Like most families in America, we love pizza.

Not only was pizza a quick call away, but also a relatively easy make from scratch dinner.

Then we started eating gluten free.

We have tried gluten free pizza at restaurants with mixed feelings and of course the fear of cross contamination.

I have tried a LOT of pizza crust recipes, all claiming to be “just like regular pizza” Well…..they weren’t.

While some of the gluten free recipes I have tried did yield a crispy and tasty crust, but it was more like a cracker than the thick-crusted homemade pizza we used to love.

So after trying numerous versions of gluten free pizza, here is our family’s absolute favorite pizza crust; you might want to add herbs or seasoning to the dough.

I have also found that gluten free crusts work best on metal pans, you can always use a cake pan or springform pan if necessary.  Enjoy!

Sausage and Olive Pizza

Gluten Free Thick Crust Pizza

Although homemade pizza is not as simple as calling the local pizza joint, you can mix all the dry ingredients and store in a resealable bag until ready to use; just add the wet ingredients and proceed with the recipe. If you like a really crispy crust, the last couple of minutes bake the pizza directly on the oven rack (it should just slide right off the pizza pan and onto the oven rack very easily).

dry ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 2/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup potato starch
• 1/3 cup sweet dairy whey
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 Tb xanthan gum
• cornmeal for dusting pan

wet ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast

1. In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine dry ingredients and mix til combined.
2. Add all wet ingredients and with mixer on low for about 1 minute. Turn mixer to medium and mix for another 3-4 minutes, adding up to 1/4 cup of cornstarch as needed if dough sticks to side of bowl (or knead by hand for 3-4 minutes).
3. Lightly oil or spray a 12-inch pizza pan (mine is much larger, so I just estimate the size). Sprinkle cornmeal onto the pan. Dough can be pressed directly onto pan or rolled on a lightly rice floured surface and transferred to pan, pressing with fingers to make sure crust is even; it should be less than 1/2 inch thick.
4. Allow dough to rise for 45 minutes; at least 15 minutes before has finished rising, preheat oven to 450.
5. Bake dough, without toppings, for 15 minutes or until crust looks set and is golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and cover with pizza sauce and desired toppings. Return pizza to oven and continue baking for approximately 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted and browned.
7. Remove from oven, slice and enjoy!

Breads, Cooking With Kids gluten free thick crust pizza

If you have read my blog much you know I am not a fan of mixes. I know they are convenient, but they are typically overpriced and unimpressive.

However, one mix I do buy is Chebe Pizza. I must admit I have never even tried to make pizza out of this. What we like to do is make up the dough and make bread sticks.

Chebe actually makes a mix specifically for breads ticks, but we have found that the spices in their pizza mix make it a better choice.

If you aren’t familiar with Chebe let me tell you a few things. First they are a gluten free, yeast free, peanut and tree nut free company; and five of their mixes, including the pizza one, is lactose/casein free as well. Crazy huh?

So what is in these mixes you ask? Tapioca and some spices. You add some oil, eggs, and milk or milk substitute. With no yeast it doesn’t have to rise, so you have bread baking in no time.

Chebe products are based on Brazilian “pao de queijo” (Brazilian cheese bread). I posted a recipe for Brazilian Cheese Buns a while ago and it’s true, there is no yeast and no wheat, yet they puff up and are very flavorful. My kids just love these Brazilian treats whether I use a Chebe mix or make them from scratch.

Chebe mixes aren’t hard for me to find locally, they seem to be with other gluten free products in well-stocked grocery stores. They come in small bags and cost around $3-4 a package.

I find these mixes great to keep on hand, with a pasta dish or a salad and you have a quick meal in no time. They are also great for traveling since they are in small bags and require few ingredients; making them the perfect gluten free item to take and bake if your kids are going to a friend or relatives house.

Chebe dough all mixed

Baked Bread Sticks

Easy Chebe Bread Sticks

The texture of this dough is gritty (the final product is not). The first time I made it I thought I had dumped a bunch of eggshell in it, but I really hadn’t.

