some of my recipes you can use it with:
- Sweet – I use this keto pie crust for sweet pies most often. It’s the base for my keto pecan pie, sugar-free pumpkin pie, and keto apple pie for Thanksgiving and throughout the fall. You can also use it for my healthy apple pie (as long as you don’t mind not having a lattice top). In the spring and summer, I love it for keto key lime pie, keto lemon meringue pie, and keto coconut cream pie.
- Savory – Try the savory version with my chicken pot pie, spinach pie, or keto quiche.
You can even use this crust for tarts, like my pear tart or tomato tart recipe.
Do you have other pie fillings you like? Let me know in the comments below how you use this almond flour crust!
Make Ahead Options
You can easily make this almond flour pie crust in advance. There are several different ways:
- Just make the dough: Wrap it in plastic and store in a ball in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Press into the pan: Instead of wrapping the ball of dough, you can press it into the pan and cover that in plastic.
- Pre-bake the crust: My go-to option, since this almond flour pie crust is best pre-baked anyway. Cover and store in the fridge. It’s also fine on the counter for a day or so after baking.
- Freeze: You can freeze a ball of dough, raw crust pressed into a pan, or pre-baked crust. It will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months. Whether or not you can freeze this keto pie crust with filling inside will depend on the specific filling. Like any crust, it can get soggy upon thawing with certain fillings. You can thaw on the counter or in the fridge overnight.
644 Comments
Robertjm
0Do you need to use Pie Weights, or do you just bake it as is?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0No, you can bake just as is.
LC
0This one is a game-changer: we used it for mini quiches and tiny berry tarts very successfully. Thanks so much for posting these brilliant recipes, which work out better for me than most of the others one finds. 🙂
EM
0I’ve used this recipe a few times and really enjoy it. Today I was making samosas for my children and had lots of leftover meat filling, so I made up a batch of this almond pie dough, separated it into 3 parts, and rolled each ball out thin between 2 pieces of parchment paper. I cut each section in half with a pastry cutter, put the meat filling in the middle of each, and carefully used the parchment to fold the pastry in half. I gently pressed the edges together to seal them, brushed on an egg wash, and baked for 30 minutes. In the future, I might add gelatin as is recommended in the chicken pot pie recipe, but I had none this time. My husband and I love samosas but haven’t been able to eat them for years. This was a huge success! Thank you!
Cindy
0Love this recipe! I use it for quiche, which is a staple in my life. When I started a keto-like diet, I was relieved to find I didn’t have to make crustless quiche (boring!).
B Sullivan
0Can this be filled with a lemon chess pie filling before cooking? If not do you have an alternative?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I recommend pre-baking your crust before putting the filling in. If your type of pie needs to bake again, just cover the edges.
Meriam Suarez
0Can we use this recipe to cover the apple pie?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Meriam, You can for a bottom crust, but this recipe is too crumbly for a top crust. Use the crust from my low carb apple pie if you want a top crust.
Linda Olsen
0do you remove the wax paper after the crust is baked? and can you use honey for the sweetener?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Linda, Be sure to use parchment paper, not wax paper. Wax paper is not heat safe. I don’t recommend using honey, as it will not only add sugar but also will change the wet/dry ratio.
Michelle
0I made this crust with garlic ghee and used it for a chili and spinach quiche. Came out pretty good. Gave it a good crunch factor and the garlic ghee gave the crust a good flavor. I think I’ll try it again with a sweet pie.
Amber
0Your recipes are good. I don’t like all the extra stuff on your pages, sometimes you can’t see everything that’s in the recipe. Makes it discouraging.
Dorothy
0I’m finding when an ad covers the recipe text, there is a tiny little “x” that will remove it–I haven’t had any problems reading the text. The rest of the ads are generally on the side or in paragraph form between text paragraphs, like most blogs.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Amber, Thanks for your feedback. Ads keep the Wholesome Yum website running and allow me to develop recipes that readers like you can access absolutely free. However, you may be interested in Wholesome Yum Plus, which includes an ad-free version of the website, along with other perks.
Lilly
0My family liked it a lot and some of them are not keto but wanted the recipe!!
Helen Smith
0I had to scroll through too much information to eventually get to a very simple recipe that is already in my repertoire for a simple wheat flour short pastry, just substituted with almond flour. I had to hope that butter could be substituted for ghee in the same proportion, as I was not going to scroll all the way up to the top again. This recipe takes as long to read as what the short pastry takes to prepare, being 10 min. It is a good recipe but if you cut down on the words it will be an easier recipe.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Helen, There is a jump to recipe button at the top of every recipe page, feel free to use that. Everyone is different, so while the information in the post might be common knowledge for you, that isn’t necessarily the case for everyone.
Rick
0Is this ok to use in a springform for a cheesecake? Just don’t want it to crack up when releasing the pan and if low sides will stand.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Rick, Yes, I use a similar crust for my keto cheesecake in a springform pan.
Hal
0can I omit sweetener for a meat pie , and does this dough make a good top pie crust, thanking you in advance
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Hal, Yes, for a savory crust omit the sweetener and use 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. If you want to use it for a top crust, follow the instructions from my keto chicken pot pie recipe.
Per Norrgren
0Hi,
It turned out hard.
But cuttable with a sharp knife.
Very odd, as you cannot eat it with a fork or a spoon, bits go flying if you manage to push through. Only by picking the slice up by hand can you eat it.
Why is it so hard? Followed all instructions.
Thank you
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Per, It sounds like the crust may have been baked for too long and hardened as a result.
April
0I am super excited to try this recipe so my grandmother can enjoy some of her fav holiday treats again. Have you tried this for tarts and have an idea of baking time? Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi April, Yes, you can use this for a tart. The baking time for the empty shell would be about the same.
Kim Sullivan
0This recipe is fantastic, easy to make just as written, and turned out so well! I made it low-sugar (savory) and still worked well with a pumpkin pie filling. This is a keeper!!
Angela
0Really easy yummy recipe that is diabetic friendly. Yummy crust!
Joanne Duran
0Where is the sugar coming from the almonds?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Joanne, Yes, that’s correct. There is no added sugar in this recipe.
Verna Giannavola
0Just made this pie crust and it turned out beautifully. I have a question….I am using it for a chocolate pie, therefore will have no further baking. Can it be used as is or should it be baked a longer time? Thanks Verna
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Verna, You can use it as is after baking the empty crust.
Sharyn
0Hi, Is there a substitution for the ghee? Thank u. Sharyn
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Sharyn, You can use butter instead of ghee.