The best and easiest low carb press in pie crust. This almond flour pie crust is perfect for both sweet and savory recipes. Four simple ingredients make this a hit.
So I am going to keep this one short and sweet…because this really is a short and sweet little recipe. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s delicious. It’s also extremely versatile. You can fill it with all sorts of delicious fillings, from lemon to chocolate to strawberry rhubarb. You can pre-bake it for cold fillings or bake with the fillings inside. It can even be used in savoury applications like quiche or vegetable tart. Really, the uses for this low carb almond flour crust are virtually endless. You are limited only by your imagination.
Everyone needs a good pastry crust recipe and I like to flatter myself that this one is very good. But what I love about it is the simplicity. I do love the challenge of a roll out crust and I have a pretty decent low carb flaky pastry crust. But it definitely takes more work and when you have a hankering for pie, sometimes that effort presents an obstacle. So this one will appeal to everyone, from novice bakers to accomplished home cooks. And I made your life even easier by showing you how it’s done in this little video!
So now the question is, what do you fill it with? I made an absolutely glorious Lemon Sour Cream Pie and that recipe will be coming to you very shortly, I promise. Patience, my dear readers, that one will be up in two days time, I swear! But if you’re dying to try out the crust and you simply can’t wait a few short days, here are a few fun and tasty ideas to fill your pie (that sounds vaguely dirty but…nevermind…).
Bacon, Goat Cheese and Tomato Tart
White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
The best and easiest low carb press in pie crust. This almond flour pie crust is perfect for both sweet and savory recipes.
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup Swerve Sweetener either granular or powdered is fine*
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, sweetener, and salt. Stir in melted butter until dough comes together and resembles coarse crumbs.
- Turn out into a glass or ceramic pie plate. Press firmly with fingers into bottom and up sides. Use a flat bottomed glass or measuring cup to even out the bottom. Prick all over with a fork before baking.
- To bake unfilled, preheat oven to 325F. Bake until edges are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
- To bake a filled pie, pre bake 10-12 minutes before adding fillings. You may need to cover the edges in foil to avoid over-browning.
- *For a savoury pie crust, leave out the sweetener, use 1/2 tsp salt, and add 1/2 tsp garlic powder.
Serves 10. Each serving has 1.8g NET CARBS.
Food energy: 137kcal
Total fat: 12.68g
Calories from fat: 114
Cholesterol: 12mg
Carbohydrate: 3.60g
Total dietary fiber: 1.80g
Protein: 3.65g
Suzy Godfrey says
This is great and I’ll be waiting for the lemon recipe!
Carolyn says
It will be up Saturday, I promise!
patricia says
What size pie plate did you use…..the 9″ or 10″?
Carolyn says
9 inches….that’s standard.
Tracy says
Mini Quiche Lorraine sounds good.
Linda says
Looks great and I am trying it this weekend!
Kim | Low Carb Maven says
Simple and sweet. I love it. Thanks for sharing another great recipe for pie crust Carolyn, because in my book, you can never have enough pie!
Raag says
Hi, What can I substitute for swerve sweetener, cause that is not easily available where i live.
Thanks
Carolyn says
Any sweetener will work here.
Annette du Toit says
Your recipes looks amazing will surely try them, thankyou
violet says
Do you happen to have a low carb pizza crust recipe
Carolyn says
I have a few but I have a really, really good one coming very soon!
Amy M says
I made a Lemon Sour Ceam Pie on Mother’s Day, but I was off on my crust with too much coconut flour. We ate the filling and whipped cream topping sans the crust, so I now will try it with your crust recipe. Thank you!
Angelique says
I made this crust with eggs, pancetta, whipping cream, tomato, basil and cheddar cheese filling. Absolutely delicious! Thank you for showing me how to make great meals without using wheat. I’ll prepare this on Sundays for a quick breakfast option during the weekdays. Best bonus…my 2 year old loves it:)
Carolyn says
Wow, your quiche sounds amazing!
Debbie says
This sounds wonderful! It looks so easy to make and that’s my kind of recipe.
