Gluten Free Pizza

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It has been over a year now since I consciously ate wheat or gluten.  Pizza crust made with such ingredients is just a fading memory.  But if I close my eyes and try real hard, I can reminisce about what good pizza tasted like.  Cracker type bottom crust, soft yet chewy middle, delicious toppings of my choice.  It can't be all cracker, nor can it be all chewy.  It must be both.

I waited a full six months before I even attempted to make pizza at all.  The first one I attempted was made from Pamela's Bread mix. I must admit, I found it odd that you had to pre-bake the gluten free crust.  But I followed those directions exactly as it instructed. My daughter and I were so happy and full of delight with the final result.  My "wheat eaters" (I have 3 of them) were not so happy. They said it was gross.  Even my BIGGEST FAN, my mother, said something just was not right.  If this is what Gluten Free pizza has to taste like, you can count me out.  LOL.  Understand that this is HUGE deal with my mom who bends over backwards, I think, to be super positive about everything I do.  My daughter and I thought they were just being overly critical.  However, since I will not be making a crust with wheat in MY kitchen, I had to continue on with my search.

I have been trying out various pizza crust recipes and variations of my own for quite some time now.  With egg, without egg, all nutrient dense flours, all starches...I never seemed to find just the right one.  They all were good in their own right, but just not what I was looking for.  Today is the golden day in history that I figure out how to make my own awesomely good Gluten Free Pizza Crust.  From this moment forward, THIS is the way I will be making my pizzas.

The tapioca in the flour blend plays a key role, I think, in adding that chewy bite.  Too much of it though will make it powdery so Que in the Brown Rice Flour to weigh it down a bit.  This pizza actually is good the next day too.  We added some extra cheese and put it back in the oven on that stone for 10 minutes.  Crust was still crisp at the bottom and chewy in the middle.

1/2 teaspoon Vinegar

2 Eggs

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3/4 cup Warm Water (110 to 115 degrees)

2 Tablespoons Oil

2 Tablespoons Sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons Yeast

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2 Cups Flour Blend *

2 Tablespoons Almond Meal

2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

1 teaspoon Salt

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Your favorite Spaghetti Sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven to 170 degrees and turn off.

Line Pizza Stone with Parchment Paper sprayed with oil.

• Add eggs and vinegar to your stand mixer with whip attached and beat eggs until light and foamy.
• Meanwhile add Warm Water, Oil, Sugar and Yeast and allow to sit and become fluffy.
• Add Flour, Almond Meal, Gum and Salt to mixer bowl.
• Next add the yeast/liquid mixtures.
• Allow to mix for a few minutes until the texture of the batter starts to look like whipped cream cheese.
• To shape the pizza, line a pizza pan with parchment and generously spray with oil. Spread dough out with your oiled hands.
• Place dough into warmed oven to rise for 30 minutes.
• Take dough out of oven, place baking stone inside oven and turn Oven on to 350 degrees.
• Once oven and stone are preheated, place Pizza crust with parchment inside oven directly on top of your stone. 
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• Using your peel, take your pizza crust out of the oven and add your sauce and cheese.
• Place pizza carefully back onto hot stone inside oven (you will want the dough/parchment to be directly on the stone).
• Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

I know this recipe is probably asking for items you may not have (stone, peel) but I find that the stone is absolutely necessary in making a gluten free crust.  The stone allows the bottom to crisp and brown while keeping the middle soft and chewy.  I purchased both of these items (stone, peel) at Target for $10.

Note: 

Not all Pepperoni is Gluten Free.  Please call if you are not sure.  Last pepperoni I fead my daughter caused her to develop blisters in her mouth and down her throat.  The label seemed safe, but it was not.

* My Preferred Gluten Free Flour Blend:

1 cup Tapioca Starch

3/4 cup Brown Rice Flour

1/4 cup Potato Starch

Make Ahead Note:
This Pizza crust can be made ahead and frozen.  After the first 15 minutes of baking, cool on a wire rack, wrap and freeze.  Allow pizza crust to thaw to room temperature and dress pizza and bake as instructed above.

To Use:
Preheat oven and stone to 350 degrees. Allow crust to thaw at room temperature and add your topping.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

I will be linking this recipe to Gluten Free Homemaker's Gluten Free Wednesdays.