GF Huckleberry pocket pies

We were getting together with some friends on Saturday for dinner at our place and wanted to do something really special for dessert. I knew I wanted to do something pie-ish and was thinking maybe a tart when hubby remembered we have some dough presses we'd picked up at Ross a while back (they are similar to these) and I said that was it. We also decided to forgo the usual canned pie filling and I hauled out some huckleberries a friend gave us and started them to thaw.

In the meantime I dug out my gluten free cook book I have been putting together and decided to try a recipe from Bob's Red Mill:

Gluten Free Pastry Crust for Double Crust Pie
contributed by Carol Fenster, Ph.D.


This crust works best with fillings that don’t have to bake for a very long time such as stone fruits––cherries, peaches, or apricots. The fruit should be thoroughly drained before using. The dough should be made in a food processor for even distribution of liquids.


Ingredients:


Dry Ingredients


1 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
3/4 cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 cup Sweet White Rice Flour
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp. Guar Gum


Liquid Ingredients:


1/2 cup Shortening
2 Tbsp. Butter or Margarine
1/4 cup Milk
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice


Pie Filling:


2-16 oz. cans Tart Red Cherries
2 Tbsp. Cherry Juice
2/3 cup Sugar
1 Tbsp. Quick-cooking Tapioca
1 tsp. Almond Extract


Directions:
1. Prepare cherry pie filling. Combine 2 cans (16 oz. each) drained tart red cherries, 2 Tbsp. of the cherry juice, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp. quick-cooking tapioca, and 1 tsp. almond extract in bowl. Let stand while rolling pie crust.


2. Place dry ingredients, shortening, and butter in food processor. Mix well. Add milk and lemon juice and blend until dough forms small clumps or a large ball. Remove dough from food processor and shape with hands into a ball.


3. Flatten dough to circular disk, wrap tightly, and chill 30 minutes so liquids are well distributed throughout dough.


4. Massage dough between hands until warm and pliable, making crust easier to handle. Roll half of dough to 10-inch circle between two pieces of heavy-duty plastic wrap dusted with rice flour. (Keep remaining half wrapped tightly to avoid drying out.) Use damp paper towel on countertop to anchor plastic. Be sure to move rolling pin from center of dough to outer edge, moving around the circle in clockwise fashion to assure uniform thickness.


5. Remove top plastic wrap and invert crust, centering it over pie plate. Remove remaining plastic wrap and press into place. If dough is hard to handle, press entire bottom crust in place with your fingers.


6. Fill with cherry filling. Or, use your favorite fruit filling for a 9-inch pie, but limit the amount of extra juice to two tablespoons.


7. Roll remaining dough to 10-inch circle between floured plastic wrap. Invert and center on filled crust. Don’t remove top plastic wrap until dough is centered. Shape decorative ridge around rim of pie plate. Prick crust several times with fork to allow steam to escape. Freeze 15 minutes. If desired, brush with milk or beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Place on nonstick baking sheet.


8. Bake pie in preheated 375º oven for 15 minutes on lower oven rack to brown bottom crust. Move to next higher oven rack and bake another 25-35 minutes––or until crust is nicely browned. Cover loosely with foil if edges brown too much. Cool thoroughly on wire rack before cutting to allow juices to thicken.


Makes one 9-inch pie crust (12 slices).


NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Servings Size: 1 slice
Calories 270, Calories from Fat 100, Total Fat 10g, Saturated Fat 3.5g, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 80mg, Total Carbohydrate 42g, Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 19g and Protein 2g.

So for my pocket pies I made the crust. I did eliminate the guar gum as I didn't have any on hand and it pretty much does the same thing as the xanthum gum and I simply doubled the amount of xanthum gum.

While the dough was resting in the fridge I took the huckleberries and drained them (and after being in the freezer they were very juicy). I put the liquid into a small sauce pan and turned the heat up to medium high to reduce the liquid. I added a little bit of Splenda to offset the tartness a bit. You can use sugar if you like. I didn't want the huckleberries to be too sweet or too tart. When the liquids had reduced to a thick syrup I added a little bit of corn starch to thicken it a bit further and then added the drained berries.

While the berries cooled I took the dough out of the fridge and sprinkled some rice flour on my big cutting board and rolled out the dough after dividing it into two balls. When it was thin enough I used the 2nd largest dough press to cut out the rounds (the presses I have are set up to do that) and when all the rounds were cut, started assembling pies.

Each round went into the press, filled with a couple tablespoons of huckleberries and then I moistened the edges and folded (I love those presses). Onto a greased cookie sheet and gave them all an egg wash and sprinkled a bit of sugar on top.

Into the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Out of the oven and onto a wire rack to cool.

They were the prefect ending for a wonderful dinner with good friends.