During the ten years I’ve taught gluten-free baking classes, two questions are asked more than any others: “How do I make bread?” and “How do I make pizza?” Bread and pizza. My favorites.

You want a great, easy pizza crust, right? Here’s what to do: start with a Chebe bread* mix. My students have never gasped but, I can tell, they’ve come close. They know that I bake from scratch. This recipe is the exception to that rule.

*Chebe also sells pizza mix. Be sure to select their bread mix. 

Why a mix? Because of the modified tapioca starch it contains, Chebe makes an excellent pizza crust with the “chew” that’s so often missing from gluten-free baked goods. Since buying modified tapioca starch is a pain, I use the Chebe mix.

I’m not a food scientist. So, honestly, I don’t fully understand the process of making modified tapioca starch. My research proved somewhat futile, likely because modifying tapioca starch is a proprietary process. All I’ve been able to glean is that when an inorganic material is added to the starch, the characteristics of the starch change. In the case of tapioca starch, we are left with a super-stretchy starch.

How stretchy? Gluten-like stretchy.

You could almost toss this dough over your head like they do at pizzerias. Prepared as the package directs, I find Chebe unpleasantly chewy. Slightly doctored, however, it makes a great pizza.

Add white or brown rice flour, baking powder, and salt to the mix. That’s right—baking powder. Telling pizza-savvy SE’rs that this crust can be made without yeast makes me a little nervous. But it’s the truth: this crust is excellent without yeast. Since restaurants serving safe gluten-free pizza are still hard to find, it’s great being able to make this last-minute crust without having to allow it to rise.

If the thought of a yeast-free pizza is anathema to you, no problem! Replace the baking powder with one packet of active dry yeast. When leavened with yeast, the dough needs to go through about an hour of bulk fermentation (rising in the bowl) and about 45 minutes of pan rise. The baking powder dough? Just mix it up, place it into the pan and bake.

Speaking of baking, no matter which version you use, yeast or baking powder, bake the crust before you top it. Topping the raw dough and then baking makes for one really soggy pizza. I like all types of pizza, but soggy crust pizza isn’t one of them.

Let’s make a pizza!

After adding the wet ingredients to the flour and Chebe mix, the dough looks chunky. Turn the dough onto your counter and begin kneading.

At first the dough isn’t smooth. As you knead it, it becomes smooth and elastic.

The finished dough looks like this. Pretty, isn’t it?

Roll out the dough and lift it into the pan.

Bake the crust until golden brown.

Top the dough, and return pizza to the oven. Bake until cheese is golden brown and bubbling.

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Easy Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

Remember to use Chebe bread mix, not Chebe's pizza crust mix for this recipe.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 1 large pizza

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

New York Style

• 1 (7.5 ounce) package Chebe Original Bread Mix (not Pizza Mix)
• 1 cup white rice flour (4 ounces; 113 grams)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup water plus additional as needed (6 ounces; 170 grams)
• 2 large eggs (about 3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams, out of shell)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (about 1 ounce; 24 grams)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• In large bowl, whisk together Chebe mix, white rice flour, baking powder, and salt. In small bowl, whisk together water, eggs, and olive oil.
• Pour water mixture over dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Dough should almost form a ball. If dough is dry, add one or two more tablespoons of water.
• Lightly white rice flour your counter. Turn dough out onto counter. Knead dough until elastic and pliable, about one minute.
• Round dough into a ball. Grease 18”x13” baking pan. Again, white rice flour your counter. Roll dough out into large rectangle. I usually roll it out about 15”x13”. In a quick movement, transfer dough to baking pan. Using you hands, press dough evenly into pan. Dough will be thin but will cover the entire pan.
• Bake until lightly golden brown, about 18 minutes.
• Remove pan from oven. Top as desired. Return pizza to oven and bake until toppings are hot. Time varies depending on topping.
• Remove pizza from oven. Allow to cool for five minutes. Cut into squares and enjoy.

The post How to Make Gluten-Free Pizza Crust in 20 Minutes appeared first on Gluten-Free Baking.

A good pizza is only as good as the sauce that tops it. Today let’s make an easy tomato-based pizza sauce.

Chop an onion and a few cloves of garlic. Increase or decrease the amount of onions and garlic depending on how oniony and garlicy you like your sauce.

Heat olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions. You want the onions to sizzle when they hit the oil.

Cook until they soften. You don’t want the onions to turn brown. Soft and light are what you want at this stage. Be sure to stir frequently as the onions cook.

Add the garlic. Stir it all together. Since garlic takes less time to cook than onions, it would burn if we started it along with the onions. Staggering the cooking prevents the garlic from burning. And since burnt garlic tastes awful taking the time to do this is well worth it.

