A Tale of Two Pizzas

So, I love pizza.  I could eat pizza almost every day of the week without ever getting tired of it.  Unfortunately, I can't just order a pie from anywhere, or use refrigerated dough tubes, or pick up a CHEAP frozen pie anymore, so eating pizza several times a week really isn't a possibility.  That's probably for the better.  But, I'm certainly not ready to give up my indulgence.  However, my first try at homemade pizza dough really wasn't that successful.  When I was reading up on gluten free recipes, I read frequently that gluten free baking is all about trial and error, with a large emphasis on error.

The error in this case was mostly in the choice of gluten free all purpose flour blend.  Pizza dough recipes are pretty simple for the most part.  Flour, yeast, salt, oil, maybe a sweetener, and water. . . not really that complicated.  But, gluten free flours are different and they usually require a slightly different combination of ingredients and some additional ingredients that mimic gluten like xanthan gum, or guar gum.  Also, depending on the ingredients sometimes the dough doesn't rise well, or at all (some recipes don't involve yeast, or a rise).

Here's the recipe I used:

2 c. gluten free all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 c. warm (110 degree) water
3 tbsp. olive oil (extra for drizzling)

1. Mix flour, yeast, xanthan gum, yeast, sugar and salt to combine.

2.  Add olive oil and water and mix.  Dough will be sticky.  If it's EXTREMELY sticky, add additional flour

3.  Place dough in oiled bowl, turn to coat.  Cover with a towel and place bowl somewhere warm to rise for an hour.

4.  Wrap risen dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour

5.  Roll dough between two pieces of plastic wrap.  Roll edge to create crust.

6.  Brush dough with olive oil.  Blind bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes.  Remove from oven.

7.  Top with sauce, cheese and other toppings.  Return to oven and bake until cheese is melted, toppings are heated, about 5-7 minutes.

This seems very typical for pizza dough recipes.  A lot of gluten free crusts I have seen though don't recommend creating a rolled crust.  Since delicious, puffy crusts are one of my favorite things about pizza, I was looking forward to having this crust work out.  I like thin crust, but a delicious pan style or Chicago style deep dish really puts wind in my sails when it comes to pizza.  But this was just not meant to be.

I don't necessarily think that it's the recipe.  I think the choice of flour may have had a lot to do with it.  But I saved a few crusts so my husband could try it, so I could see whether it was me, or the recipe that was off.  My husband replied that it was the worst pizza that he had ever had.  Some people say that there's no such thing as bad pizza.  I beg to differ.  There is such a thing, and it came out of my oven last Tuesday.

Not for pizza.

Maybe this flour is okay for SOME pizzas, but just not this particular recipe.  I'll have to try this blend in other recipes to see whether it's something that I'm going to continue to use, or whether I'm going to move on to another product.


So, this post is titled "A Tale of Two Pizzas".  The second pizza that I'm reviewing is Kinnikinnick ready made crusts.  When I first decided to go gluten free, I knew that I would be tempted to have pizza.  I wanted to make sure that I had something on hand that was ready made, and foolproof.  I bought a four pack of these crusts at Whole Foods in the frozen section for about $9.00.  These are single-serve portions of pizza crust that do not require rolling out or blind baking.  They're essentially little rectangles that are ready to top, bake, and eat.

Delicious.

Although I love these crusts, I'm not going to throw in the towel on a homemade pizza dough.  I have had several people make excellent suggestions about different recipes that I can try next, and I'm always up for eating pizza, so I'll have plenty more recipes and reviews!