Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

Reprinted by permission. Photography by John Sherman.

From the premiere issue of SIFT, the new baking and cooking magazine from the folks at King Arthur Flour.  Fresh, warm, tasty,and gluten-free: If you’ve been missing good pizza, the wait is over.

Yield: one pizza, 8 slices.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (8 1/8 ounces) King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour or brown rice flour blend (see below)
2 tablespoons (5/8 ounce) buttermilk powder or nonfat dry milk powder
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup (8 ounces) warm water
2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) olive oil (for dough)
2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) olive oil (for pan)
Place the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl; whisk thoroughly until blended.

1. In a small bowl, combine the water, olive oil, yeast, and 1/2 cup of the dry mixture. Having a few lumps is OK. Set aside, covered, for about 30 minutes, until the mixture is bubbly and smells yeasty.
2. Add the yeast mixture to the remaining dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed for 4 minutes. The mixture will be thick and sticky. You must use a stand or electric hand mixer for this dough; mixing byhand doesn’t do a thorough enough job.
3. Cover the mixing bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
5. Grease a large baking sheet or 12 ̋ to 14 ̋ round pizza pan with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Scrape the dough from the bowl onto the puddle of oil.
6. Using wet fingers, start at the center of the dough and press down, stretching it out into a 12 ̋ to 14 ̋ circle. Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
7. Bake the untopped crust for 8 to 10 minutes, just until it’s set; the surface will look opaque rather than shiny. Remove from the oven and top with whatever you like. Return to the oven to finish baking, about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the toppings you’ve chosen.

Make Your Own Gluten-Free Flour Blend

This make-at-home blend, featuring stabilized brown rice flour, works pretty well as a substitute for the more finely ground King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi Purpose Flour. It also tastes better than a blend using regular brown rice flour.

Whisk together:

6 cups (27 ounces) King Arthur stabilized brown rice flour
2 cups (10 3/4 ounces) potato starch
1 cup (4 ounces) tapioca flour or tapioca starch.

Store airtight at room temperature. You can substitute the most finely ground white rice flour you can find for the brown rice flour.