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Close up image of a gluten free sourdough pizza sliced in wedges.
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Gluten Free Sourdough Pizza Crust

* Advance Prep Required * : You'll need a gluten free sourdough starter to make this recipe.
Flavor, texture and easy to pull together, this delicious Gluten Free Sourdough Pizza Crust is a pizza night game changer! Use your gluten free sourdough starter discard to whip up a crispy, chewy and flavorful pizza. This recipe is make ahead ready, freezer friendly, vegetarian and a gluten free vegan sourdough pizza crust! | This recipe is brought to you by Bob’s Red Mill.
*See blog post for additional information and tips.
Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine American
Diet Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword Gluten Free Pizza Dough Recipe, Gluten Free Sourdough Pizza Crust
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 23 minutes
Rise Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 8 minutes
Servings 2 10"-11" Pizzas
Calories 495kcal
Author Traci York

Ingredients

Instructions

Mix the Dough:

  • In a medium mixing bowl whisk the gluten-free flour, almond flour, tapioca flour, psyllium husk powder, baking powder, salt, and yeast so that the ingredients are evenly distributed. Set aside.
    In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk the sourdough discard, warm water and olive oil.
    Add the dry ingredients to the wet using a fork to incorporate the flour. The batter will begin to thicken. Use the fork to scrape the batter off your hands, then knead by hand, in the bowl, for two minutes.
    The dough will become thicker and remain sticky, almost like mashed potatoes. Scrape the excess dough off your fingers using a fork. Use a water moistened silicone spatula, scrape the bowl and smooth the dough on the surface into a dome.
    Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave on the kitchen counter or warm area to rise for about 90-120 minutes. I recommend putting it in a turned off oven with the light on. The dough should rise to about 1 1/2 times its size and be fluffy/springy to the touch. 

Prepare:

  • While the Dough is Rising: a. Prepare a sheet of parchment paper by generously brushing olive oil on the parchment, one for each pizza. This is the base to shape and bake the crust on. Have a pizza peel or sheet pan standing by to slide the shaped dough on to for baking.
    b. Prepare the oven by placing an oven rack at the center and if making two pizzas, another rack two settings down (leaving enough room to slide the pizza on to the pan).
    Place sheet pan(s) and/or pizza stones on racks. Two crusts or pizzas can be baked at the same time.
    c. Prepare the ingredients for the pizza. Just before you're ready to divide and shape the dough, preheat the oven to 550 Fahrenheit (288 Celsius).

Divide the Dough:

  • At this point, you'll only use water to shape the dough. Fill a shallow dish with water so you can wet your hands as you work with the dough. Do not use flour here (as traditionally done with glutenous dough).  Moisten a work surface with water. Turn the dough out onto the moist work surface. Dip your fingertips and palms into the water and pat the dough into somewhat of a disk, then divide the dough into two equal pieces. 
    Moisten your hands again and shape each piece into a rough ball by tucking the edges under. Set the dough balls on a water-moist work surface.

Shape the Dough:

  • On the oiled parchment paper, set a pizza dough ball in the center. Dip your palm and fingertips into the water. Working with both fingertips and palms, start pressing in the center of the dough, working your way towards the edges in a circular pattern leaving an edge all around that is thicker than the base of the crust (you can play with this if you like a thicker crust). It will feel almost like trying to shape mashed potatoes! There may be a bit of occasional tearing, if so, wet your hands/fingertips and smooth those areas back together.
    Turn the parchment as you work the dough so that a pizza shape can be achieved. Continue, wetting your hands and smoothing over the dough with light pressure as needed so the dough does not stick to your hands and you shape it by smoothing the dough in circular motions and/or pinching to create the edges, then smoothing with moist fingers again.  It's okay that the parchment gets a little wet.
    I make my crust thin on the bottom and go for an 11" crust - but you can play with this if you like a little thicker crust (10" pizza). Note: If you plan on freezing the par baked crust, you'll need to make the crust *thicker* on the bottom - more of a 10 inch crust, as it tends to become brittle/fragile in the freezer in areas where it's *too* thin.
    Wet a fork and dock the pizza with the tines of the fork about 10 times. 
    Tear off any excess parchment paper so that it's flush with the pizza dough, leaving enough overhang to use as a handle if needed.
    *Note that parchment paper is generally rated for use under 500 Fahrenheit. So at 550 Fahrenheit, with any overhang, the paper will char and become brittle.

Par-Bake the Dough:

  • Slide the shaped pizza dough onto a pizza peel or the back of a sheet pan using the parchment as a handle if needed. Open the oven and pull out the rack with the stone/pan. Slide the pizza dough onto the preheated pizza stone or back of the preheated pan.
    Sometimes the center puffs a bit during baking. Check the dough halfway through baking and if it has puffed in the center, use a knife to poke a small hole to let some of the steam out from under the pizza - use the knife to press it down to release the steam. 
    Par-bake for 11-13 minutes or until the dough is golden brown around the edges and center. Remove from the oven. The parchment will be brittle at this point, and can be removed before baking the pizza. It may stick a little, so remove it carefully.
    Top the par baked crust with your favorite sauce or lemon basil pesto and toppings. Pictured is basil, mushrooms, artichokes, mozzarella, mixed Italian cheese and ripe green olives.
    To Freeze: The par baked crust may be frozen at this point. Allow the crust to cool completely, then store it in a freezer or plastic bag. Thaw at room temperature and carry on!

Bake the Pizza:

  • Bake the assembled pizza on preheated stone or pan at 550 Fahrenheit (288 Celsius) for about 6-8 minutes or until the cheese has melted and sauce is bubbly - a little cheese blistering is okay! The pizza bakes fast at high heat, so keep an eye on it. Remove from oven and allow to rest for five minutes. Cut into 8 equal pieces.

Store the Pizza:

  • Store pizza leftovers in a lidded container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat at 350F for about 12 minutes. 

Notes

*Psyllium Husk Powder: Since I started testing this recipe, Bob's Red Mill has discontinued their Psyllium Husk Powder, which is the brand I've always used. However, I've transitioned to using Terrasoul Superfoods Psyllium Husk Powder and found I needed to reduce the PHP to 1 3/4 teaspoon because it's a much finer powder. Otherwise it makes the dough too thick/gummy (difficult to work with) I've found the finer the powder, the less needed in the recipe. If you have some Bob's Red Mill PHP on hand, you can use 1 tablespoon in this recipe. 
Pizza Dough Making Supplies: Parchment paper, bench scraper or dough divider, pastry brush, pizza peel (recommended), pizza stone, sheet pan (one or more depending on how many pizzas you're cooking and if using a pizza stone).
In baking, weighing ingredients is important for an optimal outcome. I find that especially true in gluten-free baking. If you feel you'll be baking regularly, I recommend investing in a good digital kitchen scale. I use one like this scale. 
Adapted from my Gluten Free Pizza Recipe. 
Nutrition below is for the crust only. Toppings are extra!

Nutrition

Serving: 111" Crust | Calories: 495kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 1173mg | Potassium: 284mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 193mg | Iron: 3mg