When I switched to following a gluten free and dairy free diet, regular pizza was the thing I missed most. Yea, they make pizzas, but the gluten-free crust options are limited. What I wanted was a gluten free personal pan pizza that I could eat while my family was enjoying pizza night.
One of my first jobs was working at Pizza Hut. I did everything from answering phones, to making pizzas, delivering pizzas, and eventually becoming a manager, which involved making all the daily pizza dough. So I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to attempt making a gluten-free pizza dough. This deep dish style pan pizza is crispy on the bottom and soft on the inside and the perfect base for all your favorite pizza toppings. So whip up this homemade gluten-free dough for your next Friday night pizza night. I promise your taste buds will thank you!
This pizza crust is both gluten free and dairy free, so everyone can enjoy it with their favorite toppings. I've had it four times in the past couple of weeks, so it might also be dangerous LOL.
Don't be intimidated by gluten free yeast dough. There are some tricks, but if you're carefully following a well tested recipe you should have good results. For other yeasted recipes, check out my best gluten free sandwich bread or this gluten free cinnamon raisin bread that my family says is better than the wheat stuff!
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Ingredient Notes
I have tried to simplify this recipe as much as possible, so it uses a store bought flour blend instead of a homemade blend.
- Water - As is typical with gluten free breads, this is a high hydration dough at 94.5%. Gluten free flours require more liquid than wheat flour to allow them to rise and stay soft.
- Whole Psyllium Husk - Unlike starches, psyllium husk gels when added to room temperature water. Because of that gel like quality, it allows gluten free flour to form into a dough that can be handled - rather than being more like a batter. If you only have ground psyllium husk, you'll need to reduce the amount by 25%.
- Gluten Free All Purpose Flour - I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. I haven't tried this recipe with any other gluten free flour blend, so I only recommend using the King Arthur brand. Be careful that you don't buy the King Arthur All Purpose Baking Mix, which is a product similar to Bisquick, since the packages look almost identical.
- Instant Yeast - I prefer using instant yeast, since it doesn't require blooming time. Instant Yeast is sometimes called Rapid Rise or Bread Machine Yeast. My preferred brand is Fleischmanns, which is gluten free.
- Sugar - A little sugar is added to help feed the yeast as well as allowing the crust to brown a little during baking.
- Salt - For flavor.
- Xanthan Gum - The flour mix we are using doesn't contain xanthan gum, so we need to add it separately. Xanthan gum is the ingredient that mimics gluten to make dough stretchy. The recipe won't work without this additive, so don't skip it.
- Oil - Pizza Hut uses soybean oil in their pan pizza, both in the bottom of the pan and in the dough. I prefer extra virgin olive oil. You can use another type of oil, but it needs a high smoke point. So avocado, corn, peanut, or sunflower oil would be suitable alternatives.
- Cornstarch (not shown above) - Cornstarch is used to dust the table for rolling out the dough. You could replace this with arrowroot powder or tapioca starch if you avoid corn.
See recipe card for full ingredient list and quantities.
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Buy Now → How to make a gluten free personal pan pizza
Because of the small amount of ingredients, this dough is too small to mix with a stand mixer. All the mixing is done by hand. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale for the most accurate measurements.
STEP 1: A 1 ½ tablespoons of oil to an 8-inch cake pan and swirl it around to coat the bottom. Set the pan aside.
STEP 2: Heat your water to 115 F / 46 C. Add the psyllium husk to the water and stir it together. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
STEP 3: Add the gluten free flour, yeast, sugar, salt and xantham gum in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
STEP 4: Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the water-psyllium husk mixture to the dry ingredients. Fold in the wet ingredients with a spatula until dry ingredients are visible.
STEP 5: Use a spatula to knead and fold the sticky pizza dough for 10 minutes.
STEP 6: Lay out a piece of parchment paper and dust it with corn starch. Place the dough ball on top. Roll out into a circle that is equal to the size of your pan.
STEP 7: Place the dough circle into the prepared pizza pan. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.
STEP 8: Once the dough has risen, brush the edges with a little olive oil, then add tomato sauce and cover with your favorite toppings and bake.
Baking Tip
Add a pizza stone or baking sheet to the oven rack while preheating the oven to give the pan a nice hot surface to sit on. It helps the bottom of the crust to crisp up really nicely!
Storage
Store leftover pizza in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat in a 350 degrees oven on foil for 10 minutes.
Suggested Toppings
This personal pan pizza dough is perfect for any toppings you like. Since it's both a gluten free and vegan pizza crust, it can be used for veggie pizzas too. Here's how you can make the pepperoni and garlic pizza shown in the photos:
- Pizza Sauce - My store sells very few pizza sauces that are marked as gluten free. It's really easy to make your own and this homemade pizza sauce recipe is simple and delicious.
- Mozzarella Cheese - I like Violife mozzarella shredded cheese for pizza. It seems to melt the best of all the vegan cheese I've tried. Still, I go a little lighter than I would with dairy cheese since it can get oily when melted.
- Pepperoni - I typically buy Applegate Farms or Boars Head pepperoni, since they are both gluten free and dairy free.
- Garlic - I like to spread a little minced garlic over my pizza sauce to get an extra garlic punch!
Other dinner recipes to consider:
If you try this recipe, please leave a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the comments below.
Recipe
Gluten Free Personal Pan Pizza
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ Tablespoons Oil divided
- ⅔ Cup Water
- 1 ½ teaspoons Whole Psyllium Husk
- 15 Tablespoons Gluten Free All Purpose Flour I use King Arthurs
- 1 ½ teaspoons Instant Yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoons Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Xanthan Gum
- Cornstarch for dusting table
Instructions
- Add 1 ½ Tablespoons of oil to an 8-inch cake pan. Swirl the pan around to coat the bottom, then set aside.2 ½ Tablespoons Oil
- Heat the water to 115 °F (46 °C). Add the psyllium husk to the water and stir well. Set aside for 5 minutes.⅔ Cup Water, 1 ½ teaspoons Whole Psyllium Husk
- Combine the gluten free flour, instant yeast, sugar, salt and xanthan gum in a mixing bowl. Whisk together to mix.15 Tablespoons Gluten Free All Purpose Flour, 1 ½ teaspoons Instant Yeast, 1 ½ teaspoons Sugar, ½ teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon Xanthan Gum
- Add the remaining oil and the water-psyllium husk mixture to the dry ingredients. Fold together with a spatula until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Use the spatula to knead and fold the sticky dough inside the bowl. Knead for 10 minutes. The stickyness should lessen as the dough is worked.
- Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch on your clean work surface. Place the dough ball on the cornstarch and use a rolling pin to roll it into a circle the same size as your pan. It should roll out very easily without applying much pressure.Cornstarch
- Transfer the dough circle to the oiled pan. Cover the pan and place it in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. It should take about an hour.
- When there is 20 minutes remaining in your proofing time, place a pizza stone or large baking sheet in your oven and preheat to 450 °F (232 °C).
- Once the dough is done rising it should be poofy and soft to touch. Brush a little oil around the outer edges and top with your favorite toppings.
- Place the cake pan on top of your pizza stone or baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake for 16-18 minutes until the cheese has melted and the crust is golden in color.
- Remove from the oven, use a spatula to transfer the pizza to a serving plate and enjoy!
Notes
Tiffany is the recipe developer, stylist and food photographer behind Well Fed Baker. As a lifelong baker who had to go gluten free and dairy free in 2016, Tiffany strives to share allergen friendly recipes that never feel like they are free from anything.
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