Gluten Free Pizza Dough

Are you on the hunt for great gluten free pizza dough? Well, search no further because we have a fantastic recipe for you – it’s even naturally leavened (sourdoughed) for good measure. And guess, what else? We’ve got a fantastic, easy to use resource for those wanting to learn to build their own PIZZA OVEN!

Before I begin, I must tell you that the fabulous cover photo for this post comes from Teri Page, aka Homestead Honey, and comes to us courtesy of her very new, very fabulous book The Backyard Bread and Pizza Oven. Be sure to read to the end for details.

Gross Gluten Free Dough

I think I’ve tried every kind of gluten free pizza dough on the market. Some of them we’re ok and some of them were downright nasty. The last one we tried was Bob’s Red Mill gluten free pizza dough and it was better than all the other’s we tried – decent flavor, held its form pretty well, wasn’t full of “gunk”. I decided, though, that I just prefer to make our gluten free pizza dough from scratch.

Now, normally I don’t give you a recipe that requires a specific ingredient because I’m a big believer in making do with whatever you have on hand. I also don’t like to require you to go buy some special product. However, I will say that I highly, highly recommend you use the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour for this recipe. You can use other gluten free flour mixes, including those you can mix yourself, if you have one your really love.

However, I get the best, most consistent results with Bob’s brand and it’s the only one I ever recommend here on the blog. If you want to know exactly what’s in the 1 to 1 four, simply click this link for the Bob’s Red Mill site.

I’m of a mind that the pizza dough should be so delectable that you would enjoy eating it, even before all the that cheese and sauce are plastered all over it. With that in mind, you can also use this dough to make bread sticks, if you like.

Ingredients

4 Cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Flour
2 Cups oat flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. sea salt
1/4 Cup oil – olive and avocado are both nice; coconut works, too.
1/2 Cup sourdough starter – to stay gluten free, make sure your starter is oat or rice based
2 tsps. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. each basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary – ground to a powder, if possible

Directions

Mix all ingredients in your stand mixer, or by hand. Watch the dough as it forms to see if you need to add more liquid. Oat flour is particularly thirsty and you may need more liquid (or more flour!). If you’re using a stand mixer, the dough should clear the sides of the bowl freely. The more flour you add, the more your crust will dry out. Neither do you want it too sticky. It’s a fine line but you get a feel for it after a few times. If you’re mixing by hand, you can easily feel if your dough is the right consistency because it should be supple but not stick to you. Use water on your hands to avoid sticking to the dough, if you’re having a problem.
Knead about ten minutes to thoroughly mix and work your dough.
Allow your gluten free pizza dough to rise in a warm place for at least six hours. If you like thin crust, four to six hours should be fine. This allows the sourdough culture to feed off your flours, raising your dough as it does. If you want a little poof to your crust, allow it to leaven a bit longer until the dough has expanded. I’ve never achieved the airy crust of store bought pizza without using commercial yeast and/or wheat flour. This isn’t a problem for me because I like thin crust pizza and I adore sourdough. If you want to add commercial yeast to this recipe, you certainly can – have fun experimenting! I steer clear of commercial yeast for the most part because it causes acid and stomach upset for me.
Roll out the dough to the size and shape you prefer. I use my oat flour for rolling because it costs me less than my Bob’s gluten free flour. If you’d like to do a second rise in a warm place, you can. Otherwise, pre-bake your gluten free pizza crust at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Add your favorite toppings and bake again until the cheese is bubbly!

Gluten Free Pizza Dough Notes

For those of you new to sourdough, your starter should be doubled in size and full of happy bubbles before you use it for baking – if you want your baked goods to rise, that is. I usually feed my starter the night before I want to make pizza to give it enough time to rise. Then I mix my dough in the late morning, let it rise/ferment and bake it that evening.

This process is not only temperature sensitive (it happens a lot faster in summer), but it’s also very starter-dependent. Starters are a collection of living bacteria and yeasts and they have personalities. Get to know yours and don’t beat yourself up if you mis-time a recipe now and then. Flat starter will work in this recipe, too, if you like thin crust pizza. The active starter (doubled in size and full of bubbles) is what will give your dough its rise.

Like I said, I’m a thin crust pizza girl so I never fret about it, but I do realize that some people love fluffy crust. For more personal musings on sourdough and ideas on how to integrate it into your life, please see the Ferments for Starters section of our book The Do It Yourself Homestead.

If you’re not entirely gluten intolerant, this recipe can be made with any wheat flour in place of the gluten free flour. The sourdough will leaven the gluten in the dough, breaking it down and making it more digestible. I’m not gluten intolerant myself, merely gluten sensitive, and I often find that I can eat wheat as long as it’s leavened first. That’s just a side note, if you’re like me. If you are a true Celiac sufferer or have an extreme intolerance to wheat, don’t swap those flours.

Those who struggle with gluten intolerance are so used to checking labels and being cautious about everything you eat but you needn’t worry about oats being contaminated with gluten as long as you’re careful to buy them from a reputable source. Bob’s Red Mill to the rescue again – they have several oat products that are gluten free. There are other brands out there, too, that certify right and left for gluten free-ness so that true Celiacs can be sure to buy a completely gluten free product. There are lots of options out there, so buy the one that feels right to you.

The best way to ensure your oats are gluten free is to roll them yourself – but that’s a topic for another post!

How About Baking Your Gluten Free Pizza Dough in Your Own Woodfire Oven?

Well, you’re in luck, because I have just the book for you. My friend Teri and her husband Brian have just written the do-it-yourself guide The Backyard Bread and Pizza Oven e-book! This book covers the various materials you can use to build your very own woodfire pizza oven for your backyard or homestead. Brian combines several styles of backyard pizza oven in his very clear, very easy to use instructions. In many cases, you will already have many of the materials on hand!

Added to the instructions are great tips about how to successfully use your outdoor oven. They’ve even included recipes and suggestions for using your oven to dehydrate foods, slow cook meals and so much more. My husband and I have been waiting for this book for several months and I’m so happy to be able to recommend it to you. Especially if you love to cook outdoors (and who doesn’t in the summer when it’s so hot inside?!) or are living an off-grid lifestyle, this book is a must-have in your collection. Simply click on the photo below to learn more. Buon Appetito!