4 Tips for the Best Gluten-Free Pizza Dough

Many years ago I was told I have a gluten intolerance and that I should eliminate it from my diet. As an Italian, I knew this was not going to be easy. There is gluten in most traditional Italian food. I couldn’t possibly give it all up. Luckily, the gluten-free pasta market is full of options and some you can’t even tell are gluten-free. Unfortunately, the same generally can’t be said for gluten-free pizza dough and I love pizza.

When you order or buy a gluten-free crust you usually get a pre-formed disc that is thin, cracker-like, and may have a birdseed’ish quality. While some can be enjoyable, I missed the fluffy light pizza dough that I grew up enjoying…until now. Through many experiments with many different recipes and flours, I am sharing my 4 tips (and recipe) to consistently create the best gluten-free pizza dough ever. It’s so good, you’ll never know it’s gluten-free.  

4 TIPS TO FLUFFY GLUTEN-FREE PIZZA DOUGH

1. Caputo Gluten-Free Pizza Flour: The Caputo gluten-free pizza flour is the most important component to fluffy pizza dough. I found the flour at an independent Italian grocer in my area. I thought I would give it a try. And wow. Just wow. It’s worth every penny. As it makes the best gluten-free dough you’ve ever had. 
2. Instant yeast: This is yeast that you just dump into the dry mix – no blooming necessary. You don’t need to add sugar with instant yeast, which is great for people watching their sugar intake. 
3. Knead by hand: I love my Kitchen Aid mixer, and it did make a nice dough. However, there are always lumps/clumps, and flour left at the bottom, no matter how much you scrape the bowl down, and the dough can be very sticky. I’ve found the best dough I’ve gotten with this flour is by kneading it by hand. Do not try to start with a whisk or a spatula- they just get dirty and don’t do much to help. So, roll your sleeves up and use your hands. It doesn’t take long at all. 
4. Cold rise: You must let the dough rise in the fridge. Letting it rise in a cool area isn’t good enough. You get the best results by allowing it to rise for a minimum of 3 hours in the fridge. 

Now for the recipe. The recipe is a mix of Caputo’s off the package, www.ilfornino.com, and my own experiences. I’ve made this dough a lot, so I worked out a lot of kinks. Now you don’t have to. 

The Recipe

Ingredients 

1. 1000 grams Caputo Gluten-Free Pizza Flour (that’s the whole bag)
2. 2 1/2 teaspoons of instant dry yeast (does not need to be proofed)
3. 800 ml. of room temperature water 
4. 2 tablespoons of sea salt
5. 2  2/3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil 
6. Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking flour for kneading and shaping the dough

Directions 

1. In a large mixing bowl, put flour, water, salt, and yeast.
2. Now, mix by hand until it starts to form a cohesive dough. 
3. When the dough is almost together, add in the oil and mix well. Make sure that there are no lumps and everything is incorporated. 
4. Dust gluten-free Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 flour onto a cutting board or clean counter and knead using the heel of your hands for two minutes. 
5. Take another clean bowl and grease it with a little vegetable oil. 
6. Place dough in bowl
7. Take a piece of parchment paper and oil it. Place over the dough.  
8. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. 
9. Let the dough rise in the fridge for a minimum of 3 but no more than 24 hours. The dough can only stay in the fridge for a maximum of 24 hours. If it stays any longer it won’t rise during the baking process. It be a cold proof in the fridge. 

This dough works best when you use the whole bag of flour, though I have successfully made it with half a bag. A whole bag will get you roughly one party size sheet pizza with some dough leftover. I like to turn the leftover dough into cinnamon buns but the sky is the limit with what you can do with this amazing gluten-free pizza dough. Let’s not forget, it’s vegan too.

So there you have my 4 tips and recipe for the best gluten-free pizza dough ever. You’ll never know it’s gluten-free and that really is the goal of a good gluten-free product.

You might also want to try my recipe for gluten-free peach zucchini cake. It’s delicious and you’ll never know it’s gluten-free.

Do you have a favourite gluten-free pizza dough or other recipe? Or have you tried this recipe? Let us know how you fared. Share your comments with us.