As I sit here and write this post I’m tormented by the fact that my husband finished off all of this pizza last night when he stayed up late to do some work. You see this pizza is really, really, really, really, really good. And that may be an understatement. I woke up craving it (ok lets be real..I dreamt about it all last night as well). So it seems as though I will be making a new pizza for breakfast.
7 years ago in our early years of dating I would drive home to Rochester on the weekends from college to see Rich. Our favorite thing in the world to do was to have a movie night (or if it was up to him we would watch the Bears or Duke). We always ordered a large domino’s thin crust pizza (sometimes two!) and ate every morsel. As my memory serves that crust was perfectly crisp and flaky. Did we ever love it. While I believe all things can be re-created gluten free with effort- I honestly never imagined I would be able to recreate that crust GRAIN FREE!!
The recipe I’m sharing with you today is truly special. The flavor and texture is to die for..and its easy to make. If you have never tried one of my recipes before you need to try this one. It will knock your socks off.. The best part is that its not heavy! You can eat a lot without feeling like you swallowed a brick.
I LOVE my grain free thick crust pizza, and I dig the cauliflower crust recipe as well but this one.. well..there’s no question. Its my FAVORITE. Not only that but its the best crust I have ever had, in my life. Period.
This recipe yields 2 crusts. Trust me- make the full recipe. You will thank me.
Best Ever Crispy & Flaky Gluten Free Thin Crust Pizza
- 3 packed cups of blanched almond flour (see substitution notes below)
- 7 Tbsp of Starch (Potato, Tapioca or Arrowroot)
- 2 Tsp. Baking Powder (I use double acting)
- 1/4 Tsp. Salt
- 2/3 Cup of Flax Meal (I used golden flax seeds to make my meal)
- 1 cup of warm water
- 1 Tbs of Oil or Melted Butter. (dairy or nondairy)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer mix together the Almond Flour, Starch, Baking Powder and Salt. In a smaller separate bowl combine the flax meal, warm water and oil. Whisk together until it thickens.
- Add the thickened flax mixture to the stand mixer bowl and mix until well combined (note: this can also be done by hand- just make sure to mix it really well!)
- Divide the dough in half and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the first half of dough on the cookie sheet and roll it out really thin – add additional oil as needed to keep the dough from sticking. (You can also roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper) . The dough should end up no more than 1/16th inch thick. (I made a 12 inch by 16 inch rectangle sized pizza).
- Repeat with second crust in the other lined cookie tray.
- Place into oven and par- bake each crust 22-24 minutes until the edges are golden and the crust is cooked through. (If you want to bake them at the same time you can- you might just need to increase your baking time by a few minutes and I would alternate the trays and place them on the opposite racks halfway through the cooking time.)
- Remove from oven and top with ingredients of choice. Then bump the oven heat up to 400 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes (give or take) until your cheese has melted and the edges are extra crispy and a dark golden color. (Note: If using real cheese feel free to turn on the broiler at this point to speed up the process and to get some nice color to your crust. If using a fake cheese such as Daiya DO NOT turn the broiler on as it will almost instantly burn. Allow the fake cheese to melt slowly with the 400 degree oven setting.)
Feel free to par bake and then freeze these crust’s for future use. If doing so- allow the crust to cool completely before wrapping it up and freezing.
Try this crust with my Pesto Pizza Topping or Buffalo Chicken Topping.
Pictured in these photos is my buffalo chicken topping using a white cheddar instead of orange + some chives.
Substitutions
- Instead of blanched almond flour feel free to use another homemade nut or seed flour. Sunflower seed flour reacts to baking soda and powder and turns green if you surpass a certain amount of baking powder per cup of flour. (I don’t know what this exact amount is and will be toying with this in the future.) This is something to be aware of if you try using homemade sunflower seed flour. For the best results use a mild tasting nut or seed flour.
- To make your own Nut or Seed flour: simplyrun the nut or seed in a high powdered blender or coffee grinder until you have a super fine flour. (If the flour is course- the recipe might not work as well.)
- Coconut flour or any of the starchy grain based flours will NOT work in this recipe. Only use other Nut/Seed flours.
- To make this recipe corn free use a corn free baking powder (such as Hain) and if butter is a problem opt for olive oil or coconut oil instead of earth balance in the crust.
- PLEASE follow these guidelines if you would like the recipe to work! Making other changes will give you different results. Experiment at your own risk.
