I have been pretty happy with my gluten free grilled pizza as a decent substitute for the lack of gluten, until now. This latest masterpiece (yes, I’ll toot my own horn here), is amazing! It has an artisan bread texture and creates the traditional cracks on the bottom of the crust, just like New York-style pizza. Grilling or using a pizza stone (if not both) is ideal for creating a gluten-like texture, which gives off a gluten-like flavor. I have been waiting to have a light bulb moment, and I finally did.
I know some people who have celiac disease that cannot eat oats. I can eat them. To me, oat flour makes the best yeast-based recipes as well as others. However, I like to think of everyone, and don’t use it too often. However, nowadays, so many celiacs cannot withstand too much rice flour either as it is very binding. That’s not good for your digestive tract either. So, at least for my personal pleasure, I thought I would give oat flour a try in a pizza crust recipe; and I am so pleased with the results!
If you are oat intolerant, use sorghum flour instead and add a bit more fat (butter or shortening).
If you’re not up to making pizza, and you have a pizza stone, you have to try this as a flat bread recipe. You’ll be oohing and awing forever.
Note: This recipe is from my upcoming cookbook, Carla’s Best 125 Gluten-Free Recipes.
UPDATE Nov. 8, 2016: I’ve learned a couple of things when remaking this gluten free New York-Style Pizza. I made two 10-inch pizzas from this dough (10-inch pizza’s turn out thicker than two 12-inch). I basted one with the eggwash on the raw dough (salami & pesto). On the Hawaiian pizza, I basted it with egg wash after it was parbaked for 5 minutes. Then I placed the Hawaiian under the broiler (don’t do that, unless you like dry french bread style crust, which will soften up the next day when you microwave leftovers). Meanwhile, what I learned was that if you baste the raw dough with the eggwash, it makes the edges not only softer but much more flavorful. It’s so good that my husband enjoyed my pesto pizza much better than his Hawaiian that he’s loved for decades.And he’s a gluten-eater!
Watch the video here to see the texture of the crust.
A New York style gluten-free pizza crust much like the best gluten free artisan bread you've ever had!
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup white rice flour
- 3/4 cup certified gluten-free oat flour (or sorghum flour + 1 additional Tablespoon butter)
- 3/4 cup potato starch (or more cornstarch)
- 3/4 cup cornstarch (or tapioca flour)
- 1-1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
- 2 Tablespoons agave syrup (or honey)
- 1 cup warmed milk of choice, or as needed, heated to 110 - 115°F
- 1/4 cup melted and cooled unsalted butter*
- 2 large eggs**, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon melted butter, cooled
- 1/2 teaspoon water
- Gluten-free cornmeal, for dusting
- Oil, for basting
Instructions:
- In a large bowl, whisk together rice flour, oat flour, potato starch, cornstarch, xanthan gum, and salt; set aside.
- Add yeast and agave syrup to warm milk and stir. Set aside for at least 5 minutes, or until foamy on top.
- Add 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 eggs, yeast mixture, and vinegar to the bowl of your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-low speed just long enough to combine.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until all of the dry ingredients become moist. Increase the speed to high and beat for 4 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a moistened tea/dish towel and allow to rise in a warm/80°F environment for about 50 minutes or until the dough becomes cracked on top.
- While the dough is rising, in a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the egg wash (egg yolk, melted butter, and water); set aside.
- Thirty minutes into the rise cycle, preheat the oven to 500°F with a pizza stone*** on the bottom shelf.
- Divide the dough in half and sprinkle two 12 x 12-inch sheets of aluminum foil with cornmeal (parchment paper may be flammable at this temperature). Sprinkle dough with rice flour, as needed to prevent sticking, and pat out between 10 and 12-inch circles (depending upon how thick you like you crust).
- Baste the entire inside of the dough with oil and the edges with egg wash.
- Using a pizza spatula/peel**** or the back of a baking sheet, transfer the dough, along with the foil, to the preheated stone. Bake for 5 minutes on the bottom shelf.
- If you prefer very tender vegetables as a topping, sauté them in some oil; set them aside.
