Easy Gluten Free Pizza

One food that is constantly missed and pouted over when going gluten free is the loss of pizza. Specifically, that breaded crunch that holds up to having a dozen different toppings on it. As the kid of two Chicagoans, pizza wasn’t just a food it was tradition.

My love for pizza made it where it was the last gluten item I gave up. It was the one food item I’d cheat on and suffer doctor’s scolds (and celiac reactions) later. Why? In summary, ready made gluten-free pizza tasted bad to me. Not only that but it couldn’t hold up to having the traditional toppings my family would put on a pizza. So on top of being tasteless (relying on sauces and added spices for flavor) it’d fall apart to the point where you needed a fork to eat it. That was not pizza. That was a cooking failure.

Once upon a time my dad told me to treat the kitchen the same way I did a laboratory. Never before during my adult life was I glad to have that advice. During experimentation I found several things:

Most GF pizza crust recipes are not realistically written. You follow to the step to the letter and yet you end up with an epic failure that is half cooked with the toppings five minutes away from burning. Sure, every oven cooks things differently but GF ingredients can be pricy and you’re only going to give the dog so much of the failed cooking experiment.

GF pizza crust recipes online and in cookbooks seem to think that a rice flavored pizza is okay. Having a local pizza place that would basically roll the dough in spices before making the shape, that outcome was unsuccessful.

Also, where is the crunch?

These three things were what I was aiming to address when coming up with my own recipe. As the cover image shows, after four years of attempts I succeeded. This is the super yummy and healthy pizza crust.

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Gluten Free Pizza

Makes 2 pizzas

Specific serving size varies. One rectangular pizza makes six fair sized slices or eight small slices.

1 C golden flax meal (I use Bob’s Red Mill brand)

2 C Namaste GF flour or other GF flour

6 tsp Italian seasoning

5 tsp garlic powder (optional or replace with a different spice)

5 tsp nutritional yeast

4 tsp Gluten-free active dry yeast (I used Bob’s Red Mill brand. Note: This is an ingredient that is kept refrigerated so getting it through a market is highly suggested during hot months.)

1 ½ C warm water

2 tsp Sucanat or sugar

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 eggs or vegan alternative

4 tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp salt

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1. In a large bowl combined all dry ingredients and set aside.
2. In another bowl (medium size is best), combined yeast, sucanat, and warm water. I warmed the water in the microwave for a few seconds before adding it to the bowl but straight from the sink works too. Let the mixture sit for five minutes before adding the eggs and olive oil.
3. Combined wet and dry ingredients, stir well. My advice is to use the old fashion spoon to stir instead of using a mixer. Less hassle and less dough going down the drain when you clean up.
4. Put parchment paper on two cookie sheets of your choice and divide the dough. This dough is very sticky so I’ve used plastic wrap to help me spread it to the size I want. This way there’s less dough on fingers and more dough on the pizza.
5. Bake at 425 for 15 to 18 minutes. Depends on preference, these numbers are to give a nice golden/golden brown color to the crust.
6. Remove, add sauce (or tomato paste) and you choice of toppings, bake for another 10 to 15 minutes and you’re done. I suggest checking the pizza at 10 minutes to see how much more time to put.

Now I tried to get nutritional value on this and while I am sure the site I used messed up the calorie count, here is what the verdict was.

According to Caloriecount.com this recipe’s good points is that it is low in sugar, high in dietary fiber, iron, magnesium, phosphorus (something that according to MedlinePlus says is essential for bone and teeth formation, and plays a role in how our bodies use carbs and fats), thiamin (vitamin B1), and is very high in vitamin B12.

Sounds like a good deal huh?

So, if you make this pizza I’d love to see and hear what you find makes the perfect pizza topping. So shoot me a tweet on Twitter (@whiteXblackrose).