Gluten free pizza crust recipe

One of the most common questions I get is about finding a good gluten free pizza crust recipe.  For many years, the in-store and restaurant options for pizza lovers on a GFCF diet were limited-to-disappointing. That's changed in recent years. I see some GF frozen pizza options in my local supermarket's freezer section. I also see some gf options on the non-freezer shelves - pre-made, ready to make. And, there are gf pizza crust baking mixes on the market as well - and I'll always recommend Bob's Red Mill products simply due to reliability and availability. Bob's has a good mix that you can buy online. 

The other big factor for pizza recipes had been finding a good non-dairy cheese. Since Dayai came on the market, I've pretty much used that exclusively. I find it tastes OK and melts well in the oven. And, unless you're dealing with a tomato issue, there's plenty of store-bought and homemade sauce options (if tomato is an issue - try pierogi pizza or pizza without sauce).

Another issue worth mentioning here - and one reason I turned to a homemade gluten free pizza crust recipe - is the cost. I find the in-store options to be pretty expensive for what you get. Combined with the homemade version having a better taste (imho), I'd rather make it on my own.

I'll point out that there are affiliate links in this post, which means I may receive a small commission if you click a link and make a purchase. Please know that I only promote products specifically by name and link products that I've personally tried and endorse. I never promote any product that I personally would not feed to my family or endorse to friends. The compensation received is used to support the blog.

With this gluten free pizza crust recipe, I can make a simple, tasty crust that doesn't take very long. I'll admit, this has taken years of adapting, tweaking, changing, etc ... but, I like this version and want to share it here. It's also very adaptable to various allergies and sensitivities. For example, if you can't use brown rice flour, use sorghum flour. So, here it is:

Shell ingredients 

• 1/2 cup brown rice flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
• 2/3 cup chickpea flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
• 2 tsp xanthan gum (I order lowest cost item via Amazon)
• 1/4 tsp baking powder (buy in store or online via Amazon)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup oil
• 3/4 cup water 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder 
• 1 tsp oregano 
• 1/2 tbsp sugar (or any sweetener like agave or honey) 

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix dry ingredients. Note: as an alternative, if you prefer to not buy the flours and xantham gum individually, replace the flours and xantham gum with a cup of pre-made gluten free mix, which you can also order online. Still add the baking powder. If you buy the pre-made, you can use the yeast packet if you want, but it's not necessary for this recipe.
• Add wet ingredients and mix well.
• Grease baking sheet with shortening (we use Spectrum) or line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I mostly use the parchment rather than shortening).
• Plop dough onto middle of parchment lined sheet - might need a spatula to get it all out.
• I do this next part at the sink since you'll need wet hands - the dough is sticky. Turn the tap on and wet one hand. Use your hand to push down on the dough and smooth it out into a pizza shell shape (circle, square or rectangle). You'll have to repeatedly wet that hand to keep from sticking. I do this until it's about 1/4" thick. I pinch the edges like you would for a pie crust.
• Bake 12 minutes, then, use a spatula or other utensil to gently loosen the crust from the sheet and slide onto an oven rack.
• Bake for another 5 minutes without the sheet underneath.
• After five minutes, again use a spatula or utensil to gently slide the crust back onto the baking sheet. Remove from oven.
• This is where you'll add sauce, cheese and other toppings as desired. Generally, I add these and then bake for five more minutes to heat. Then eat!

Here's some of my topping ideas for this gluten free pizza crust recipe:

Sauce: I make my own and the recipe I follow is on this page. I typically make this while the crust is baking - doesn't take more than five minutes.

Cheese: I use one bag of Dayai cheddar. You can just sprinkle the cheese and I see that Dayai now sells "liquid cheese" in containers too. I prefer to mix this and make my own melty cheese. So, dump it into a small pot. Add a quarter(ish) cup of rice milk (or any other milk alternative). Heat on medium until the milk heats and cheese starts to melt. Stir continuously to keep it from sticking to the bottom. Add milk as needed to gain the right cheesy consistency that you want. I make mine until it's sorta like a cheese dip so that I can ladle it over top of the pizza. My kids call it a "cheese blanket."

Veggies: My kids like any mix of chopped onions (small pieces), thin green pepper strips and mushrooms. Of course, add whatever you like.

Meat: I've used pepperoni (our store has a gluten free pepperoni), and I've also used ground meat to make "cheeseburger pizza." You could use any meat.

So, typically, I'll spoon the sauce, ladle the cheese, sprinkle the veggies and add the meat - then bake five minutes. I'll let the pizza rest for five minutes after coming out of the oven before cutting.

One final note - I've made a larger rectangular gluten free pizza when my kids had friends over simply by doubling the recipe. Worked just fine.

An Encyclopedia of Dietary Interventions and GFCF Help

Finally, there is a book that covers the use of diet in treating our children with developmental disorders, such as PDD and ADHD, etc. It's called The Encyclopedia of Dietary Interventions.

This is the kind of book that should answer a lot of those questions about what foods contain gluten and what foods are beneficial, and why? It's especially useful for any parent with children on the Autism Spectrum and looking at the positive and negative impacts of certain foods - the dietary interventions. 

We went this route with our children years ago as we realized that dietary interventions produced positive results with our family. We wish there had been a resource like this available to help guide us. 

You can grab a Kindle version online for a reasonable price. And yes, that is an affiliate link, but as I repeatedly note on this blog, I'll only promote products that I've tried, used and personally endorse. This is a good book and worth reading - whether you buy it or not.

Happy 2009 to all my gfcf recipes friends!

