Healthy Pastry (gluten free, dairy free)

This healthy pastry recipe is so easy to make, and uses just 2 everyday ingredients (plus salt and water!). It's gluten free, vegan, and much healthier than traditional shortcrust pastry. It's an ideal healthy pastry case for both sweet and savoury treats.

If you're trying to eat healthily, you probably often skip pastry, as it's known to be high in saturated fat and high in empty calories. After all, a lot of recipes can be made without pastry, including this delicious crustless quiche. But sometimes, it's good to have a pie crust. It makes dishes such as these mini cheese and onion quiches much more portable. And the slightly crisp and crumbly texture adds a nice contrast to a lot of recipes. So I was determined to find a way of making healthy pastry.

Why is this recipe healthy?

1. High in fibre. This healthy pastry recipe is made with wholegrain oats rather than wheatflour. Oats are a good source of fibre, including a particular type of heart healthy soluble fibre called beta glucans
2. Gluten free. Provided you buy certified gluten free oats, you'll have gluten free pastry
3. Healthy fats. This pastry is made with olive oil rather than butter, so it's much lower in saturated fat. Olive oil has proven health benefits, and of course it also means that you'll have dairy free pastry which is vegan friendly

Why is it easy?

This olive oil pastry recipe is much easier to make than a conventional shortcrust:

1. As you're using a liquid fat, it's very easy to mix the olive oil into the oats. You can skip the traditional process of cutting in butter, and rubbing it in so all the flour is evenly coated
2. There's no need to rest the pastry as there's no gluten to relax
3. You don't need to worry about overworking the pastry (as there's no gluten to toughen up!)
4. Oat pastry won't rise, so you don't need to use baking beans if you want to bake your healthy pastry case unfilled. It will stay put, and it won't shrink

Ingredients

Oats

You'll need porridge or whole oats for this recipe. If you prefer, you could also use ready ground oat flour. If you do use oat flour, it will absorb the water slightly differently, so add a little water at a time until the pastry holds together.

Olive oil

I prefer to use extra virgin olive oil as it retains more of the health benefits. However, you could use a different oil if you prefer. If you choose extra virgin coconut oil, you may end up with a slight coconut flavour, so it's better for sweet recipes.

Recipe tips

1. Blend the oats in a food processor until finely ground. They won't be as smooth as flour, but this adds a nice rustic texture to the finished pastry.

2. Add the salt and olive oil, and blitz until well mixed.

3. Add the water, a little at a time, until the pastry starts to come together. Depending on your oats, you might need slightly more or less water. Use your hands to gather the pastry into a ball.

4. You can either roll out the finished pastry, or use it as a no-roll pastry which you press with your fingers into a pie dish. Either will work, and this olive oil pastry is quite forgiving and sticks back together very easily if it does break. If you chose to use a rolling pin, it's best to roll the pastry between greaseproof/waxed paper or a silicone sheet to stop it sticking. This will also make it easier to transfer to your tart tin.

Frequently asked questions

You can also make olive oil pastry with wheat flour if you prefer. It's really easy to make in a few minutes with just a mixing bowl and a fork.

Other recipes you might enjoy

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Healthy pastry

Wendy

This healthy pastry recipe is so easy to make, and uses just 2 everyday ingredients (plus salt and water!). It's gluten free, vegan, and much healthier than traditional shortcrust pastry. It's an ideal healthy pastry case for both sweet and savoury treats.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Course Healthy treat

Cuisine Healthy

Servings 4

Calories 186 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 100 g porridge oats
• 3 tablespoon olive oil ideally extra virgin
• 2-3 tablespoon cold water
• Pinch salt

Instructions

 

• Place the oats in a food processor and blitz until finely ground. Add the olive oil and salt and blitz again until well mixed.
• Add the water a little at a time, pulsing between each addition. The mixture will start to clump together.
• If you want to roll out the pastry, gather the mixture into a ball. Roll out between two sheets of waxed paper.
• Alternatively, tip the mixture into your tart tin and press it down evenly down with your fingers.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees. If you are using an uncooked filling, bake for 15-20 minutes. If you are using a cooked filling, bake the pie crust empty for 10 minutes, then add your filling and bake as per your recipe.

Notes

1. If you don't have a food processor or a blender, use oat flour rather than whole oats. Mix the flour, olive oil and salt together, then mix in the water a little at a time until the mixture starts to clump together. Gather into a ball with your hands, and use the pastry as per your recipe.
2. If you prefer, you can substitute olive oil for another type of oil. 
3. This quantity of pastry will line four 10 cm tins, or one 18 cm tin. For a 25 cm tin, use 150 g oats, 4.5 tablespoon of olive oil and 3-4 tablespoon water.

Keyword Easy, Olive oil

Please note nutritional information is for guidance only.