Libby says
I tried to post before but it obviously didn’t get through. Can you tell me please if I can use hazelnut flour instead of almond as it has become so expensive here in France? Many thanks
Carolyn says
You can but hazelnut meal isn’t as finely ground so your crust will be a bit more crumbly.
Jackie Kraber says
do you have to use swerve or can you use THM sweetner
Carolyn says
You can use THM products. But the amounts will be different. I think for Super Sweet, you’d only want about 1 tbsp, maybe 1 1/2 tbsp.
Cindy says
Carolyn, if I want to make this a chocolate crust, how much unsweetened chocolate powder should I add and do I need to increase the sweetener? Thanks.
Ruth says
What are the measurements for the pie crust ingredients?
Carolyn says
They are right there in the recipe.
Donna says
I love that you have created an easy pie crust recipe and the video is great!
I want to make a peach pie for my husband but I’m not sure how to do that with this recipe. Would you precook the fruit and the crust?
Thank you for your recipes and your time.
Donna
AT says
Love your site! I tried this pie crust today and made a quiche. It was delicious, but I wasn’t as happy about the excessive breaking/crumbs. I read on one of your other posts, with almond flour you should let sit for a bit. I tried to do that, but not so much luck. After my piece, I froze the rest & hoping it will still be good for leftovers later. So question, I have not used coconut flour before, would that help to mix them or should I just expect almond flour crusts are crumbly?
Carolyn says
Sounds to me like you used almond meal, not almond flour. If made with almond flour (very finely ground) there won’t be much breaking or crumbs.
AT says
Hmmmm, no I used the finely ground blanched almond flour. Still delicious, I heated up the frozen quiche today and seemed less crumbly after frozen! Maybe it needed to sit longer yesterday…
Jodir says
Can you freeze almond crusts and are these good for mini tarts perhaps
Carolyn says
Yes, I think you could freeze it and yes, it can be used for mini tarts.
Lily says
This came out beautifully, thanks for a great recipe! I made a peanut butter pie this time, but I can’t wait to try a quiche.
This crust tastes fantastic, holds together well, and has a nice crumb. And it’s so easy!
Karen says
My daughter is allergic to nuts and needs gluten free – what can I use?
Carolyn says
You can try sunflower seed flour.
Jody says
My brother is dairy free. Can this be made with coconut oil instead of butter?
Carolyn says
I think that would work.
Cheryl says
This is the only one I use….also great as a top crust! Thank you for this recipe!
Virginia Cooke says
This is a fabulous crust recipe, but I’m really hoping to find a low carb pastry recipe so I can make my favourite and much missed Cornish pasties. Do you think this could be successfully rolled out without breaking or would it help to add some guar gum? Or do you have a recipe for pastry please?
Carolyn says
No, it won’t really work. Try the dough for the garlic knots instead, roll it out like pie crust.
sue in CA says
definitely going to use this recipe BUT do you have a nut-free crust recipe, one daughter and her family are allergic to nuts and sunflower seeds.
Carolyn says
Are they allergic to coconut?
sue in CA says
gratefully no, daughter uses coconut flour all the time.
Carolyn says
I don’t have a coconut flour pie crust recipe but I believe SugarFree Mom does.
sue in CA says
thanks I will check!
Tabbie Hale says
Can this be made without any sweetner or sugar? Will it change the final product? (Other than no sweetness)
Carolyn says
Yes, I think the recipe states how to make a savory version. Just leave out the sweetener and add a little garlic powder.
sue in CA says
thank you I will check
Jessica says
Can i use Stevia-Erythritol sweetener (erythritol 99,98%, steviol glycoside 0.02%)? How much should i add it instead of Swerve Sweetener?
Carolyn says
You can sub it in the same amount.
carol says
Why must I use a glass or ceramic pie plate?
Carolyn says
Because metal conducts too much heat.
carol says
Thank you…we used a lesser amount of organic real sugar…and it was delicious. (My husband made a key lime pie for Pi Day.) I will never buy one of those poison ready-made graham cracker crusts again!
Guinan says
You just made my day!!!
