My Celiac Saga: Pizza Dough

Before I was diagnosed and went gluten free I was a pizza freak! I loved it. I could have eaten it every night. I wasn't picky either. I liked it all, from homemade to gourmet to domino's cardboard textured crust. I liked it all. I think it is a comfort food for me. When I was young, my father would pick me and my brother up every other Friday night to spend the weekend with him. We would go directly to TK's pizzeria to pick up dinner. I would sit in the car with the warm pizza on my lap, impatiently waiting to pull in the driveway and eat. Often I was scolded for trying to sneak a piece of pepperoni off the top. It was safety and family and it tasted good!

Later, as a pre-adolescent and teenager, I spent many weekend afternoons and evenings with my father making homemade pizza. We would talk as he prepped all the toppings and the sauce. He would let me pound on, oh, I mean knead, the dough and would always grate extra cheese and cut extra pepperoni for me to "sneak" a taste of.

My first few years of being gluten free I tried and tried to find a good gluten free crust. I tried a lot of homemade crusts. They were all terrible. Tasted disgusting, wouldn't rise, etc, etc. I then moved on to pre-made. For a while I was using Whole Foods Bakehouse Pizza Dough which was okay but not like the glutenous stuff. Then I found Gluten Free Kneads. It is made with whole grains and is quite tasty. It is super yummy and now most of the pizza places in town use it as their GF crust. However, I still longed for the days of homemade pizza, dirty hands, messy counter, thick, bready dough.

So, I was visiting my parents back in January and my Dad wanted to do a pizza night. Despite all my GF pizza dough failures he has continued to send me recipes, box mixes and encouragement. We had picked up a few GF flours from the store to make some other baked good. I was sure any try at GF pizza dough, especially with limited supplies, would be a disaster but I decided to prove it to my Dad. I googled GF pizza dough recipes that had teff and went for it. I found this recipe and had almost all the ingredients. A few adjustments and we were a go.

It was fabulous. I couldn't believe it. It rose! Even more than glutenous dough does. Then, with complete disbelief, I tasted it. It was good, really good, like real pizza dough. Then my Dad tried it and said it was almost as good as his. Amazing!!

Once I got home, I was skeptical about making it again. It must have been a fluke. My Dad continued to pester me to make it for my 2 other celiac family members because they had loved my homemade glutenous dough. I gave it and tried it again. With a few more tweaks, It worked!!! I am so excited about this and may need to have pizza daily once again. Waistline, watch out. I realize that this is not the NY style, greasy pizza you can fold up but it is the closest thing I have tasted to a Sunday afternoon of cooking with my Dad I have had in 5 years. I am so grateful and hope you like it too!

This is my version of the above recipe:

GLUTEN FREE PIZZA DOUGH

Ingredients

1¼ Cups Cornstarch
¾ Cup Millet Flour
2 Cups Authentic GF Classic Blend Flour
¼ Cup Teff Flour
1½ Tablespoons Xanthan Gum
1½ Teaspoons Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Oregano

1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Package Active Dry Yeast
1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Honey
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
2  Medium Eggs
1 Egg White
1¾ Cups Warm Water (110-115°)

Directions

Place Cornstarch, flours, Xanthan gum, salt, oregano, garlic powder and yeast in mixing bowl; mix.

Add vinegar, sugar, honey, oil, eggs, egg white and lastly the warm water; mix.

Increase mixing speed to high, and beat for 4 minutes.

Coat your pizza pan with cooking spray and or use parchment paper. The dough is super, incredibly sticky.

For a round pizza you can just pour the patter and use an oiled spatula to even out.

I like the pizza on a cookie sheet to make it deep dish and tried to spread it multiple ways. It takes a little more time but the most effective so far is placing it using a pastry bag. I doubled up the edges to make a nice crust edge.