• I bag Chebe Pizza Mix
• 2 Tb oil
• 2 eggs
• 4 Tb milk or substitute

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. In a large bowl mix blend Chebe mix, oil and eggs with a fork. Add milk while continuing to blend, add more liquid, 1 tsp at a time, if needed to form a dough.
3. Use hands to blend ingredients. Roll into bread sticks ( I make about 12) and place on a cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until puffed and lightly browned.

Breads, quick and easy chebe breadsticks

Banana bread is one of those things that every home cook should have a great recipe for. It is a classic quick bread, freezes beautifully, adored by grown ups and kids alike, not to mention a great way to use up those not so pretty bananas sitting on the counter.

There are so many recipes for banana bread, and not all are great. I particularly dislike the oily or greasy banana breads.

I like a banana bread that slices well, has a nice crumb, browned, but not burned, and of course is packed with banana flavor. This can be a lot to ask for in a recipe, throw in needing it to be gluten free, and the task seems enormous.

Thankfully, Elizabeth Barbone has come to our rescue. She has a wonderful gluten free banana bread in her cookbook Easy Gluten-Free Baking. It is a very basic version, which you could elaborate on, adding chocolate chips or maybe some nuts. Here is my adaptation of Elizabeth’s recipe. This is seriously good banana bread. And did I mention it’s gluten free!!!!

Gluten free banana bread that looks & tastes normal!

Gluten Free Banana Bread

Use the finest rice flours available, it greatly improves the texture of your baked goods. I prefer Authentic Food’s Super Fine Rice Flours, but the rice flours sold in the Asian markets will also work.

wet ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cups very ripe mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

dry ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups white rice flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease and rice flour a 9×5 bread pan.
2. In a small bowl, mix together sugar and mashed bananas; allow to sit for 15 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at time, mixing well after each addition. Add half of the dry ingredients and blend until smooth. Add banana-sugar mixture and stir until well mixed. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean (I cover the bread loosely with foil the last 10 minutes so it doesn’t over-brown).
6. Place on a wire rack to cool 5 min before removing from pan. Place bread on a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.

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I was a pretty avid bread baker. I ground my own wheat and started my own sourdough with grapes. And I always shunned the whole bread machine notion, I didn’t really want shortcuts. And for a birthday present, my husband even bought me a special hearthstone, allowing my artisan loaves to get a nice brown and crispy crust. I made bread with the purpose of making excellent bread.

So, here we are. Gluten free. Bread is less than exciting. Bread is an annoyance and a frustration.

Unfortunately, an American childhood staple is sandwiches.

You might have noticed I have no sandwich bread recipes listed. It’s not because I haven’t tried any. I have baked plenty. It’s just that none of them were really good. Sure most of them were edible….the first day. But the overwhelming majority had the fate of crumbs.

I have tried expensive mixes and all sorts of recipes and I finally found one I think is worthy or making again and again.

It smelled, tasted, and looked like regular homemade bread. It was the best gluten free bread I have made to date.

And unlike most of the gluten free loaves I have made, this sliced nicely and tasted great the next day. We did make paninis, but only because we missed them, not because the bread needed toasted.

Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, it takes a lot of things to replace regular wheat flour. This bread is really quite easy even for beginning bread bakers, and it is a lot less expensive than those gluten free mixes available at the stores. If you can operate a stand mixer you should be able to make this.

In fact, gluten free bread making does have some advantages over traditional methods.

• Only one rise is required, so the whole process is much quicker.
• You don’t have to knead the dough; you really just mix for about 5 minutes.
• No dough hook required.

I read about using sweet dairy whey to improve gluten free yeast breads and wow, what a difference it makes. Whey is a by product of cheese making and it is high in protein and sugar and adding it to yeast breads really improves the texture.

If you have a gluten free bread recipe you want to add dairy whey to, you will want to reduce the sugar some as it definitely add sweetness to your baked goods.

I can get it in my baking aisle of the grocery store next to the powdered milks. You may have to go to a nutrition department, a health food store, or order it; I have only used Bob Red Mill’s brand. It is around $4 for a 1.5 pound bag and worth every dime.

This bread slices nicely and tastes as good as it looks!

I realize it's not symmetrical, but the texture and crumb look great!

Finally, we can make sandwiches with leftover roast beef again!