-Brittany-
{ 88 comments… read them below or add one }
I was thinking about trying to find some dinner rolls to make to go with surf and turf dinner we’re preparing for Oscar night, but now I’m thinking of making these into just focaccia topped with garlic and rosemary, without the traditional pizza toppings. I am excited! And I’ll report back. Thanks!
If you want a spot on foccatia texture I would try my grain free thick crust recipe instead!
Interesting. Thanks so much! I’ll report back.
Could you use chia powder instead of flax meal? Thanks!
I can’t say for sure since I didn’t try it myself. But I always encourage experimentation. Let me know if you give it a go and how the crust turns out!
I would like to know too. I’m allergic to flax (crazy I know)
I was short of the full amount of flax, so I supplemented some chia and it turned out fine. From other recipes they usually say that you need less chia than you do flax, but not sure for this one.
I’m allergic to flax too! I’m glad someone else asked this question!
Two people in my family are allegic to Flax and I am allergic to Chia as well as my hubby. Do we really have to use Flax? I can use Flax but not one of my kids or hubby. Hubby and I are allergic to Chia while he is allergic to both Chia and Flax. I know it is bad but….is it necesssary???
Holly
Is the flax an egg substitute or are you just hydrating it for texture?
I am definitely going to try this! It almost looks like a cracker type crust? Or does it still have some dough to it like a thin pizza crust would? Trying to get my taste buds on the right page!!! LOL
The edges are crisp but the inside is like a flaky super thin crust.
Brittany,
Love, love all your recipies! What substitutes could I use for the starches you list? I am diabetic and the starches listed are too high in carbs Would xantham gum work as a replacement? Thanks for all your effort!
Xanthan gum would not work to replace the starch! The starch gives it the light, crispy/chewy texture that you’re looking for. I’m not sure what could replace it — arrowroot, tapioca and potato are the most common and are all plant-based.
Brittany,
My son who is prediabetic and I have jumping glucose problems (hyperglycemia) can handle Tapioca Starch. What I would do in your case is make sure you plan your meals so you can have this crust. Eat less carbs of other things you would eat and you can have this crust.
That is how my son and I do it.
Holly
ooppss this is to reply to Sherry not Brittany
Oh.My.Goodness!!!! My DH said to thank you for one of the best dinners he’s had in a LONG time. I really liked it as well.
Thanks for experimenting and sharing. I have been in mourning since discovering my egg allergy on top of everything else. I wasn’t planning to cook tonight, but this looked so good that I had to try it.
It was wonderful!
If you put together a cookbook, I will be 1st in line to buy it.
Thank you!!
Ps. I have two books already out
https://realsustenance.com/books/
Well, I figured out what NOT to do. My food processor didn’t make the almond flour fine enough so it was gritty. I somehow was out of flax so I used ground psyllium husk, which threw me for enough of a loop that I didn’t re-read the recipe for the liquid step and just dumped everything into the mixer bowl and started mixing. Sigh. It tasted okay, but the texture sure wasn’t thin crust pizza. I’m going to add an egg to the second crust and see what happens. Tomorrow. I’ve been disappointed enough today. Oh, and I’ll add more hot sauce too. But we loved the topping idea of spicy chicken. It really does pay to pay attention to the recipe steps, especially after Brittany spends so much time and effort on them!
Hey Brittany,
Have you tried to freeze this dough for future use? If so, did you freeze it before or after the first baking? I’m in the process of prepping some “easy-meals” for when my baby comes in a few weeks and would love to add this pizza to my list!
Thank you for all that you do!
Nikki
Your best bet is to par- bake and then freeze!
Fantastic, thank you!
I cannot WAIT to try this! Thank you for always having substitution comments and comments about what you learned as you created/perfected these recipes. I agree with the other post, I would buy a book of yours asap if you had one! Thank you!
I have two! Here they are: https://realsustenance.com/books/
Hi Brittany,
I made this crust tonight for pizza dinner and I’m reporting back! First of all, thanks for the hard work you put into all the recipes, the blog and sharing them with all of your readers. I know how intense this blogging is, as I too have a blog.
I like the gooeyness the flaxmeal and water mixture created and provided for the overall dough. I found the texture of the raw dough very interesting. I made one small substitution, which is baking soda for the baking powder (1:3). So, my following comment could be related to that, but I am unsure. While the crust holds together very well and is “crusty”, we did not get flaky results. In fact, it was so hard to chew that my husband commented it hurt his jaw and stopped eating it. I usually make an extra dish for him, when experimenting like this.. glad I did tonight. I ate all my pizza but also had a hard time chewing. I followed all the instructions, except the baking soda…. and I did bake a bit less time originally because I was afraid of burning it, but it looked great straight out of the oven.
