Deciding to go gluten-free does not mean that you have to forgo your favorite foods. You can just find the same recipe with alternatives for the gluten part.
Pizzas, for example, are a great dish that everybody loves. But it is one of the foods that our trainers or people who are into body fitness say that we should avoid.
But we know that is near impossible and that is why we have alternatives where the pizza is made healthier with less of the nutrients and other ingredients that you are trying to avoid.
Needless to say that gluten-free will not taste exactly the same as a traditional pizza but it is a great alternative. See, the flour used in gluten-free pizzas do not have that spongy texture.
Usually, you get that spongy taste from the wheat flour that is used regularly in most pizzas. But with gluten-free pizzas, you get to use flour that does not have gluten like rice or almond flour.
The flour is then combined with wet ingredients like oil and water plus the flavorings that come in sugar and salt, as well as the rising agent which is yeast.
So if you look at the process and most of the ingredients, it is still how pizzas really are made. That is why it is a great way to keep your diet going while still eating your favorite pizza.
Gluten-free doughs are also made with so much water as it was found that the ingredients used in gluten-free doughs are so absorbent that you need more water than traditional pizza.
This will make the dough even harder to shape and knead. So we have a couple of recipes here that you can follow so you get to eat your pizza at home even when you are in a diet.
Recipe 1
Ingredients
– 1 and ¼ cups of Gluten-free Baking Flour(I use the Bob’s Red Mill Flour)
– ¼ cup of Almond flour
– 1 teaspoon of baking powder
– ¾ teaspoon of salt
– 1 tablespoon of sugar or honey
– 1 tablespoon of psyllium husk powder
– 1 and a half teaspoons of instant yeast
– 2 tablespoons of olive oil
– 1 cup of warm water at 110 degrees Fahrenheit
Procedure
Step 1. Combine the instant yeast and the sugar in a glass measuring cup using the water. If you are using honey, then you can do this too.
Use a fork or a whisk to combine the ingredients all together. Let the mixture rest for the yeast to proof properly
Step 2. You have about 3 to 4 minutes to let the yeast proof so you can proceed to the next step which is mixing most of the dry ingredients.
Get the flour, baking powder, psyllium husk powder, and the salt and then mix them in a stand mixer. Then run it at low speed.
Step 3. When the dry ingredients are mixed well, get the yeast mixture and the oil and then gradually add them to the dry ingredients.
Once you put all the yeast and the oil into the mixture, turn up the stand mixer and set it to medium speed while allowing it to mix the dough for at least 5 minutes.
Step 4. Use an old spatula so that the dough will not stick. Push it to the side of the bowl and then cover it properly. Let the dough rise for up to 30 minutes.
Step 5. While waiting for the dough to rise, you can start preheating your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, prepare the pan that you will use in cooking the dough by brushing it with oil.
Of course, you can put it in the freezer after it is done rising but it is also best to cook pizza with freshly-made dough.
Stepp 6. Push the dough into the pan and make sure that you go as close to the edges as possible as the dough will shrink when it is being cooked.
Then let it rise for another ten minutes. This way, the natural rising capability of the instant yeast will push the dough further onto the sides of the pan by expanding it.
Step 7. Brush a little bit of oil on the dough and then place it in the oven. Bake it for at least 15 to 20 minutes or until it gets some bubbles with no major change in color.
When you see the bubbles, it means that the dough has a stiffer texture now. You can then let it out of the oven and then freeze it or cook right away.
When you decide to freeze the parbaked dough, you can cook it again for up to three days. If you want to go straight and cook it right away, the cooking time will depend on your toppings.
Step 8. Let it cool down for a bit, slice, and then enjoy!
Some pointers
1. Freezing the Dough
Do not freeze the dough as it will kill the yeast and the dough will not rise as much as you want it to. However, you can freeze the parbaked crust.
So if the dough has risen a little bit after mixing the ingredients, you can make an extra ball of dough while cooking the other.
The extra ball can be baked along with the other dough and then freeze it for when you crave a gluten-free pizza in the following days, you will have a gluten-free crust ready to be cooked.
You just need to let the dough bake first for about 15 to 20 minutes so that you can be sure that the yeast has done its job and has risen the dough as much as possible.
This way, the crust will not shrink no matter how long it sits in the freezer. Once it is out of the oven, wait for it to cool down and then wrap it with a layer of plastic wrap and then another layer of tinfoil.
