Product Review: Pillsbury Gluten-Free Pie & Pastry Dough

Product: Pillsbury Gluten-Free Pie & Pastry Dough – $4.49+

I had heard stories about these.  Rumors.  Whispers in the dark.  Advertisements in my gluten-free magazines.  I knew they were out there…the problem was I couldn’t find them.  Anywhere.

What am I talking about?

Pillsbury’s new line of gluten-free refrigerated mixes.

For real!

Yes…Pillsbury.  As in the Doughboy.  Or…now…the Gluten-Free Doughboy.

I was strolling through my local grocery store over the weekend.  I was on a mission.  Bananas for Tuesday’s after-I-work-out breakfast banana split.  Honestly.  But first I had to check out the manager’s special area.  Usually Sunday is the day to do that.  But not this week.  But as I was striding past the refrigerator section holding the yogurts, the cheeses and the butters and margarine…I spotted these beautiful little containers that had that light violet color I saw in the ads.

“OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!”  And then I took off.  Which left my roommate watching me scurry over to the refrigerated space.  She followed and I started picking up the three different items that the store had in stock.  You see Pillsbury introduced three gluten-free doughs, pre-mixed and ready…very convenient.  Gluten-Free Cookie Dough, Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Dough, and Gluten-Free Pie & Pastry Dough.

I did this hillarious happy dance of joy, pumping my fists, doing a little jig and…turning to face my roomie and giving her the sad eyes that declare, “I really, really, really want these in my life!”  We had plenty in our fridge, so she said maybe next week.  I conceded, but my hand went back to the Pie & Pastry Dough.

“But…I can make the Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts…”

That was all I needed to say.  The Pillsbury Gluten-Free Pie & Pastry Dough made its way into my hands to be taken to the register…along with the bananas, which was our original reason for shopping that afternoon.  We paid, we went home, and this little tub of gluten-free joy went right into my refrigerator.  And on Tuesday (Moday is fun run night…so that’s an easy food day), after a rough circuit training…it was time to see how this dough would do with the Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart that I used to make using puff pastry…you know…before I knew I had to go gluten-free.

I knew that this dough wouldn’t puff up like a puff pastry, but I figured I could make it work.  I basically followed the recipe for the tarts as I used to make them, substituting the puff pastry portion with a serving of this Pie & Pastry Dough.  I scooped out a serving (56 grams) of dough and placed it on my lightly floured board.  I floured my rolling pin and rolled the dough out to a six-inch circle (roughly).  I repeated this with another serving, then plated them on the baking tray, gave a light sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, topped that with the onions I caramelized, a thick slice of tomato, a little salt, a little pepper, some goat cheese, fresh basil, and finally some shaved Parmesan.

While the container has this baking at at a much lower temperature, I went with what my recipe had for the original tart with puff pastry.  Into the oven at 425° F, I baked this for the 20-25 minutes, checking on it every now and again to make sure that it wasn’t burning.

I was shocked that this actually worked.  Honestly.  But the tart came out beautifully.  Sure, it didn’t puff up like it used to, but it didn’t need to.  I served each of us one of the tarts and we settled in for dinner.  My roommate dug right in, commenting on how she loved how the dough didn’t get soggy and how that it was still golden and flaky.  I took that as a win as I took my fork and sliced into mine.

She was right.  This was the ultimate dough for the crust of my Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart.  The dough itself baked into a perfectly golden crust, not turning soggy in the middle where the toppings were all stacked onto it.  In fact, I was so pleased with the way this turned out.  It had this beautiful crisp outside and this flaky texture.  It was one of the most amazing things I managed to make with a gluten-free dough.  I was in love with every bite.  Every.  Single.  Bite.

For real!

Needless to say…Pillsbury impressed me.  Honestly.  Pillsbury won me over with this dough.  And I’ve only used it for one thing.  I might have to try to make a calzone with it next.  Hmmm…that might be an idea for Sunday…

So, let’s talk ingredients and nutritional information.  The not-so-fun part of this blog.  But…it is important, because I value everything I put into this body.  So, while it’s not always pretty, I like to be aware of what I am consuming.

The Pillsbury Gluten-Free Pie & Pastry Dough is made from soybean oil, water, cornstarch, modified potato starch (BOO!), hydrogenated soybean oil (BOO!), rice flour, whole sorghum flour, fructose, sugar, salt, xanthan gum, guar gum, citric acid, and some preservatives.  So…yeah…clean eating it is not.  But I made a deal to do at least 70%/30%…so I was going to allow this to fall into my 30%.

Nutritionally speaking, a serving (56 grams) will bake you up a crispy golden serving of 250 calories and 17 grams of fat.  So…yeah…it’s not a light dough by any means…but at least it tastes good.  All things in moderation, my friends.  That being said, the Pillsbury Gluten-Free Pie & Pastry Dough is cholesterol-free and has 340 mg sodium.  This has 3 grams of sugar and less than 1 gram each of protein and fiber.

That being said…using it as the base for my Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart worked out wonderfully.  I just want to make that again and again and again.  And I can, because I still have over half the dough in the container in my refrigerator.  Squeak of gluten-free doughy glee!  Honestly…the dough was perfect.  I was afraid that it would just be mushy and unimpressive, but this was one of the most beautifully baked crusts I witnessed.  Especially in the gluten-free crust world.  I am so happy with Pillsbury right now…I could…just hug that little Doughboy.

Gluten-free…anything…that might need a flaky, golden crust…just got a whole lot easier.  And yes…it’s true…

Nothing says lovin’ like somethin’ gluten-free from the oven.

Pillsbury…I think I love you.