Not sure where I went wrong.. or if I need to experiment with your recipe to get better results…
Anyway, thank you!!
Left you a response on fb- but you went wrong by trying to replace the baking powder. Baking soda does not work the same.. it requires an acid to work- and this recipe does not contain any acid. Which is why I called for powder instead. Basically your crust did not rise at all which would make it like a hard cracker.
I just found your blog via Pinterest, and I love it! I have no known allergies or intolerances, but I do believe that food is medicine, and I can’t wait to start trying your recipes!
This crust looks amazing and simple! Love the use of almond flour.
You just made our day. That was the best gluten-free and grain-free crust I’ve ever had and I’ve tried a lot of different crusts over the last two years. I think pizza can go back into our regular rotation with this awesome crust! Thank-you, Thank-you!!
Did you use a sauce on the crust? Or just put the cheese directly on the crust.?
You can do whatever you want! We’ve made it all kinds of different ways.
Well yesterday was my lucky day! I was planning on making pizza for dinner, went to your blog for your grain-free thick crust recipe yesterday, and saw this recipe on the home page. I knew I would love it, and I did. I had a little bit of a fiasco as I tried to halve the recipe (I know, I know) but only remembered with certain ingredients and not others. So long story short I turned it into the full recipe but might have messed up a couple things along the way. I did have to supplement the flax with some chia since I ran out. And then I was too lazy to roll the first batch out super thin. But you know what? DELCIOUS! I agree, this is my new favorite pizza crust recipe. I rolled the 2nd batch out super thin as instructed, par-baked and then topped and froze so I’m sure that will be even better and I can’t wait. I wonder if pizza 2 nights in a row is too much?
This is the first recipe I’ve made from this awesome site. Very, very good! I made mine ultra-thin, which didn’t seem to require as much par-baking as indicated. For one pizza, I did a traditional pepperoni with goat mozzarella, manchengo and pecorino romano (I can tolerate both goat and sheep’s milk cheeses). For the other, I mixed cooked ground beef with homemade BBQ sauce and put that on first — then topped it with the same cheese mixture and some chopped scallions. VERY good. One suggestion, though, is to not go to heavy handed on the “goop”…I used a full pound of ground beef and it seemed to weigh the crust down a bit.
Side note to Brittany: THANK YOU for providing gluten-free alternatives to tapioca starch (I used arrowroot tonight and want to try potato next time). I had a gluten crossreactivity test done from Cyrex labs, and I test very high for tapioca. Explains why store-bought gluten-free stuff always made me sick.
Just made this pizza. It was soooo good! The crust is a delight in itself, especially the extra crispy outside parts. The dough was wonderful to work with and stuck together really well. Perfect all the way! I did “almost” the chicken topping you had, but I didn’t have the same hot sauce, so I substituted….still awesome, awesome pizza! Thanks for your time in figuring out this kind of stuff and sharing it!
Wow, great pizza crust! I have several acceptable crust recipes, but this one is truly delicious!
The dough is pliable and easy to handle. I rolled it really thin and was skeptical about the long cooking time, but it was perfect!
Thank you for sharing your recipe
Leftover are fantastic reheated on a pizza stone! Next time, after I par-bake the crust, I may throw a pizza stone in to finish off the final product.
I had the same thought!
Haven’t used my pizza stone in ages..
Hi,
Super excited to try this one that is egg free too! I am nut and seed free on autoimmune paleo, but am going to try plantain flour! I can’t wait to report. I have had success with plantain/almond subs….wish me luck!
Melissa
Have you??
I have 5 lbs of plantain flour that I have not tried using yet. It’s hard to find certified gluten free so I don’t yet call for it in my recipes.
One day!
Brittany,
I made this crust the other night. I thought it would be wonderful after I had finished par baking it. It looked beautiful. However, after I put my pizza sauce and toppings on it and finished the baking it, the crust became very soggy and we were not able to pick it up to eat. We had to eat with a fork. It did taste good though! I would like to know if you or anyone has any ideas as to what I did wrong. Do you guys use a sauce on it? Maybe I should try it without a sauce, or very little sauce. Or maybe I should bake the pizza directly on the oven rack instead of a pizza pan? I really want this recipe to work, so I would love some advice. Thanks again for all you wonderful recipes. This is the first one I have made that didn’t work like I had hoped.
Janet
I recommend trying my new thin crust recipe! I like it way more than this one!
Great where can I find it?
