Pizza Dough Was Too Thick

[mommyagain]

I followed the instructions exactly like it said on the bag, except that I tried to make 1 16" pizza instead of 2 12" pizzas, because I didn't have 2 gluten-free pizza pans. Well, I couldn't get the dough to spread out enough to cover the pan. Anything I touched the dough with, it stuck. My husband even covered his hands in olive oil and tried to smush it out, the dough just absorbed the oil and the next time he touched it, got stuck again. We tried coating gluten-free plastic utensils with olive oil too... that didn't work any better than using our hands.

Finally, I gave up and let it rise, put toppings on it, cooked it, and ate it. It didn't cook the whole way through, but I thought it tasted ok (of course, it's been a couple of months since I had pizza). DD and DH were both eating "normal" takeout pizza. Both tried the homemade pizza and said it wasn't very good.

I'm thinking that if I had baked the crust first, and then put toppings on and cooked just long enough to make the cheese bubbly, at least the crust would have cooked the whole way.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get the dough to spread out more? Also, will it cook through with toppings if it's not so thick? Or should I still cook it (part way?) before the toppings go on?

Thanks.

[jmd3]

For sure I would try and bake the dough a bit before adding any toppings or cheese - it doesn't taste doughy that way.

I have been using chebe bread for my pizza and I pre-bake it before I put the toppings on. Comes out great - Infact my DH loves it, says it is better than regular gluteny thin pizza crusts

You may want to try and spread the dough on parchment paper -- I heard that it works great, I have not tried it yet, but just got the parchment paper at the store this weekend.

[bbuster]

Making pizza crust is an art - takes some trial and error.

Here's what I do.

Spray the pan with Pam (when I try to use plain olive oil, it absorbs)

I wash my hands, then plop the dough mix in the middle of the pan.

Then I get my hands very wet and lightly spread the dough with my hands, working from the middle out. I have to re-wet my hands several times.

I let the dough rise about 10 minutes, then cook until about 10 minutes (lightly browned).

Then I take out the crust, us a spatula to lift off the bottom so it won't stick.

Then I put the toppings on and bake.

Last week I tried parchment paper on top of the pan for the first time, and it worked really well.

Good luck!

[mommyagain]

Do you spread the dough out on the parchment paper and then transfer to the pan? Or is the parchment paper between the dough and pan when you cook it? Sorry if these are stupid questions... I have never been very good at cooking or baking... but I'm learning!

[bbuster]

Do you spread the dough out on the parchment paper and then transfer to the pan? Or is the parchment paper between the dough and pan when you cook it? Sorry if these are stupid questions... I have never been very good at cooking or baking... but I'm learning!

I just put the parchment paper over the pan, a piece big enough to more than cover it. I sprayed the parchment paper with Pam (don't know if that was necessary or not). Then I spread the dough on top of the paper (paper resting on the pan), and put the whole thing in the oven.

After the first bake, I slid the crust (very hot!) off the paper and directly onto the pan to top and finish. Again, I don't know if this was necessary, but I thought it would be easier to cut the pizza later with no paper.

Before when I made pizza (many, many times) with no parchment paper, I had to slide a metal spatula all around under the crust after the first bake - it would always stick to the pan in a few places. The parchment paper eliminated that step and it cooked really well.

[wolfie]

We make this all the time. The dough is very sticky. I use pam & cornmeal on the pan and I have to Pam my spatula several times to help spread out the dough. I make one 12 inch round and then I put the rest of the dough on a cookie sheet and make a rectangular pizza that is a little thicker. You may have to cook it for a bit first, after it is done rising, before you put the toppings on. It took a few times for me to get it down. DS requests this at least once per week now.