Now only tell me that I can freeze this dough, so I can just thaw and press in and voilá ?
Carolyn says
I can’t see why not.
Melissa says
Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s wonderful – so tasty, with simple ingredients. This is a god send
Cindy Pair says
Where can I find the recipe for the low carb flaky pie crust
Carolyn says
https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2013/07/coconut-cream-pie-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html
KatyAnne says
Made this tonight. Easy and tasty! I added a sprinkle of cinnamon and made low carb cheesecake filling and fruit sauce. Delicious! Thank you
Kelcey says
Last time I made an almond flour crust and baked a cheesecake in it the crust ended up burning even though the pie itself was perfectly set.. My spring form pan is dark, wondering if that was why. The cheesecake did bake a ling time in order to fully set. I am afraid to make another almond flour based curst for fear it will burn again. Any suggestions?
Carolyn says
Do you have a glass pie pan as suggested by the recipe here?
lazylowcarber says
I love how there’s only three (or four) ingredients – I made low carb salmon quiche and even my almond-flour skeptic hubby loved it 🙂 Thank you for an awesome recipe, it’s even easy for a lazylowcarber like me!
Carolyn says
Your quiche looks delicious!
lazylowcarber says
Thank you Carolyn and thank you for commenting on my website too 🙂 <3 <3 <3 love your site!
Caroline says
Natural, almond flour (courser texture)
or blanched, extra fine almond flour?
We have both at our bulk food store.
Yours looks pretty ‘fine)
Carolyn says
Always blanched fine flour. It’s much easier to work with. The natural is good for muffins but it doesn’t do well in finer textured things.
Goldfish says
Do you need to bake the crust first for a quiche? I never do for my regular rolled crust. I just was wondering whats going to give me best results. Thanks!
Carolyn says
Pre-bake for about 12 minutes first.
Kayla Mcintyre says
I’m gunna try out this recipe for a Pumpkin pie, so I need to bake the crust first?? And I’ll be using a tin foil pan, will it work or no? Thank you
Carolyn says
You par-bake it, which means baking for 10 to 12 minutes to firm it up. Pumpkin is a very soft centre so the crust needs a little firmness before adding it. I think the tin foil pan should work.
Lynn Price says
This is my go-to for all things crusty. I even use it as the base for bars, like lemon bars, etc. It’s the perfect recipe for sweet or savory…and scary easy! Thank you so much for your culinary talents. You’ve made this low carber one happy lady.
Carolyn says
So glad it fits the bill!
Pat says
I don’t put sugar in my regular wheat flour pie crust, do I have to sweeten yours. Is it needed for your recipe?
Carolyn says
I think you will find it better that way.
Suzanne miller says
Hi Carolyn!
I just had to say hi and tell you how much I really like your blog (and I hate blogs.). I think it’s your talent for writing and your enthusiasm for what you write about that pulls me in. And your skill in tirelessly experimenting (I don’t experiment, but I’m sure glad you do!) & creating some of the most amazing recipes i’ve ever made (and sugar-free at that!).
I am especially grateful because I can now serve awesome low carb & sugar-free recipes to the love of my life, who is hopelessly diabetic, loves to eat (as I do), and has a sweet tooth the size of a small building. I can’t imagine what I would do to help this man if I couldn’t fall back on your terrific recipes. Thank you just isn’t enough to say, Carolyn, but thank you, very, very much.
Carolyn says
What a lovely message to receive today, Suzanne. Thank you so much!
Mollie says
Hi Carolyn- I have two questions:
1. Do you ever sift your almond flour?
2. My crusts never brown…any advice?!
Carolyn says
I don’t find a need to sift my almond flour for most recipes like this one. In some things, where you have beaten egg whites, you do need to sift it over to help prevent deflating the whites.
As for the lack of browning, I am stumped! Too often, almond flour browns too easily and you have to cover it with foil. It must have something to do with your oven but I am not sure what. Do they seem baked properly?