Hi Brittany,
I made this for dinner tonight and it was AWESOME!!! Everyone loved it! I didn’t realize it though until reading through these comments…I completely forgot to add baking powder and it still turned out wicked! Go figure?! LOL
Definitely a great crust for family pizza night. Maybe I might even add the baking powder next time
Michelle
Hi Brittany! This recipe is awesome I saw it a few days ago and knew I had to make it this morning when I woke up….pizza for breakfast? why not….I have Hashi’s too and although I’ve yet to really talk about it on my blog you inspire me to be more open. I admire your optimism and it’s nice to remember how important it is to stay positive when life throws you a curve ball. Thanks for sharing, your blog rocks.
This is 9,ooo times better than any other grain-free crust recipe I’ve tried. Thank-you so much!
I followed this recipe exactly but the end result was a thin cracker which didn’t resemble a thin crust pizza. My “pizza crust” looked nothing like yours lol. Are you able to provide a weight for the 3 cups of packed almond flour. I have a feeling that my “packed” cup isn’t the same as yours. Thank you!
Hi….I miss pizza and was so excited until I got to the flax part. I can not tolerate Flax…it does the same thing that whole grain does and it’s not pretty . So…may I use 2 eggs? I have organic, free range chickens of my own and thought maybe that would work. Please advise as I really, really want Pizza .
You might try my thick crust recipe Instead ( look under the pizza category on this page: https://realsustenance.com/recipe-list/)
Or you could try using chia meal instead of flax. I have not tested that substitution out myself though and can’t really tell you what will happen..
Hi Brittany! I did a blog post on your crust! Thanks so much for the recipe it’s awesome! You rock.
What toppings are those pictured? (And if you listed it and I didn’t see it, just forgive me please. )
This crust is absolutely amazing! I’ve been grain free for several months now, and this website has been an absolute inspiration!
You did it! This is amazing! I made your recipe Saturday night and had two slices of pizza for dinner, then I had the leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day! So good!
Made this the other night. YUM! This is a keeper Thank you.
This looks really tasty! But even that small amount of the starch is a problem for our restricted diet. Do you think xanthum gum would work as an ok replacement?
7 Tbsp of gum instead would be absolutely disgusting. You may be able to come up with some combination of psyllium powder for the bulk and gum for the starch, but you’d have to do a lot of trial and error. And it would probably work best with an egg.
Tried this yesterday-office pizza party, so I made it night before-STILL AMAZING-Thank you so much-I miss pizza more than anything!
Want to tell you thank you for your hard work developing recipes, i’m looking forward to trying more recipes of yours.Tried this one tonight, and it was pretty good. I did a caramelized onion and garlic chicken pizza – super tasty combo! My husband thought it was just ok, but neither of us has any issue with gluten or grains so we are still used to a chewy wheat crust. I may have done something wrong because mine wasn’t flaky, just cracker-like tho whole way through. That made me think that the maybe the second crust could be turned into crackers, so I cut the raw rolled out dough into squares, salted it and baked it till light brown. Tastes very close to a wheat thin, i think its the best low carb cracker I’ve made ha ha Thanks for the recipe
Wow. I gave up bread for lent and this makes me eager for easter! I follow an oil-free vegan diet. Do you know of a way to make pizza crust sans oil?
For those wondering about chia, I used 1/2 c ground (roughly 1/3c whole) chia seeds and my crust was nice, thick and sticky and rolled beautifully between 2 sheets of parchment.
Thank you!!
Hi there. I discovered your blog on Pinterest and am I ever glad I did! Our family is not completely grain-free, but I’m incorporating a lot of grain free meals in our menu. I made this crust tonight and I’m absolutely in love!! It’s fantastic. The kids liked it too. I went with the traditional (organic) pepperoni and cheese and it’s my new fave! Thank you very much for this! I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes… I’ve already pinned a few!
I subscribed to the RSS feed and want to obtain more printer-friendly versions of this and other recipes, but don’t see a print icon, and when I hit the “Pin it” link, it asks for my email add. plus a password, for which I have not figured out how to register with a password. Can anyone help, please? Thanks, shannon.
Brittany,
This is the BEST pizza crust ever! I have been craving pizza for about six months, but had not made any because I cannot have dairy, wheat, soy, or corn and everything I have tried in the past was just lacking and left me feeling depressed about my restrictions. Every time a pizza commercial came on TV I would get so mad that the alternative options available to me just did not stack up to the original.