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

I am not a huge fan of “white bread,” I would much rather have something whole grain so I used mostly superfine brown rice flour, however you could just use all regular white rice flour if desired.

I think an instant read thermometer is really essential for good bread baking. And I have found that the traditional temperature of 205 is not really adequate for gluten free breads, they need to reach around 210 to ensure there are no gooey, undercooked spots.

dry ingredients:

• 2 cups superfine brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup white rice flour
• 1/3 cup potato starch
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk
• 1/3 cup sweet dairy whey
• 2 TB dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 1/2  tsp xanthan gum

wet ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups warm water
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast

1. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine all wet ingredients and mix about 15 seconds or until yeast is dissolved. Add dry ingredients and increase mixer speed to medium-high and mix for about 5 minutes.
4. Place dough in prepared pan and allow to rise in a draft free location for one hour.
5. About 15 minutes before bread is done rising, preheat oven to 350.
6. Bake bread for about one hour or until the internal temperature reads 208-211 with an instant read thermometer. The bread can be covered with foil while baking if it begins to over brown.
7. Remove bread from oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight bag or container or freeze.

Breads gluten free sandwich bread

I have attempted gluten free hamburger buns on several occasions, but it wasn’t until I tried the recipe out of Gluten Free Baking Classics (book review here) that I had a true success.

I have made this recipe multiple times and adapted it slightly; my family loves them for both hamburgers and sandwiches. Like all gluten free bread, these do taste best the day they are baked.

I have made these in individual tart pans, disposable mini foil pie pans, and a whoopie pie pan. They all worked, but personally I like the whoopie pie pan the best.

If you plan on making your own dinner rolls or hamburger buns on a regular basis you should consider investing in something similar; whoopie pie pans, muffin-top pans, and hamburger bun pans are all very much alike and seem to range between $10-20. These pans provide the necessary support for the gluten free batter.

This recipe makes 6 conservatively sized buns (so I double the recipe when using my whoopie pie pan, which has 12 spaces), which I think are perfectly sized and make great little sandwiches for lunches.

I like to sprinkle sesame seeds are dried onions on the tops to make them seem more like the hamburger buns my family was used to.

You can also make these rolls smaller, getting 12 out of the recipe below. This makes them a very nice dinner roll size. They are a great accompaniment to soups this way.

The hamburger bun dough ready for pans; yes, it looks like cake batter.

Baked hamburger buns; half topped with sesame seeds & half topped with dried onions

We think they make a very cute ham & cheese sandwich

Gluten Free Hamburger Buns

Don’t let the long ingredient list scare you, they really are quite simple to make. These can be made smaller, in a muffin pan or ramekins, and used as dinner rolls; these gluten free rolls actually taste wonderful warm. I like to add some dried herbs to the dough, but it isn’t necessary.

wet ingredients:

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature is best
• 3 Tb canola oil
• 1 packet (1/4 oz) active dry yeast (not quick-rise)
• 3/4 cup + 2Tb warm milk, (110 degrees)

dry ingredients:

• 1/2 cup millet flour
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup potato starch
• 1/3 cup tapioca starch
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp unflavored gelatin
• 2 Tb sugar
• 1/2-1 tsp dried herbs (onion or garlic powder, Italian seasoning, etc), optional
• sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or dried onions for topping, optional

1. Lightly grease desired pans* (hamburger buns should be about 4 1/2 inches in diameter) and dust with rice flour or cornstarch (I use cornstarch).
2. Mix eggs and oil together in small bowl and set aside.
3. Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl of electric mixer. Quickly add milk, yeast,  egg, and oil to bowl; mix until just blended. Scrape bowl and beaters and then beat at high speed for 3 minutes; dough will be very sticky.
4. Spoon dough into prepared pans and smooth tops with table knife or rubber spatula. Sprinkle seeds or onions on top if desired. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size about 30-40 minutes.
5. While dough is rising, place oven rack in center position and heat oven to 375, do not use convection as buns will brown too much.
6. Place buns in preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they have a hollow sound when tapped on top. If buns are browning too quickly cover with foil.
7. Remove buns from oven and remove from pan, allowing them to cool on rack.

