Adventures in Gluten Free Cooking: Pizza

The other day I was sick on the couch and just meandering my way around Pinterest, when I happened to type "Gluten Free" into the search bar. And boy am I glad that I did! One of the pictures that popped up was of a scrumptious looking slice of GF pizza. Since Daniel and I are always searching for the next best GF pizza crust recipe, I clicked on the link and discovered this super cute blog! Emily Rose has tons of great GF recipes and even better pictures to go with them! I decided to try the pizza recipe first...

The Best Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

DRY Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups brown rice flour*
1 1/3 cups tapioca flour/starch
2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoon (1 packet) gelatin
4 tablespoon dry milk powder
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt

WET Ingredients:
1 cup water
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
3 tablespoon olive oil**

* I only had white rice flour on hand. 

**We got this fancy Garlic Olive Oil from the Elmhurst Olive Oil Company that I used 

to add some more flavor to the crust.

For making the whole pizza (not just the crust) you will also need pizza sauce, cheese, and any additional toppings you enjoy - today I used green peppers and onions.

Start by mixing all DRY ingredients together in one bowl and wet ingredients in another bowl (I just used my Kitchen Aid mixer bowl.) While mixing, incorporate the dry ingredients in with the wet. Once you have added all the dry ingredients, mix dough for 3 min on high.

If you have worked with gluten free pizza dough, you know it is VERY STICKY! The first time I attempted GF pizza dough, I ended up getting so frustrated that I threw it out and we just had salad for dinner! Here are some tips I have found work well for me. Parchment paper and plastic wrap will be your best friends when pressing out GF dough of any kind. I used the parchment paper for approximate pan size and the plastic wrap dusted with tapioca starch. 

Spoon dough onto the plastic wrap.

Cover with another piece of plastic wrap and use your hands, rolling pin, or whatever you would like to flatten the dough as thin or thick as you like it. (Emily Rose used an AMAZING pastry roller from Pampered Chef - I think I will be ordering one the next time I am invited to a PC party!) 

My hubby likes thicker crust. This recipe could make 2 thin crust pizzas, or 1 thicker crust pizza. 

 As you smooth the dough, periodically lift the plastic wrap to make sure it is not getting too sticky. Once the dough is the thickness and size you want, remove the plastic wrap, and place parchment paper & pizza dough on to cooking pan or pizza stone. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 min, remove from oven, flip and bake for another 10 min.

While the crust is baking, prepare toppings and sauce. I like to pre-cook the veggies for the pizza. Every once and a while I make a big batch of pizza sauce and freeze it...but that is for another post :) 

After the dough is cooked for a total of 20 min (10 min on each side) remove from oven and add sauce and toppings. 

Bake for another 8 - 12 min until cheese is melted all the way and edges of the crust are brown.

Cut and enjoy!

What is your favorite pizza topping?