My husband and I finally tried this recipe last night (I printed it out back in Feb but was waiting to finish an autoimmune anti-inflammation diet before I could try it) and it was like the clouds parted and the pizza gods themselves handed me this glorious masterpiece! I am so thankful for your website and books; we have never made one of your recipes that I did not love.
Thank you SO much for bringing pizza back into my life. I am having leftovers for lunch today and I cannot wait!
AMAZING! Thank you! This totally hit the spot for my recent insatiable cravings and even better, the kids LOVED it! They all begged that we make this once a week from now on. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Absolutely amazing! I’m eating it right now, couldn’t even wait to finish it before thanking you! I love pizza and it has been the hardest thing to give up. This has changed my life! Cheers!
Let me start by saying I greatly appreciate your recipes and have tried several of them. I am paleo for health reasons and was soooo excited to see this recipe. Unfortunately, it is misleading to say it is grain/corn free as baking powder is made with cornstarch (unless there’s a brand that isn’t that I haven’t heard about). I don’t think I would have the same results with baking soda
Yes. There are several brands of baking powder that are free of corn. Additionally it is simple to make your own.
I cannot possibly include every possible allergen notation of all ingredients to please everyone. I expect that If someone has a corn allergy that they are reading labels and doing research about all the various things they can and cannot have.
Additionally I have found that most people that are paleo are not so hardcore about it that they worry about the tiny amount of cornstarch in some brands of baking powder. The ones that tend to be concerned ( as they should be) are those with an allergy.
I will have to look further for corn free baking powder then. I know you can’t please everyone, just concerned about the labeling. I am allergic to corn and gluten intolerant which is why I commented. Thanks again for all your recipes!
Yes- I understand.
This is why I didn’t label this recipe specifically as being corn free.
It is labeled corn free.
this is the best gluten free crust i have found so far. THANK YOU!!!
I’ve spent the last half hour trying to find out what the difference is between the “Enhanced Edition” and the regular editions of your cookbooks, other than the price. The descriptions are identical on Amazon for either edition. What is the difference, please?
Enhanced is in color! Thats the only difference
I am so happy I found this recipe and your website – after years without pizza I tried a coconut flour one recently – YUCK. But this is perfect, so close to the real thing. Thank you for sharing!
Can you tell me what other nut/grain flour I can use in place of the Almond flour please? I want to try this recipe tonight
Thank you!
Renee, have you had any luck. I am in the same situation and I would like to know if anyone has tried it with any other nut or seed to see if it turned out ok
Diane
Made this tonight! It was sooooooo gooooooooood!!!!! I was out of flax so I used a bit more almond and a bit of chia! Worked perfectly! New fav crust!
I was wondering if you could use this dough to make a hotpocket? If you think so, what would your baking instructions be?
Thanks
Tracy
I made this for my family for dinner last night and it turned out amazing! My family has been gluten-free for the last 18 months and said that this was the best pizza they have had since then!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe! It will be a regular in our house!
Your recipe seems to be amazing . Surely going to try it for my children this weekend . Thank you so much for sharing.
Is this supposed to rise? 1.5mm is sooo thin that it burnt within 15 minutes. I’m really confused…
Only slightly- it’s like a crispy cracker crust.
Could I use cornstarch since it’s what I have on hand and we don’t have any allergies or is it best to stick with one of the others forms of starch that you suggested?
I haven’t tried Cornstarch in the recipe but I think it should work well!
Just wanted to add my thanks for this wonderful pizza crust. It’s fabulous!
This was delicious! I made a buffalo chicken pizza for my husband and me, and a bbq/pineapple/bacon version for the kiddos. Rave reviews from all – yay! My crust turned out very ‘cracker-y’ (which I love) – can’t wait to use that recipe with some added herbs and spices to make crackers for various dips. So glad I happened upon your site – always looking for inspiration – thank you!
This was the BEST gluten/dairy/soy/egg free pizza crust I have ever made! I’m a mom of two young boys with autism who are on the GFCF diet in addition to having allergies to egg, soy, corn, and peanuts. Needless to say, it has been difficult figuring out what to feed them! Not only did it taste great, but it didn’t crumble! Before I tried this recipe, I had yet to find an autism diet/allergy friendly/toddler friendly crust that did not crumble. Awesome I love your recipes and thank you so much for all the work you do!
–Heather
Oh shoot. Whoops. Super sorry! Was responding from my phone and somehow missed that.
Just wanted you to know I made this tonight with corn free baking powder and it was awesome! Very buttery flavor. Would make great crackers also. Had to keep my 3 year old from eating it before I could put the toppings on!
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