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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Fool Proof Pizza Dough


I have made pizza every Thursday night for at least 5 years. When we transitioned to gluten free as a family 4 years ago, pizza was number one on my list of recipes to master. After a lot of trial and error, I have been successfully making fool-proof pizzas for a couple of years now. And I use the same recipe for sandwich bread. Here's my secret:

Pizza Dough
1C brown rice flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1C sorghum flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1C tapioca flour (Bob's Red Mill)
2Tbl flax meal
3tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2tsp salt
1 1/2C warm water
2Tbl sugar
2Tbl active dry yeast
3 egg whites
1tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Add first 6 dry ingredients (though salt) to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to to incorporate.

In a large glass measuring cup, mix 2Tbl of sugar with 1 1/2C of  warm water. Add 2Tbl of yeast and wait 2-5 minutes for yeast to proof. It should have a good foamy head before you add it to the dry ingredients.

While the yeast is proofing, separate 3 egg whites into a small bowl. Add 1tsp of apple cider vinegar and whisk briskly with a fork for about 30 seconds.

Add the proofed yeast and whisked egg white and vinegar mixture to dry ingredients.

Using the paddle attachment, mix on low for about 15-20 seconds to avoid being covered in flour and then mix on high for 3 minutes.

While the dough is mixing, liberally spray two pizza or baking sheets with cooking spray. I don't know how this would work on pizza stones or fancy baking sheets, but if you experiment, let me know in the comments!

Turn the oven off.

When the dough is done mixing, scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Dough will be very sticky.

Divide dough evenly onto two sheets. Wet hands with cold water. Gently press dough into desired thickness and shape. If the dough starts sticking to your hands, clean them and then wet again with cold water to continue. When dough is pressed out, cover each with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Making sure your oven is off, place both baking sheets in pre warmed oven for 25 minutes.

Once the dough has risen (after about 25 minutes) remove from oven and set oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven has reached 400 degrees, remove plastic and place baking sheets in oven for 15-17 minutes. I do mine one at a time because it gets a little steamy in there, but my oven is forty years old. You do what works for you.

Once the crust is baked you can top it as desired and bake another 7-10 minutes or until your cheese or whatever is just the way you like it.

These freeze and refrigerate well so you can make them ahead or make personal sized crusts just for you and have them ready to go any time!