Mollie says
Not really. It always seems too crumbly, like it has too much flour. I’ve tried using 1/4c less flour, but that really didn’t seem to help either….I’m stumped too! 🙁 I have a countertop breville oven, maybe I’ll try that next time! Thank you!
Lisa says
Carolyn, I love your almond flour crust but I have a relative that is allergic to almonds. I found a recipe on SugarFreeMom that is nut free using sunflower seed flour & sesame flour and I’m gonna give that a try. If it’s good, I’m wondering if I can substitute it in your recipes for the almond crust like in your Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars? Is sunflower seed flour a good one-to-one substitute for almond flour in other recipes too like cakes or donuts or will the answer vary from recipe to recipe?
Carolyn says
Hi Lisa…you don’t need to do both. You can just do the sunflower seed flour in place of the almond flour for the bars and it should be 1 to 1. Now, something to keep in mind is that it will have a more grey colour. Also…it reacts with baking powder and baking soda to give you a greenish tinge sometimes so for baked goods like cake, you want to add 1 or 2 tbsp of lemon juice as the acid helps offset this reaction.
If you have my cookbook, The Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen, it actually shows you how to make your own sunflower seed flour, as it’s MUCH less expensive that way.
Lisa says
I DO have your book! Thanks for the info!
Carolyn says
Fantastic! It’s really easy and much less expensive to make your own.
Shiree says
I’m new to baking in general, so maybe this is a dumb question, but.. Does the recipe need salted or unsalted butter?
Carolyn says
Either is fine. I prefer salted.
Kelly says
Hi Carolyn! I love and make this crust all the time. Both the sweet and savory version. I’m in need of a chocolate crust and wondering if I could make this work by just addinf some cocoa to this recipe. Have you ever tried this and if so how much would you add? Thanks in advance for your help. Love your recipes. I have your cookbook too!
Kelly says
Any ideas on the chocolate crust?
Carolyn says
Email me. I just made one for an upcoming cookbook.
Claudette says
I discovered your blog today at around 10:00 pm. It’s approaching midnight here in London and I think I should be sleeping, not drooling!
Carolyn says
Glad to have you drooling!
Shantanu says
Hi Carolyn
Suppose I make the crust a day in advance and refrigerate it. Do I need to bring it to room temperature before using it for a quiche?
Thanks for the recipe. After 1 year of keto, I’m about to make my first foray into baking and I want to start with this crust.
Carolyn says
I would blind bake it before putting the quiche ingredients in there anyway so refrigeration is fine.
Nicole says
I have sugar cherry pie filling from the can so if I prebake tinge crust for 10-12 minutes, when I put the filling in, how much longer do I bake it for? Thanks!
Carolyn says
Sounds like you did a great job of figuring it out!
Nicole says
I made this pie crust and baked it for 12 minutes before adding cherry pie filling. Then I made another batch of the crust and used it as crumble on top of the pie filling. I cooked it for another 20. The crumble didn’t really brown but the pie crust was nice and golden. I added sugar free vanilla icecream on the side. It tasted great! Thanks again Carolyn!
LaWanda says
Hi Carolyn. I have never made a homemade pie crust much less a low carb pie crust (I have always found it very intimidating). I so want to change that, and I am going to do it using your recipe. I just have one question. I want to make a quiche. Would I pre-bake the crust and then fill it with the quiche ingredients or fill the unbaked crust and bake it? I do not want my crust soggy or over baked, but, at the same time, I want my quiche cooked through. I hope my question makes sense. Can you please help me?
Carolyn says
Definitely pre-bake for 10 minutes.
Kristy Bernardo says
I think I might even be able to make a pie crust with this easy recipe. Thanks!
Jennifer Blake says
I’ve always purchased frozen crust at the store but nothing beats a homemade crust… love how simple this recipe is.
Jennifer Farley says
This is so useful, thank you for posting!
Lindsay Cotter says
Love how easy it is to make homemade pie crust! This low carb version is awesome!!
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts says
Love how easy it comes together! Great for so many different pies!
Marcelle says
I AM IN HEAVEN!!!! Just made this crust for a quiche with ham and swiss and a touch of nutmeg and I had to stop myself from eating the whole thing! I thought I would never be able to have a quiche on keto but this is
SIMPLY.
