King Arthur Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Mix

I am still working my way through the new gluten-free products that the folks at King Arthur Flour sent me to review. Of all the new gluten-free mixes I’ve tried so far, this pizza crust mix is definitely one of my favorites.

This particular pizza mix, which contains rice, tapioca, and potato flours and starches, as well as xantham gum, is very easy to work with. I followed the directions on the box, but used ¾ cup of flax seed goop instead of the three eggs it requires. Besides eggs, all you need to add is water and oil. The mix includes a yeast packet.

What is really cool about this pizza mix is there is no rolling out – and hence, no sticking to roller pins and crusts that won’t cooperate. This is a bready pizza crust that you press into your pizza pan with your hands.

I do have to note though, that this pizza crust does take some prep time – about 1 ½ hours from start to finish. Once you’ve mixed the ingredients, you need to let the dough sit for 30 minutes. Then after you have pressed your crust into the pan, you need to proof it (or let it rise) for another 30 minutes. Baking takes another 20-30 minutes depending on how thick you make your crust. This mix easily makes two pies.

Baking is in two steps – first you bake the crust for 10 minutes, then you add toppings and continue baking. You could definitely prepare the crusts ahead of time and top them off and finish baking later. I used a trick I learned at the gluten-free baking class I took recently at the CIA. After baking the pie shells, I flipped them over so that the bottom becomes the top (and vice versa). This way, both sides of the crust are very nicely browned (and smoothed out) when done.

I added cheese this time around (because my milk-allergic son was away at school) but this would work just as well without the cheese or with a cheese alternative.

The result? A pizza with a fluffy bready crust that tastes great!