Live the Live ™

With people in my family that need to be on a gluten-free diet, I often experiment with a variety of doughs, trying to find just the right one for both, those who live a GF lifestyle and those who don’t. Those of us that can eat gluten, know that GF foods are very often sorely lacking in flavor and texture. So when a good recipe comes along, it’s worth sharing.

 

I originally made dinner rolls with this recipe, and although I was shooting for a Parker roll softness and consistency, what I got was more like a biscuit, although it was still quite soft and delicious. It got a big thumbs-up from the GF members of my family. And I thought they tasted pretty good as well.

Since I had leftover ingredients, I thought I would try making a pizza dough with the same recipe, and I think it came out quite successfully. In my experience, the biggest problem with gluten-free doughs is that you can’t stretch or mold them, they stick to your hands like crazy, and you need to use tons of oil so that they don’t stick to the pan when you’re baking. This recipe had none of those problems.

I was able to stretch the pizza dough out into a parchment lined pan, wetting my fingertips with cold water every once in a while to keep them from sticking, and then I let the dough rise for a couple of hours before popping it into the oven. But no oil was needed. And it never stuck to the parchment.

 

Note: not all gluten-free flours are made the same, so it’s important to use the Bob’s Red Mill flour that I have listed here. If you try another all purpose GF flour, the recipe may not work as well. I’ve tried this recipe with King Arthur GF flour, and I was told by my panel of experts that they still prefer the Bob’s Red Mill formulation. I have plans on testing one other brand, Cup4Cup, in the near future. I will keep you posted! 

 

So here’s the recipe…almost exactly the same for the dinner rolls and pizza crust. Both start out with these ingredients…

1/4 cup warm water, about 110 degrees
1 tablespoon dry yeast
2 3/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free Baking Flour
2 tablespoons sugar, separated
1 teaspoon Xantham gum
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm whole milk, about 110 degrees
1 large egg
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

 

In the bowl of a mixer, combine the warm water with the yeast. Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar as well, to get the yeast going. Stir to combine and let it stand for 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, the other tablespoon of sugar, the Xantham gum, and salt. Mix well.

When the yeast has bloomed, add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl, along with the warm milk, egg, and melted butter. Mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes. The dough will be somewhat thick.

 

For the dinner rolls: Scoop out the dough in 1/3 cup measurements into a a baking sheet lined with parchment. Cover it with plastic and place it in a warm place to double in size, about 1 to 2 hours.

 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 20 minutes, until they’re slightly golden in color.

While the rolls are baking, melt another 2 tablespoons of butter, and brush the rolls with it when they come out of the oven. Season with a little salt.

 

For the pizza: Take the ball of dough out of the mixer and spread it evenly onto a parchment-lined baking pan. Wet your fingers with cold water to keep the dough from sticking.

 

Cover the dough with plastic and let it rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours. (This is a good time to prepare your sauce, cheese and toppings for the pizza. Any sauce works here, from homemade to sauce in a jar. I had a variety of cheeses in the fridge, so I made a combination of mozzarella, fontina, pecorino Romano, and provolone.)

 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the dough—no sauce or cheese—for 10 minutes.

 

Remove it from the oven, add your sauce, cheese and toppings, then put it back in the oven and bake until the cheese has melted.