This pizza crust is the result of trying many different recipes and combining what works and what I like. I'll give you the basic recipe, then talk about variations. The main flour here is brown rice flour, which is a whole grain flour but surprisingly neutral-tasting. You could substitute white rice flour for picky eaters who like a really bland pizza crust, but it's a lot starchier and I don't think it makes as nice of a crust. Cornstarch is included for its rising power. It rises really well and will fill in the little cracks in your pizza crust as you spread it out in the pan. If you are allergic to corn, you can substitute potato starch (not potato flour - it's a very different thing) or tapioca starch, but just be aware that the texture will not be as good and try to fill in the cracks a bit better. I've tried to maximize the brown rice to cornstarch ratio as much as possible without sacrificing function since cornstarch has pretty much zero nutritional value, but this is pizza we're talking about here. See the variations below the recipe for alternatives to the the brown rice flour that make it more of a multigrain/legume crust.
Basic Brown Rice Pizza Crust
1/2 cup warm water (not hot, it will kill the yeast)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast (the yeast is used more for flavor than for leavening, so if you are allergic to yeast just sub in some baking powder)
105 grams (or approximately 3/4 cup) brown rice flour
35 grams (or approximately 1/4 cup) cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
olive oil
Preheat oven to 450 F. We're going to pre-bake the crust before we add toppings. You get a better texture that way, but if you're in a hurry you can skip the pre-bake and just top and bake the whole thing at 350 F. What's even better to do in a hurry, though, is to make up a bunch of pre-baked crusts ahead of time and just take them out of the freezer when you need one.
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes or so until the mixture is bubbly. Just like you were making regular bread. Mix in the other ingredients and make sure to mix really well. You can use a mixer, but I just use a spoon. Sometimes I use my hands, but it does get fairly sticky. Some wheat-based recipes warn you against over-mixing so that you don't develop the gluten too much, but we will never have that problem in gluten free baking! Drizzle some olive oil (or other oil of your choice) onto a large rectangular or circular baking sheet. Once the dough is pre-baked you can use a pizza stone if you like or just keep it on the baking sheet, but the uncooked dough isn't going to nicely roll out and go on a baking sheet. That's okay, though. A lot of the rules you learned about baking things with wheat flour no longer apply. We make our own rules around here.
Scrape the dough out of the mixing bowl with a spatula and onto the baking sheet. Notice that we are not letting the mixture sit and rise like we would with a wheat and yeast dough. You'll get enough rising power from the cornstarch and the yeast without proofing the dough all day long. Now fill the mixing bowl up with water. Dip your hands in the water, shake the excess off, and use your damp hands to flatten the dough out gradually. It will look like a bit of a pasty mess. If it does, you're doing it right. Continue flattening until the whole baking sheet (or most of it) is covered in a thin layer of dough. Try to fill in the holes as much as possible, but if there are a few little holes, they'll fill in as it bakes.
Put the baking sheet in your preheated 450 F oven and bake until the crust slides in the pan when you shake it and is just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. It's kind of magical when this pasty mess of dough turns into something that looks like a pizza crust. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the temperature down to 350 F (or you can pack it up and freeze it for later at this point). Top with toppings of your choice and bake until the cheese is melted and browned as much as you like. You can also make the crust into several mini pizzas, and you can easily double (triple, quadruple...) the recipe.
VARIATIONS:
Multi-grain pizza crust: Replace 35 gram (1/4 cup amounts) of the brown rice flour with combinations of the following flours: chickpea flour, quinoa flour, millet flour, almond flour, sorghum flour, oat flour, etc. If you do this, it's extra important to do it by weight if possible because some of these flours have very different densities. But this is a good way to experiment and find new flavors that you like. I'm a fan of a combination of brown rice flour, chickpea flour, and sorghum flour.
Flatbread: Same way you made the pizza crust, but bake at 450 F a little longer (7-10 minutes for me, but make sure to watch it) until it's a bit more browned. You can add herbs, garlic, onion, cheese, chives, sun-dried tomato, etc. to the dough if you wish. Either make one big flatbread to cut in pieces, or several little ones. Eat on their own or top with your favorite sandwich fillings.
Focaccia: Like the flatbread, but spread the dough thicker and bake at 350 F for a little longer (10-15 minutes depending on thickness, but again, be sure to watch it). It'll be a bit fluffier inside than the flatbread and obviously thicker. Eat on its own, topped with melted cheese or your favorite sandwich fillings, or split in half and stuffed with your favorite sandwich fillings.
Don't be afraid to experiment, and if doesn't come out right the first time, figure out what you didn't like about how it turned out and what might make it work better for you. Feel free to leave a comment if you're having trouble, and I'll be happy to try to help! My personal favorite topping combination for this pizza is pesto sauce, slices fresh pears, roasted parsnips, a few chunks of cream cheese (rather than grated cheese all over), and some crumbled crisp bacon.
Nutritional information per 1/4 pizza crust (not including toppings and assuming you used about 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan, if you're concerned about fat content use a nonstick pan and brush on just a bit of oil): 170 calories, 3.1 grams fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 78 mg sodium, 32.6 grams carbohydrates, 1.8 grams fiber, 2.4 grams sugar, 2.7 grams protein, 5% of your RDI of iron. Source: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php.