Cook until the garlic just begins to turn brown. The onions are soft and almost yellow-brown at this point.

Add the basil, oregano, and hot red pepper flakes. Stir. You can always adjust the spices later, adding fresh herbs right before serving your sauce, if you wish.

Now add the salt and–dare I say it–sugar. Yes, sugar! You only use a little and, I promise, it adds a nice “roundness” to the sauce without making it sweet. (I don’t like sweet sauce either.)

Now add butter. Oh, yes! This recipe contains butter. It’s an odd ingredient in tomato sauce, I know. But the richness of the butter adds a little something that’s really nice. If you aren’t dairy-allergic, I encourage you to add the butter. If you’re dairy-free, just skip it.

Cook until butter melts. Stir frequently. The onions, garlic, and spices cooking together produce my favorite scent in the world. No matter how many times I make this, I am still smitten by the aroma. (Can you get smitten by an aroma? Let’s say yes!)

For this recipe, I wanted a quick, chunky pizza sauce. One small can (14.5 ounces) of petite diced tomatoes were perfect for the job. If you don’t need a pizza sauce, you could add tomato puree or tomato sauce or fresh tomatoes. The base works with any tomatoes. It’s that good. I also added two tablespoons of tomato paste to thicken the sauce a bit.

That’s it!

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The Only Recipe for Pizza Sauce You'll Ever Need!

This easy recipe makes a fabulous pizza sauce.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced or put through a garlic press
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons butter increase to one tablespoon if you feel like it.
• 1 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes OR 15 ounce crushed tomatoes OR s OR 2 cups approx fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste increase to three tablespoons for a thicker sauce.

Instructions

• In a small pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat until shimmering. Add onions. Cook until soft. Stir frequently while cooking. Add the garlic. Stir. Cook until soft and aromatic. Add basil, oregano, red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Add salt and sugar. Stir. Cook for two minutes. Add butter. Cook, stirring constantly, until butter melts.
• Reduce heat to medium-low. Add tomatoes. Cook as desired. You could cook the sauce for just a minute to warm or you could cook for an hour for a rich, thick sauce.

The post The Only Recipe for Pizza Sauce You’ll Ever Need! appeared first on Gluten-Free Baking.

I love pizza! And I’m always tinkering with new recipes, using different flours, adding dried herbs to the crust, you know, playing.  But when I want to make a quick pizza, I grab a box of Chebe all-purpose bread mix. While I don’t like the tapioca-based mix “plain”, it’s great when you add some gluten-free flour to it. Lately, I add millet and sorghum. Thanks to the stretchy nature of modified tapioca starch, the recipe doesn’t require xanthan gum.

All you need to do is open the bag, add the flours, eggs, water and oil and stir. That’s it! The dough relies on baking powder not yeast for its rise, so I mix it up while the oven preheats. No waiting needed!

The one step that requires the most time is pressing the dough into the pan. The dough is sticky. So instead of rolling it out, I divide it into quarters and place one quarter into each corner of the pan. Then I press, press, press the dough into the pan. After a minute or so, the dough quarters come together and cover the entire pan.

After pressing out the dough, bake it (untopped!) until golden brown. Then remove the pizza from the oven, top as you wish, and return to the oven. That’s it! Pizza in about an hour!

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Easy Whole Grain Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

The recipe uses millet flour and corn flour. Feel free to use whatever whole grain gluten-free flour you enjoy. Just don't skip the Chebe mix or the recipe won't work.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 1 large pizza

Author GlutenFreeBaking.com

Ingredients

• 1 (7.5 ounce) package Chebe Bread All-Purpose Mix
• 1/2 cup millet flour, plus extra for dusting (2 1/2 ounces; 128 grams)
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour (2 1/2 ounces; 128 grams)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup water (8 ounces; 226 grams)
• 2 large eggs (about 3 1/2 ounces; 100 grams, out of shell)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil (1 1/3 ounces; 37 grams)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Set pan aside.
• In medium mixing bowl, whisk together Chebe mix, millet flour, sorghum flour, and baking powder. Add water, eggs, and olive oil. Stir together with a wooden spoon until a thick, sticky dough forms.
• Loosely divide dough into quarters. Generously flour each dough quarter with millet flour. Do the same with your hands. This dough is sticky. Be sure to use enough flour. This prevents it from sticking.
• Use your hands and press dough into the pan. The motion is something like "press and stretch." If your hands begin to stick to the dough, add more flour. Work the dough so all four quarters meet and cover the pan evenly.
• Bake until lightly golden brown, about twenty minutes.
• Remove pan from oven. Increase oven to 475°F. Top pizza as desired. Return to oven and bake until cheese bubbles and is golden brown.

The post Easy Whole-Grain Gluten-Free Pizza Crust appeared first on Gluten-Free Baking.