TO.
DIE.
FOR!!!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Lori says
Quick, easy, and tasty!
Jeannie says
If you’re planning to use this for a pie that requires a long bake time (40+) minutes, I’m not sure I would recommend pre-baking it. My crust turned out over cooked and borderline burnt.
Carolyn says
If you don’t pre-bake it, it could potentially mix in with your filling especially if it’s a very liquid filling. As with any pie crust, you should be coving the edges with foil if it appears to be over-baking.
tim says
Thank you for this recipe
Kristina Kunkle says
I can’t wait to try your recipe! This sounds incredible. Quick question: Do you have a recommendation for how I can adjust the recipe for a 10″ pie dish?
Carolyn says
I would simply add another few tbsp of almond flour (3 to 4) and then another 1/2 to 1 tbsp melted butter to stretch it out a bit.
Mary Stephens says
Very tasty pie crust, worked like a charm. I used the savory receipe and filled it with a keto quiche. 5 stars indeed. Of all the recipes I look at on Youtube, yiurs was the simplest and tasted better than wheat flour to me.
Carolyn says
So happy to hear that!
Angela Bottone says
How much Stevie would I use for a peach cobbler? And can I make a basket weave for the topper instead of a crust on top and bottom?
Carolyn says
Sorry, I don’t really use stevia and it depends very much on the brand. And this is a press in pie crust, it won’t work for lattice.
Tammy says
How much is the sugar for crust? Thank you
Carolyn says
If you are asking how much sugar to use in place of the sweetener, you can use exactly the same amount.
Ferina Casado says
I was curious if you have used monk fruit for this recipe or had any suggestions about the best way to measure (balance) out monk fruit for your recipes
Carolyn says
Are you talking about the concentrated monk fruit extract or the kind that’s combined with erythritol?
Ferina S. Mohammed says
I have on hand the monk fruit in the raw which is mixed with maltodextrin.
Carolyn says
You can probably use that but I haven’t tried it myself.
Larry says
Can this be made nut free because of nut allergies
Carolyn says
You can try sunflower seed flour but it won’t be very pretty and will have a greyish crust.
SP says
I cannot use artificial sweeteners of any kind. Can I leave it out of the press-in pie crust recipe?
Carolyn says
I don’t use any artificial sweeteners. However, if you read the recipe you will also see I list instructions for a savory version.
Lisa Goossen says
On your pecan pie recipe, someone mentioned a rolled out pie crust, rather than a pressed in crust, but your link on the pecan pie recipe brought me here.. Do you have a recipe for the rolled out crust? I’ve looked and can’t find it.
Thanks!
Carolyn says
To be honest, I changed it because it was more carby and way more work.
Mike says
Just wanted to thank you for this amazing recipe!!
Made it Friday night and just absolutely love it. Hands down my favorite pie crust of all time, low carb or otherwise. Looking forward to trying the savory version in the future as well!
And I love how simple it is to make. Even easier than the cookie/crumb crusts I use to make! This will be my go to pie crust from now on!
Thanks again and take care.
Carolyn says
So delighted to hear it!
Mike says
I used this recipe again, this time for my pumpkin pie. I usually use the Alton Brown/Good Eats recipe with the gingersnap cookie crust and replace all the sugars with stevia.
This time I made your pie crust recipe, and half of the old crust (3oz of cookies instead of 6oz) and used stevia and truvia brown sugar substitute to sweeten. Mixed them together and it turned out AMAZING!!
It was enough to make the pumpkin pie (deep 9″ pie plate) and have enough left to make two mini pies in ceramic ramekins.
It retained the flavor of the gingersnap crust at half the carbs and had a better texture as well. So stoked!
Thanks again so much for this recipe! Helping me cut even more sugar and carbs out of my diet while still eating the sweets I love!
Crista says
Hi thanks for the lovely recipe most probably I will be doing it either tomorrow or today! just one question though: im planning to do a spinach and tuna pie. if I need to do another crust on top of the pie to close it..do you have any idea how to calculate total amount please?
