Are you looking for scrumptious gluten free pizza crust?
Yes, we know. It is nearly impossible to find.
Occasionally we venture to local pizzerias for a GF pizza, but most GF crusts are nothing more than cracker-like ‘topping transporters’. When desperate, a ‘topping transporter’ can do the trick to satisfy one’s taste for a pizza pie…but don’t you want more?
Recently, I bit the bullet and ordered pricey Cup4cup gluten free pizza mix from Williams Sonoma…and low and behold…it makes a pretty darn good thin crust pizza
The mix makes two 12 in crusts and contains dry ingredients with a yeast packet. We only wanted to use half the mix since we don’t eat pizza often. What would we do with a single mix?
1 – Use the whole mix and refrigerate one half the dough or
2 – Measure the ingredients and use only half or
3 – Bake both crusts and freeze one.
We didn’t want to eat pizza again within 3-4 days and freezing seemed risky. It was easy to measure the dry ingredients and a bit tricky halving the yeast…but definitely do–able. We used half the warm water then mixed up one egg. I confess, we didn’t use half an egg!
If you have more than two people this halving ritual shouldn’t be an issue. You will need two pizzas!
The dough was simple. Just add warm water and egg to the dry ingredients and knead. The instructions specifically say not to add additional flour when forming the crust. When our dough got sticky, a tiny bit of olive oil on the fingers did the trick. Once the dough is together, simply pat it into a 12 inch round and put it on an olive oiled pan. Add olive on top of the crust and par-bake it in a 500 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
Once your crust is par-baked, add your favorite toppings. We used Muir Glen organic pizza sauce, mozarella and parmesan cheese, roma tomatoes and crumbled Aidell’s GF organic meatballs.
For visual instructions and videos see Williams Sonoma’s website.
Here are some quick highlights:
Pros:
– High quality
– Easy to make
– Great flavor and taste
– Great texture as a thin crust. Nice and crunchy, stays together well.
– Helpful Instructions and videos
– Makes better leftovers than any gluten filled crust I ever had.
Cons:
– Price 14.95 for two 12 inch pizzas
– Texture is not as chewy as gluten crust
– Can’t easily halve the mix to make one crust
Tips:
– Let the egg come to room temperature before adding to mix if possible.
– Rub a little oil on your fingers if the dough gets too sticky to handle.
– Make the crust thin. Don’t try to make a thick crust – you’ll notice the lack of gluten’s chewiness more as the crust gets thicker.
– Use toppings at room temperature or warm them before you top the pizza. This will make the pizza cook more quickly and keep the crust from over baking or burning.
Be prepared for your next pizza craving and keep Cup4cup GF Pizza Crust mix on hand!