Learn how to make gluten-free pizza dough to bring some pizzazz to pizza night with this versatile recipe.
Every Sunday evening growing up, my family had homemade pizza, and I was the chef. I loved kneading the dough, waiting for it to rise, and adding the toppings – especially the mushrooms. In those days, canned mushrooms were a treat reserved only for pizza nights. One time, I let the dough rise in my mom’s favorite plastic bowl. Wanting to speed things up, I put the bowl in the warm oven. Fortunately, I checked in on it before too much melting occurred! For years, I chuckled slightly every time the bowl was pulled from the cupboard.
Making pizza from scratch was more about frugality than about eating healthy, homemade meals. Since then, I’ve made hundreds of homemade pizzas, but only recently did I really try to fine-tune the process and the taste. In fact, I went on my own personal quest to create the best homemade pizza that was simple and tasty.
In Search of the Ideal Dough
For months, I experimented making crusts with heritage grains, whole grains, expensive flours from Italy, inexpensive white flour from box stores, my home-ground flour, and several gluten-free options. Sifting through the flour choices was fun. The easiest, tastiest, and most nutritional flour I found was a mix of organic heritage grains and a finely ground white flour, which created a stretchy, chewy crust. The fine grind was like that of the famous Italian pizza flours. Because of the delicate blend, the dough contained just enough gluten to stretch without tearing.
Additionally, my family participated in several blind taste tests for the crusts. The most surprising thing was that the gluten-free pizza was always in the top two picks of the bunch. The gluten-free flour created a completely different, somewhat crumbly dough texture. It needed to be rolled, not stretched, or it’d fall apart. It wasn’t until I pulled it out of the oven that I realized it would even work as a crust. It was crunchy and flavorful. The gluten-free flour can be substituted in the same amounts as the regular flour. After trying several brands, I highly recommend using Namaste brand for this recipe. Other gluten-free brands didn’t produce the desired results.
Refining the Formula
Additional experiments included crusts made with Greek yogurt or olive oil. To bring precision to the recipe, I bought a digital food scale and began to weigh the flour instead of measuring it. I checked out and read every library book that had a pizza dough recipe. I watched hours of online videos for pizza dough techniques. I even visited a local winery that had a wood-fired pizza oven. All the information and experimenting started to blend like a slow-rise pizza dough ball, until finally I came up with a recipe and technique of my own. My biggest take-away was – no matter how you slice it – a good pizza means a good dough recipe and a very hot oven.
With each experiment, I shaped extra dough into individual balls, put these into labeled, sandwich-sized bags, and tossed them into the freezer. These would become quick-start pizzas later. As a result, my family was eating pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Guests were served pizza every time they visited. I brought pizza for every potluck and gathering over the summer months. Honestly, the pizza was so good that when relatives and friends stopped over, they requested it. I simply grabbed a baggie from the freezer and set it out on the counter for up to 10 hours to thaw and rise. When it was time to eat, the preparation took about 10 minutes. Making homemade pizza crust is easy when you’re doughin’ it right.
Equipment
- Bowl
- Cookie sheet or plate
- Pizza stone or pan
Pizza Dough Ingredients
- 1-1/4 cups flour (regular or gluten-free blend*)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/8 teaspoon yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon oil
Topping Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil with 1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- Tomato sauce
- Shredded cheese
- Meat or veggies – my favorites are mushrooms, sliced red onion, sweet red peppers, and pepperoni
Perfect Homemade Pizza
- 1 Place the ingredients for the dough into a bowl and mix to combine. I don’t proof the yeast. Cover the bowl and let it sit about 20 minutes. This is the first rise, which is a short rise.
Chef’s tip: This recipe also works well in a bread machine. Starting with the water, add the ingredients. Use the dough cycle. This will mix it and allow for the first rise.
You can also mix the dough in a traditional electric mixer by adding all the ingredients and mixing for 3 to 5 minutes. - After the rest, knead the dough slightly until it’s smooth and somewhat silky. (The dough won’t be silky if using gluten-free flour.) Form into a ball.
- Place the dough ball on a lightly floured cookie sheet or plate, and cover with clear wrap. Let it rise in the fridge for up to 24 hours. This is the long rise.
Chef’s tip: If you’re freezing the dough, put it in the freezer instead of the fridge. Take the dough out about 8 hours before you need it, and let it thaw and finish its second rise on the counter. (The thaw and rise will happen at the same time.) - When you’re ready to make the pizza, heat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit with a pizza stone or cast-iron skillet inside the oven. Once the oven heats to 500 degrees, let the stone or pan heat for another 30 minutes.
- While the oven and stone or pan are heating, prep the toppings. This will allow you to quickly assemble the pizza once you pull the hot stone or pan from the oven.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured workspace and flour the bottom of the flattened dough ball. I like to use a thin, plastic cutting board for the workspace.
- Flatten the ball with your hands and shape it to fit the pan or stone you’re using. A 12-ounce dough ball will make a 12-inch pizza.
- For the gluten-free crust, roll out the dough with a rolling pin in the shape of the pan or stone.
For the regular crust, pat the dough out by hand, pressing the ball into a circle. Then, pick up the dough and quickly stretch the dough by the edges while rotating it in a circular motion. You can also flop it from hand to hand while rotating it in a circular motion, stretching it with the movement. As it grows, make a fist, stretching it as it moves around in a circle. (Yes, just like they do in all the Italian pizzerias.) This process requires a little skill but keeps the air in the dough. If it’s rolled out with a rolling pin, the air is pressed out and the dough will taste fine but won’t be as chewy.
- Take the hot stone or pan out of the oven and slide the dough from the floured workspace into the pan or onto the stone. It can tear if it’s rolled on the counter and transferred to the stone or pan.
Chef’s tip: I use a slightly flour-dusted, flat cookie sheet that slips under the prepared crust on the plastic cutting board. The cookie sheet has one side without a lip or edge on it and fits under the entire pizza dough. It’s an inexpensive way to mimic a pizza paddle. - Brush the seasoned, extra-virgin olive oil on the dough all the way out to the edges with a pastry brush. The dough will immediately start baking while the pizza is being assembled. Work quickly.
- Spread the tomato sauce out to the edges of the crust using the back of a regular spoon.
- Add shredded or sliced cheese(s).
- Add the toppings.
- Bake at 500 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes. Take it out when the cheese is golden-brown and the bottom is completely baked.
- Lightly brush the edges of the crust with the seasoned, extra-virgin olive oil while the pizza is still piping hot.
- Consider adding other light toppings, such as Himalayan sea salt, red pepper flakes, or Parmesan cheese, when the pizza comes out of the oven. The heat will absorb them into the pizza for a more intense flavor.
- Let the pizza sit 5 to 10 minutes before cutting, allowing the flavors to blend just a bit more.
*There are so many gluten-free flour options available, there could be a variance on the amount of flour up to 1/4 to 1/2 cup. I say this because when dusting or sprinkling the different flour types before rolling or patting out, I made sure there was enough flour to keep it from sticking to the workspace. If the dough is sticking to everything, keep dusting with flour until it keeps its shape.
Michelle Fryc and her husband live on the family farm where she grew up. She sells eggs, breads, and grass-fed beef, and she has a garden that’s way too big – just for fun. Michelle also teaches writing, literature, and social studies to middle schoolers.