*Disposable foil pie pans, muffin-top pans, whoopie pie pans, miniature tart pans, hamburger bun pan or whatever oven proof pans or dishes you have similarly sized should work.

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I really wanted to figure out how to make scones gluten free. I figured having a good scone recipe could come in handy for entertaining or a child’s tea party. I have seen a few recipes, but they had a lot of ingredients.

Personally, I hate recipes with twenty ingredients. Not only do you have to gather all those things and put them away, chances are you’ll have to make a trip to the store.

I wanted to find a reliable scone recipe that wasn’t too sweet and sugary and wasn’t too complicated. I went to one of my favorite sources, the people at America’s Test Kitchen. These are the same people from Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazines, and they have a show on PBS, America’s Test Kitchen. If you like cooking and really knowing why recipes work, this is a show to watch.

I adapted their Cream Scone recipe and it worked very well. It has a few steps, but they weren’t hard, and I pictured them below so you could see how easy it really is.

I added dried cranberries and orange zest, but I think you could really stir in any dried fruit or even some chocolate. They would, or course, also be could without any additions and topped with preserves or lemon curd.

The  dough after needing a few times on the counter.

The dough pressed into a round, floured pan.

The dough, turned out of the pan and cut into wedges.

The scones ready to bake.

The scones ready to eat!

Gluten Free Cream Scones

Resist the urge to eat these hot out of the oven; I learned the hard way that the texture really improves as they cool.

• 2 cups of your favorite gluten free flour blend (I used the Brown Rice Flour Blend given below)
• 3/4 tsp xanthan gum, if not in your flour blend
• 3 TB sugar
• 1 TB baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 5 TB butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2-3/4 cup nuts or dried fruit, optional
• 1 tsp citrus zest, optional
• cornstarch for dusting pan

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425.
2. In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined. Scatter the butter over the top and pulse until the mixture resembles a course cornmeal; about 12 pulses.
3. Add any dried fruits or nuts and pulse once to combine.
4. Transfer the dough to a large bowl and stir in cream with a rubber statula until the dough begins to resemble a dough; about 30 seconds.
5. Turn the dough out onto counter, I used a silpat mat, and knead a few times to form a slightly sticky ball..
6. Press the dough into a  8 or 9-inch cake pan that has been liberally dusted with cornstarch. Unmold the dough and cut into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on a cookie sheet, I used a silpat-lined baking pan.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until scones are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes; serve warm or at room temperature.

Brown Rice Flour Blend

• 2 cups Brown rice flour (Authentic Foods Superfine)
• 2/3 cup Potato starch (not potato flour)
• 1/ 3 cup Tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)

1. Place all ingredients in a resealable bag or container; close and shake to combine. You can also try to place in bowl and stir, but I find this make a huge mess.
2. Make sure to shake vigorously before measuring the flour. It seems to really settle and doesn’t measure accurately unless shaken first.

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I made some  quick and easy cheese buns that my family really enjoyed. They taste a lot like the Chebe mixes, probably due to the tapioca  flour and that both breads are versions of the Brazilian cheese bread “pao de queijo.” I have read that these buns are traditionally served for breakfast or snacks and often sold by street vendors; but we ate ours at dinner.

I adapted a recipe from King Arthur Flour, but the other recipes I have looked at were almost identical. King Arthur definitely didn’t invent these rolls The texture is light and airy and I think they could be seasoned with herbs and spices if desired.

And just as an extra bit of information, we use the terms tapioca starch and tapioca flour interchangeably here in the United States; which I find confusing. For one thing, potato starch and potato flour are NOT the same thing. So, just when I thought I got the tapioca thing figured out, I discovered that tapioca flour is also known as manioc, yuca, and cassava flour. Wow! This is a lot to remember.

