gluten-free Pizza Dough Flop!

[Megs]

Hi Everyone

Okay so last night I decided to make pizza. Harder than I thought, I used gluten-free bread flour, salt, olive oil, water and yeast. The dough can out to soft and sticky - I could not even roll it out?? The dough also didn't raise??

Any suggestions on making bread, am I missing an ingredient?

Thanks

[RiceGuy]

Did you use xanthan gum, or is it included in the blend you used? Absence of a binder would probably account for some of the softness, but depending on the flour blend, the recipe for bread given by the company might not work for pizza dough. Many gluten-free breads are "batter breads". That is, the dough is more like a thick batter. Start with a small amount of water, and work up to the right dough consistency, rather than trying to add the right amount of water all at once.

Also, gluten-free breads generally don't tolerate fats very well, so you may need to reduce or omit the oil. Following the same method used for an equivalent wheat dough usually yields unsatisfactory results.

[jerseyangel]

Hi Everyone

Okay so last night I decided to make pizza. Harder than I thought, I used gluten-free bread flour, salt, olive oil, water and yeast. The dough can out to soft and sticky - I could not even roll it out?? The dough also didn't raise??

Any suggestions on making bread, am I missing an ingredient?

Thanks

Hi Megs,

It sounds like you used a standard dough recipe and subsitiuted gluten-free flour. The problem with that is gluten free flours don't "act" the same in a recipe--especially baked goods.

Here's a very good recipe for pizza dough--it's the one I use. Seems like a lot of ingredients, but it mixes up fast and while it's not exactly like the old gluten pizza dough, it's quite tasty--

2 tbsp. rapid rise yeast

1 and 1/3 cups warm milk (you can use a sub)

1 tsp. sugar

1 and 1/3 cups rice flour

1/2 cup potato starch

1/2 cup cornstarch

2 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. gelatin powder

2 tsp. oil

2 tsp. vinegar

Preheat oven to 425.

Disolve yeast and sugar in milk then add in oil and vinegar. Blend dry ingredients and add to milk mixture. Mix well and pat onto greased pizza pan (I use plastic wrap between my fingers and the dough--it's easier to handle that way since the dough is very sticky).

Pre-bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, add toppings, and finish baking for 20 minutes.

[bbuster]

Megs,

I make pizza (Bette Hagman's recipe) almost every week. It is similar to the one posted by jerseyangel - includes Xanthan and gelatin.

But when I make it, the dough is super sticky - forget about trying to roll it.

The best way I have found is to always use parchment paper over your pan. I drop the dough onto the paper in a big blob, then repeatedly wet my hands and very lightly smooth it out to the edges. This takes several minutes. I used to try using Pam or olive oil on my hands, but it seemed to absorb into the dough.

Then I bake the crust only for about 10 minutes until it is a little brown on top. It doesn't rise much, if any, whether I leave it in a warm spot 10-20 minutes first, so I usually don't bother anymore.

Then I take it out of the oven. By then it has set enough to handle. I flip it over (releases from the parchment easily) and put back in the oven another 5 minutes or so to brown the other side. Then I take it out, flip back over to the original side, and add the toppings. Or at this point, you can let the crust cool completely and freeze it for future use.

Sounds like a lot of trouble - it is a little, but the pizza comes out great every time.

[kareng]

I flip it over (releases from the parchment easily) and put back in the oven another 5 minutes or so to brown the other side. Then I take it out, flip back over to the original side, and add the toppings. Or at this point, you can let the crust cool completely and freeze it for future use.

Sounds like a lot of trouble - it is a little, but the pizza comes out great every time.

Flipping is a great idea. We used gluten-free Pantry mix and it was very sticky but I remembered the plastic wrap trick. I laid it on the whole top and used my fingers to spread it out. I put my oven on for 2 minutes and turned it off and put my dough into rise in the bowl. Just made the oven warmer than the kitchen.

[Megs]

Did you use xanthan gum, or is it included in the blend you used? Absence of a binder would probably account for some of the softness, but depending on the flour blend, the recipe for bread given by the company might not work for pizza dough. Many gluten-free breads are "batter breads". That is, the dough is more like a thick batter. Start with a small amount of water, and work up to the right dough consistency, rather than trying to add the right amount of water all at once.

Also, gluten-free breads generally don't tolerate fats very well, so you may need to reduce or omit the oil. Following the same method used for an equivalent wheat dough usually yields unsatisfactory results.

Thanks for the advice RiceGuy, I will give it a go.

[Megs]

Hi Megs,

It sounds like you used a standard dough recipe and subsitiuted gluten-free flour. The problem with that is gluten free flours don't "act" the same in a recipe--especially baked goods.

Here's a very good recipe for pizza dough--it's the one I use. Seems like a lot of ingredients, but it mixes up fast and while it's not exactly like the old gluten pizza dough, it's quite tasty--

2 tbsp. rapid rise yeast

1 and 1/3 cups warm milk (you can use a sub)

1 tsp. sugar

1 and 1/3 cups rice flour

1/2 cup potato starch

1/2 cup cornstarch

2 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. gelatin powder

2 tsp. oil

2 tsp. vinegar

Preheat oven to 425.

Disolve yeast and sugar in milk then add in oil and vinegar. Blend dry ingredients and add to milk mixture. Mix well and pat onto greased pizza pan (I use plastic wrap between my fingers and the dough--it's easier to handle that way since the dough is very sticky).

Pre-bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, add toppings, and finish baking for 20 minutes.

Thanks for the advice jerseyangel, will give your recipe a go. Keep you posted!!!

[TrillumHunter]

I make two pizzas once a week, so I've made quite a few!

That is a good recipe that was posted. You can also check out David's on here as well.

The number one thing I've found that really improves the dough is refrigerating it at least a few hours. It loses a lot of that stickiness and rises better. I spray my pan with Pam olive oil and then spray the dough with it as well. I roll it out with a little silicon roller. I never flour my dough anymore--it's too messy! After a great deal of trial and error, I can finally make gluten-free pizza as fast as I could gluten pizza.

Good luck!

[RiceGuy]

As others have indicated, rolling out gluten-free pizza dough doesn't really work. What I do is to spread it with the back of a spoon. If the dough sticks to the spoon too much, don't worry. Just get it spread as best you can, then smooth it out by first wetting the spoon with water so the dough won't stick to it.

[kareng]

There is a pizza place here that says the crust contains soy infant formula. It make a good thin crust.

[naiiad]

You can buy decent tasting gluten-free pizza bread at a health food store. I bought some from Bulk Barn (Canada) and it took literally a few minutes to prepare. I had no trouble flattening it out. Didn't taste bad, especially topped with spinach-avocado pesto and veggies ^.^