- Remove the crust from the oven and top with your desired sauce and toppings. Half of any cheese should be added on top of the sauce and the other half should go on top of other toppings.
- Return the pizza to the oven, directly on the pizza stone, without foil. Bake for an additional 5 - 6 minutes or until edges are light brown and the bottom of the crust is slightly crispy, if desired.
- Add the sauce, half any cheese, toppings, the other half of any cheese; bake immediately as directed above for at least 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
- Using either method, remove the pizza from the oven. Allow to cool 4 minutes before slicing and serving. To freeze cooked pizza, slice and place on a parchment-lined or baking mat-lined baking sheet and freeze solid. Once frozen, store in resealable freezer bags. To reheat, bring to room temperature and bake at 350°F until heated through. If consuming within three days, wrap in foil and place in a zipper-storage bag.; then refrigerate.
Tips
Add any of your favorite herbs or seasoning into the dry ingredients. if you do not prefer a plain bread taste.
*Dairy-Free Butter Substitution: Try using 25% full-fat coconut milk with 75% hydrogenated palm oil or coconut oil.
**Egg-Free Substitution: Replace the eggs with 1/4 cup liquid from a can of cannellini beans and 2 tablespoons additional fat (butter or dairy-free substitute.)
***If you do not own a pizza stone, preheat a baking sheet upside down. Be sure that it is made to withstand 500°F temperatures.
****To substitute a pizza peel, use a non-rimmed baking sheet. To remove it from the oven, you can try using two spatulas to transfer it to the baking sheet.
If your pizza is too hot to eat, but you just can’t wait, fold a slice in half to prevent burning the roof of your mouth. That is the way New Yorkers eat their pizza.
If the dough ever becomes too sticky, dust it with some starch (potato or corn).
For other substitutions, see the Gluten-Free Substitutes page.
Copyrighted 2015 – 2019 Wilkins Publishers LLC and Carla Spacher. All rights reserved.
I just made this recipe. The kids loved it- thank you! A few questions: My batter was more like thick brownie batter than dough, is that normal? Also, the dough never ‘cracked’ but it didn’t seem to affect the end product. The pizzas ended up tasting, and being the consistency, of focaccia (really delicious focaccia). Is there any way to get a gf pizza to be more chewy with some air bubbles in the crust and less bread-like or is that what you need gluten for? Finally, for your other followers, I didn’t have cornmeal so I used parchment paper on the tinfoil but made sure the pizza just covered the edges of the parchment so it wouldn’t burn.
Hi Joan,
So happy the kids enjoyed this gluten free pizza recipe! Thanks for letting me know.
Did you use a pizza stone or baking sheet? A pizza stone or something made from heavy stone or metal is best. It achieves a closer to gluten texture.
The best chewy texture I have achieved is the pizza recipe using modified tapioca starch – https://glutenfreerecipebox.com/gluten-free-pizza-crust/. Carol Fenster makes a gluten free pizza crust recipe using traditional/not heavily processed ingredients that she says people rave about. You may wish to try it – https://glutenfreerecipebox.com/gluten-free-pizza-crust-sauce/. My favorite, as well as others, is my recipe using a 12-inch cast iron skillet: https://glutenfreerecipebox.com/grilled-gluten-free-pizza/. I like to grill it, but others have successfully baked it in the oven.
Great idea on how you prevent the parchment from burning!!! You can skip the foil if you’re using parchment paper. Others should know that parchment may burn at over 400 – 450 degrees F, depending upon the brand. You use it at your own risk.
Also, if you baste the crust edges with oil, it creates a softer, chewier crust.
In addition, if you par-bake the crust prior to adding the toppings, it turns out more like bread.
Have a lovely weekend!
Carla
Oh my gosh Carla… this recipe is absolutely fantastic! We made it for the first time tonight and I actually stuffed the crust with mozzarella and bacon. The results were “out of this world”! My 9-year-old grandson has been begging us to please order the new stuffed crust from Pizza Hut… after tasting this tonight, he said, “Pizza Hut has nothing on you MiMi!” So thank you for a great recipe that made me look so good in my grandson’s eyes!
Looks yummy, yummy! Thank you so much!