I just wanted to take a minute and say how much I enjoyed sharing with all of you in 2008 and how great it was to meet -- electronically -- so many people. This blog started as a simple way to share recipes with people who most likely were in the same boat as us. As many of you know, I have two daughters diagnosed with PDD and we embraced a gluten and casein free diet to help. 

And, it has helped. This blog has grown tremendously -- way beyond what I ever imagined. It's not really a source of income for us. I've not made a dime from it yet. But, that never was the point. The point was to try and help, just as so many people have helped us. 

I'd like to share a few facts about how many people this blog has reached in 2008: 

• 13,682 visitors, or roughly 38 visitors every day. 
• Those visiting the blog live in 84 countries. The countries with the most visitors were 1) U.S., 2) Canada, 3) Australia, 4) Philippines and 5) the U.K. 
• Some other countries that might surprise you: Malaysia, Iceland, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Panama, Portugal, Brazil, Pakistan, Israel, Norway, Turkey, China, Qatar, Estonia, Venezuela, Bahamas, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Anguilla, Iraq, Kenya, Faroe Islands, Malta, Chile, Iran and Latvia. 
• The city with the most visits in 2008 was Burnsville, Minnesota. 
• This blog holds the top Google ranking under the "gfcf recipes" search and the fifth spot under the "gluten casein free recipes" search. 

So, thanks to all of you for making this such a wonderful experience. I hope you've taken something worthwhile from this site and I hope to meet more of you in 2009. 

jim

Gluten free "Rice Krispies" treats - Glennys product review

I came across this treat in the store the other day. It's expensive -- I think about $5 a box. But, it was a nice surprise for my kids and will be an every-so-often treat for them. I'm going to try and replicate this recipe. If I do, I'll post it here.

 

The treat -- a gluten free marshmallow treat similar to Rice Krispies Treats -- is made by "glenny's." And, it's gluten-free and casein-free. 

Note that the box says there's the possibility of trace amounts of tree nuts.

These are very good and really provide a nice option to give kids their own gluten free rice krispies treat. And, the kids love the colorful wrappers.

I've noted the Glenny's website is not very thorough or up to date and the Facebook page is dated as well.

Allergy book for kids

As if there aren't enough challenges finding and making foods for your children on a gluten-free, casein-free diet. Toss in a few added food allergies or intolerances and life can be difficult, at the least. And then, there's trying to explain to your child why he or she cannot eat the same foods that most of the other kids enjoy. Pizza. Ice cream. Grilled cheese. Oreos. Etc. I'm trying to explain this to my young daughters now. Through a friend, I've found a great book that helps young children understand and accept the food issues they face. It's called "One of the Gang" and it's authored by Gina Clowes. You can find this on Amazon by clicking here. If you're having difficulty explaining this to your kids or find they are having a difficult time accepting their issues, this book might help.

GFCF pumpernickel bread

For some reason, my kids don't like light-colored bread. They'll go for dark-colored breads every time. There's a GFCF bread on the market that's made from a red rice that they like, but it has yeast in it and my youngest can't tolerate yeast very well. So, I set out to make my own yeast-free GFCF pumpernickel bread. I did it. Here's the recipe. This makes two loaves. I froze one and I'm using the other. I'm gonna tinker with this recipe more, so I'll update the blog if I can improve it. Ingredients 2 flax eggs ( see my recipe) 1/4 cup canola oil 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup GF molasses 1.5 cups water 1 tbsp baking powder 1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice 2 cups corn starch 1/2 cup tapioca flour/starch 1/4 cup corn meal 1.5 cups sorghum flour 1/2 cup flax seed meal (ground flax) 1/4 cup cocoa or carob powder 4 tsp xanthan gum 1 tsp salt Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Get out two larger mixing bowls. Make the flax eggs in the microwave and let those sit for 5 mins. Meanwhile, in one bowl, add the water, oil, vinegar, molasses and juice. Stir. In another bowl, add all of the dry

ingredients. Mix well. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add the flax egg. Mix on a low speed until combined. Note -- this will be thicker than pancake or cake batter. If it really seems too dry, add a little water. I greased two bread pans with Spectrum organic shortening and I split the dough between them. I flattened the dough using a wet spatula. I baked in the oven for about 50 mins. After 45 mins, I checked every 5 mins. until a toothpick came out of the center clean. That's it. Let cool after baked, put on a rack to cool. I might tinker with the flour mixtures. Sorghum works well, but I'm sure you could use buckwheat flour, for example, or brown rice too. I might try brown rice mixed with sorghum next time. I might add some potato starch instead of all corn starch to moisten the bread. I'll let you know. Also, there's golden and dark flax. I just used ground golden flax because that's what I had in the house. The dark flax obviously would go better with the dark color of the bread. I grind it up in a coffee grinder. I use the carob powder because one of my girls cannot handle the cocoa. So, I hope you enjoy this bread. My youngest loves it with GF salami and mustard.

GFCF Rice Chex

So, hello everyone. I've been lax in posting for a while, but I'm still here. I realize I'm likely very behind on this one, but I didn't find out that General Mills made its Rice Chex cereal gluten-free. I popped in the supermarket today to check. They did. So, if your kids like cereal, this is a great option that you can grab in a bind. However, I noticed it's priced higher than the Health Valley Rice Crunch Ems I normally buy for my kids. So, which should I buy? With health value in mind, I'm sure the Health Valley is better, with no preservatives, etc. Pricewise, the Health Valley is less expensive and thru my food co-op, I can buy it in cases at a 20% discount. But, there's also some value in supporting a mainstream company -- General Mills -- that's willing to offer a gluten-free product on my supermarket shelf. Hmmm. Maybe, I'll buy one of each.