After wrapping it, put it in the freezer for up to three weeks. When baking a frozen crust, just put all the toppings on the crust out of the freezer while letting your oven preheat at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Then, let the pizza cook for about 15 minutes or until the crust is crispy and all the toppings are bubbling.
2. Sticky Dough
Since gluten-free dough uses a lot of water and other liquid ingredients, you might find it often that the dough gets sticky and hard to manage.
One way to make up for this is to use an oiled spatula so that you can transfer the dough from the working area to the bowl and from the bowl to the cooking surface that you will use.
You can also rub your hands with oil if you are more comfortable with using your hands directly. It will also be great to oil your hand for ease of shaping and kneading the dough.
Recipe 2
Ingredients
– 2 cups of gluten-free flour
– 1 teaspoon of salt
– 1 tablespoon of olive oil
– 1 teaspoon of cider vinegar
– 1 tablespoon of sugar
– 1 large egg
– 3/4 cup of warm water at 110 degrees Fahrenheit
– 1/4 ounce of yeast.
Procedure
Step 1. Get your cooking surface ready. May it be a pizza stone or a cast-iron skillet, let them preheat at the bottom rack of your oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2. Mix the yeast, sugar, and the water in a glass and then let it sit for about 5 minutes. This way, the yeast will be activated and will start bubbling up the mixture.
The mixture will go foamy which is natural. While waiting for this result, start the other steps of the procedure.
Step 3. Mix the other ingredients in an electric mixer bowl starting with the gluten-free flour and the salt. Once you have mixed the two, add the egg, olive oil, and the vinegar.
Lastly, add the yeast mixture in the bowl and let the mixer run at low speed for about a minute or until all the ingredients are mixed well altogether.
Step 4. Use an oiled spatula and transfer the dough on parchment paper. Oil your hands and then start kneading and shaping the pizza dough to a 10 or 12-inch pizza.
Step 5. Bake the dough for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the dough is bubbling up. Take it out of the oven and then add all the toppings that you want and then put it back in the oven.
Step 6. Let it bake for another 10 minutes or until the toppings are cooked and then serve it while it is still warm!
Tips
1. Use a Pizza Stone
Pizza stones are amazing cookware that is just perfect for making pizza. They are porous in nature so they absorb all the unnecessary moisture from the pizza.
By doing this, pizza stones are hugely responsible for making pizza crusts crispy on the outside and chewy inside. You will need to preheat the pizza stone to create as much oven spring inside.
If you do not have a pizza stone, then you can use a heavy baking sheet or parchment paper. Just like the pizza stone or the skillet, let them preheat in the oven.
2. Making the Dough ahead of time
If you really do not have time during the weekdays, then you can make the dough during the weekend and store it in the fridge so that you can cook when you want a pizza in the middle of the week.
We have talked about the freezing of the pizza crust but if you only own a refrigerator and not a freezer, then we can give you simple advice to make up for it.
First, once you have made your dough, create a ball, and then seal it by putting the closed side of the dough downwards. This way, the rising power of the yeast will not escape.
Put the ball of dough in a bowl and then seal it. Do not just close it, seal it properly so that the moisture will not escape when it remains in the fridge for long.
Then, you can knead it when you want to cook for another day. It is best if you shape the dough while it is still cold for easier control.
Refrigerating a gluten-free dough is a little bit complicated and you will need to use it after three days from the preparation so that you get the best quality out of it.
Here is a short video for you to get a better understanding of the components inside it and how to handle a gluten-free pizza.
Conclusion
If you want to lose some sugar or some weight, one of the most mentioned foods that you should avoid is pizza. This is because it has a lot of ingredients that might contradict your goal.
However, it is also worth mentioning that pizza has a lot of nutritional value and the fact that you can change it up for a better diet, is what makes it almost impossible to avoid.
So for people who are trying to cut their food intake, then you should try the gluten-free pizza dough recipes that we have above and see what it can do to your body.
Rest assured that all the health benefits that you get in most foods within your diet plan is not ignored when you are eating a gluten-free pizza.
That is why a lot of people are going gluten-free so that they can still enjoy certain types of comfort foods while avoiding the nutrients that are not needed.
So try the recipes above and let us know what you think is better. Do not get surprised by the taste as it will be a little different but with a few tweaks, you can have it like a traditional pizza.
Be creative and put any toppings that you want to match the usual taste that you want from a traditional pizza and eat as much as you like!
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