Thanks
Carolyn says
You can put all of the ingredients into an online calculator like My Fitness Pal. That should help you.
Catherine Windels says
I am looking forward to trying this recipe to use with my favorite quiches. Am I correct that the crust should be pre-baked, like the crust in your goat cheese, bacon and tomato tart recipe, which uses a different kind of crust? If so, how long should this crust be pre-baked?
Carolyn says
Yes, you want to pre-bake the crust for 10 to 15.
Emily says
Thank you for a super simple and tasty pie crust! I did end up adding a bit of buckwheat flour to get the consistency I wanted, but it was so easy to make and worked really well with a salted caramel chocolate meringue pie! Loved the texture; it held up well to slicing and didn’t crumble. No one could tell it was gluten-free- just delicious 🙂
Meghan Hock says
Absolutely love this recipe! Best recipe I have found—so easy and so versatile!!!!❤❤❤
Carolyn says
Thanks so much!
Michelle Davis says
Hello! I’m new to baking but I was wondering of this recipe would work as a top as well? I want to make a mixed berry pie. I’m also at a higher elevation so I was wondering how that would effect the temp/time in the oven?
Carolyn says
I don’t bake at elevation so I really can’t guide you there. As a top, that’s kind of tough since it’s not a roll out recipe.
Sarah Buzby says
I love this recipe with the lemon sour cream pie…it’s amazing. I forgot to prick the bottom of the crust, and it was a bit puffy…so I priced it and put it back n the oven…seems under-baked. Is not pricking the bottom an issue? It’s too late now, were gonna eat it, but just wondering…
Thanks
Carolyn says
Yes, it puffs up if you don’t prick it.
Derek says
This is my favorite low carb recipe website, so thanks so much for all the work you put into this!!
I made your key lime bars (adjusted for a pie version) last night, and it was amazing. I have 2 questions about the pie crust though.
1) It didn’t seem to be enough crust to fill up a 9″ pie pan all the way up the sides like in your video. It only goes up about 3/4 of the way. Do I need to get an 8″ pan? Do I need to up the recipe amounts a little more? Or do I need to make the crust much thinner?
2) The crust stuck to the glass pie pan. The video and recipe don’t mention anything about spraying the pan. Do I need to do that? Or is there a problem with my method or the pie pan?
Carolyn says
Hi Derek… sorry you had trouble with it. Do you have a deep dish pan? I have a normal one and a deep dish one, and for the deep dish, I can really only go up about 2/3 of the sides. But for regular ones, it should indeed be enough. Both of mine are 9 inch pans.
It shouldn’t stick to a glass pan at all but I suppose it can depend on the filling. Did you pre-bake it at all? I never grease my pan but sounds like you might need to.
Also… what brand of almond flour are you using?
Derek says
Thanks Carolyn! I’m using a standard 9 inch glass pan. As far as the brand name, it’s our local grocery chain’s brand of almond flour. I used to use Bob’s Red Mill, but they seem to have stopped carrying it once they started selling their own. I rewatched the video, and maybe I just didn’t put enough fork holes in the bottom? I did prebake for about 12 minutes before filling.
Carolyn says
Well, if your pan sticks, definitely be sure to grease next time.
Derek says
WILL DO! Thanks so much!
Christine says
I don’t ever eat the crust in pies. I don’t like it. Can I make this crustless? And should I spray pie dish first if I do?
Carolyn says
What pie are you trying to make crustless? You commented on the actual crust recipe so I don’t know which one you are referring to.
Tom Tenney says
Hi Carolyn,
Going to make the Lemon Sour Cream pie tonight. My only question is there a go to sweet and savory crust as I have seen many slightly different recipes you have used. Why would you use the non-pressin crust for pies such as lemon meringue pie.
We own and love all now 5 of your cookbooks. Is there a butter tart update or is it good from 6 years ago, before I make it for my Canuck wife of 31 years here in Seattle.
Carolyn says
Only because I developed this crust later than others. It’s my go-to crust for everything now.