Brazilian Cheese Buns

• 1/2 cup butter or olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups tapioca flour (I use Bob’s Redmill)
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan, Roman, or Asiago cheese
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment or silpat mats.
2. Place tapioca flour in bowl of a stand mixer.
3. Put butter, water, milk and salt in a saucepan and heat over medium until it comes to a full boil. Remove from heat and pour over the tapioca flour and beat to combine. Beat at high speed until the mixture becomes smooth and elastic, this happens pretty quickly.
4. Add the garlic and cheese and mix to combine. At this point, touch the dough, if it feels very hot let it cool a few minutes before proceeding. The dough should be warm or hot, but not burning hot; you don’t want to cook the eggs when you add them.
5. With the mixer running, add the eggs slowly, beating until combined. The dough will look somewhat lumpy.
6. Drop the dough onto prepared pans, I made mine about 1/4 cup sized balls, and bake 15-20 minutes or until tops are lightly browned. Remove from oven and serve hot; these really taste best fresh, we have found that leftovers do not refrigerate well.

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The corn tortilla. It seems like a lot of people hate them. I think part of the problem with corn tortillas is that they don’t taste that great once they have been cooled, wrapped, and set on a store shelf for some undisclosed time. Basically, I think the ones we buy at the grocery store are stale.

If you have ever had authentic Mexican food, consisting of fresh, warm tortillas, now those are a different story. Those corn tortillas are actually quite good. And who knew, they are actually quite easy to make.

I found a heavy duty plastic tortilla press at the grocery store for $5.99, so I threw it in my cart and the next day we were making corn tortillas. They are so easy, so quick, and oh so much better than the store bought variety, and they fold without breaking!

I must warn you against buying a plastic tortilla press though. Mine broke the second time I made a batch of tortillas. I am now looking for a nice quality cast iron press like this one Imusa Victoria Cast Iron Tortilla Press, 6.5 Inch. I have several other cast iron pieces and once well-seasoned they are virtually indestructible.

There may be better recipes out there, but I just followed the directions on the Maseca Corn Flour, 4.4 lbs. bag. I found Maseca at my regular grocery store, along with the Mexican food. It costs about  $7 a bag, about twice the price of the other major brand, but I was much happier with the results. You simply add water and salt. I used my cast iron griddle, so there was no need to add fat or oil to the pan. Meseca corn flour has no cholesterol, no sodium, and is high in fiber and low in fat. I don’t work for these people, really. I just love this stuff.

So, if you have ever thought about making homemade corn tortillas, I say get a tortilla press and a bag of Maseca and give it a try. It is a small investment with delicious results. And if you have children or grandchildren, they are going to love helping.

Had I known tortillas were so easy, I would have started making them years ago. Homemade corn tortillas are definitely worth making.

You form a ball of dough and place on plastic lined tortilla press (I simply cut open a resealable plastic bag).

You press down.

Ta Da……you have a perfectly shaped tortilla.

You carefully transfer the tortilla to a hot pan (I used a cast iron griddle) and cook for about 50 seconds each side.

The freshly cooked tortilla.

Yummy refried bean and cheese quesadillas. The kids loved them.

Homemade Corn Tortillas ( makes 8 )

• 1 cup Maseca corn flour
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/8 tsp salt

1. Combine ingredients and knead to form a soft dough (I actually used a fork, but hands would work here). If dough is dry, add water, 1 tsp at time.
2. Form dough into 8 equal balls.
3. Flatten in plastic-lined tortilla press. I used a heavy resealable plastic bag, cut; plastic wrap or wax paper could also be used.
4. Transfer pressed dough to a hot griddle or pan, on medium heat; if it should break during transfer, just reform ball and press again. This happened to me a few times before I got the hang of handling the dough.
5. Cook tortillas about 50 seconds per side. Cover with a soft cloth to keep tortillas soft and warm. Serve.

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This is a great recipe for cornbread. I find many cornbread recipes have too much sugar and end up tasting like a corn cake or they are really dry and crumbly. This recipe has neither of those problems. It can easily be doubled and baked in a 9×13 pan or made into muffins. It can be made with either white or yellow cornmeal, but I recommend the white cornmeal. My kids, who never liked cornbread, love the version with white cornmeal. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Cornbread

• 1 cup white or yellow corn meal
• 1 cup gluten free flour blend
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease 8 inch square or circular pan.
2. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl. In separate bowl combine milk, oil and egg and mix well. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Best served warm.

*For muffins, spoon batter into 10-12 greased or paper lined muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake in 400 oven for 15 minutes.

Source: Adapted from the Albers Corn Bread recipe  found on the back of Albers White Corn Meal

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