Classic Herb-Crust Pizza
Keep this recipe handy as you will use it time and time again The key to a crispier crust is to pre-bake it before adding the toppings.
Classic Herb Pizza Crust
Keep this recipe handy as you will use it time and time again -so flavourful!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 1/2 tsp sugar honey or agave syrup
- 1 Tbsp dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp powdered milk or a powdered milk substitute
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp unflavored gelatin
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp cider vinegar
- 2/3 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
Instructions
- Using a mixer, put the first three ingredients in bowl and let sit for 10 minutes so yeast is activated.
- Then add in remaining ingredients and mix at low speed until incorporated. Then mix on high for 2 minutes (if the dough is too stiff, add some water - only one tablespoon at a time, until dough does not resist beaters). The dough will resemble soft bread dough.
- Place mixture on floured surface and spread out to desired thickness, raising edges just a bit. Place on a greased baking pan with some (gluten free) cornmeal sprinkled on it. This will help it from sticking as well as give it a crunchier crust. Brush with olive oil*, then bake at 425°F for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven, then spread on your sauce and add toppings. Then reduce oven temperature to 400°F, and continue baking for another 15-25 minutes (depending on thickness) or until top is nicely browned.
Notes
*If you want a thicker crust - lightly drape a piece of greased plastic wrap over the dough and allow to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place before baking.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
i love this one. thanks so much
You’re welcome!
I’m new to the gluten free cooking world, so I don’t have any xanthan gum in my pantry yet.
I have the other ingredients, but don’t want to waste them trying the recipe without the xanthan gum, in case it’s crucial to the finished product’s palatability 🙂
Can this dough be made without it?
What purpose does it serve in the recipe?
Is there something that can be used as a successful substitute?
Gluten allows cakes to be firm, yet springy, and dough’s to be stretchy and rise really well. So when you take out the gluten, by using gluten-free flours, you need to replace it with something else that will create those same properties – or else you would end up with cakes that crumble apart, and bread loaves that look like pancakes. Xanthan Gum and Guar Gum are two ingredients that can create ‘gluten-like’ results. Check out this article for more information: What’s The Difference Between Xanthan Gum & Guar Gum?
What if I don’t have a blender for flour recipes? How much kneading is necessary?
You can mix this dough by hand using a wooden spoon, just takes a bit more elbow grease 🙂 Once you place the dough onto a floured surface, you only need to knead in more flour if the dough is too sticky to handle. You would just work in enough flour so you can easily stretch and shape the dough into a circle.
Can you make this dough ahead and freeze it? Thank you for this recipe.
Yes you can. Yeast dies off at higher temperatures, but is unaffected if frozen. You can either divide it into balls, or shape it into a pizza crust first.
Does anyone have a GOOD bun recipe?
Give this one for Slider Buns a try, it’s one of my favorites!
I attended a Gluten Free Expo in Salt Lake City this past year (2013) and was lucky enough to have the most incredible pizza crust that was light and if I hadn’t been told it was GF would have bet my paycheck it was “standard”.
The folks in the booth told me the trick they used to make it so light and not so heavy and bogged down was mixing Club Soda in with part of if not most of the water.
Are you aware of a standard mixture or ratio of water:Club Soda or substitution that is being used in order to allow for the insanely great pizza crusts I was tasting at the Expo? Thanks in advance for any insight you may have! Regards!
I have used club soda to make great batter for deep frying fish/onion rings, and it works awesome. So it would stand to figure that it can be used in other places as well. I will definitely try this and share my results, thanks for the tip!!
great ideas!
I was at a friends house and she just bought a Gluten free cookbook. All of the recipes do not call for xanthium gum or guar gum. I have not tried any yet, but she made brownies that were wonderful.
She used 2 eggs with this recipe. Is that the magic ingredient?
I got a recipe for bread that I plan on trying. It also calls for 2 eggs and no guar gum.
Any response to this would be greatly appreciated.
I am also a newbie in the gluten free cooking due to my husbands health problems so am constantly trying new things.
You don’t have to use any gums in your baking, although it does produce a baked good that is more similar to that if regular flour is used (in my opinion). The gums replace the gluten – which has stretchy properties that allows air pockets to form, causing good rising, etc. You can read more info in this article on xanthan: What’s The Difference Between Xanthan Gum & Guar Gum?
Eggs definitely help baked goods rise as well as provide texture and structure, so if you can tolerate them they are great to use in bread recipes. For more info on baking breads check out this article: The Secret to Baking Gluten Free Bread.
Brownies don’t rise much at all, so using gums are optional (like in our Frosted Chocolate Brownies).
Good luck on the gluten free transition!
I am not a fan of powdered milk can I use milk instead or does it have to be powdered? I am not lactose intolerant
Just omit it completely then. Do not add milk in its place, otherwise the ratios will be affected making the batter too loose. Milk powder is a great additive to gluten free flour blends since it helps to add tenderness, richness, and contributes to the browning effect (due it its high concentration of proteins and sugars).
Will soy milk powder or a nut milk powder do?
I LOVE Mexican & Chinese food but can’t tolerate gluten, corn, soy, wheat or GMO’s. I have been looking for Mexican recipes that don’t include these and Chinese recipes that don’t have Soy in the stir-fry sauces. Would love to see some of those here if anyone has any tried and true ones!
Yes!
no