And by good ‘n proper we mean a killer-tasting yeast pizza dough! Yup, this gluten free, paleo and keto pizza crust is a fantastic dairy-free alternative to fathead dough. Plus, no eggy business and you’ll be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to whip up!
Gluten Free, Paleo & Keto Pizza Crust 🍕
Super-Tasty!
As mentioned, this is not your typical eggy or crumbly keto pizza crust. Think less than half the amount of eggs of your typical recipe, and a few other tips and tricks to ensure killer results.
And if you’ve already whipped up our keto focaccia, you already know this pizza crust is legit. Though we did add a bit of flaxseed meal here to up the fiber and decrease the carbs. A slightly more ‘wholewheat’ version, with wonderful taste and texture.
The Deets 🔍
Making this paleo and keto pizza is incredibly simple really. But, like with any yeasted bread, it does require you take care of a few details to ensure the best possible outcome.
Also note that you’ll want to blind bake the crust before adding the toppings, which is typical for all gluten free pizza really. This ensures the best texture throughout.
Now, like with any pizza, the texture of the center will depend on the thickness and how wet your ingredients are. But the results are fairly consistent with a traditional Margherita-style pizza: a thicker outer crust and a thin and more moist center. Absolutely delicious.
The Method 🔍
The yeast in this keto pizza dough ensures a wonderful texture and taste. Now, how fluffy your pizza will be post-bake depends quite a bit on your altitude. But note that you still won’t get that gummy and wet texture here of most low carb breads. Plus, we’re baking at over 7,000 feet (Mexico City here!!), so if we can make this keto pizza crust work so can you.
Weigh your ingredients. This will forever be a staple recommendation for any sort of gluten free baking here at gnom-gnom. As aside from leading to less dirty dishes, it will ensure consistent results time and time again. Remember that gluten free (and particularly keto) baking is notoriously finicky, and measuring by cups is anything but accurate. And if you don’t own a baking scale, measure with cups by dropping the ingredients onto them rather than scooping them out (which often leads to overpacking).
Ingredients at room temperature. Self explanatory really, but incredibly important (particularly for the eggs). If you add cold eggs to the mix your pizza simply won’t rise much (if at all).
Proof the yeast. This involves mixing dry active yeast with water that’s just warm to touch (between 105-110°F to be precise) and maple syrup or honey for 7 minutes until foamy. And before you scream sugar (!!) remember that the yeast will feed on such sugar to emit carbon dioxide, so it doesn’t affect the carb count at all. And yes, this is a scientific fact.
Avoid abrupt temperature changes and air drafts. Like with any yeast bread, you need to cuddle your dough. Make sure it’s able to rest undisturbed in a warm space.
Baking at high altitude? Yup, so am I (Paola here!!). I’ve tried quite a few combinations, and the one modification I will suggest is to increase your oven temperature by 25°F. You may also need to decrease the baking time by 5 minutes, but that may change from oven to oven. I’ve made this dough also at sea level and it does come out more puffy, but it’s still awesome either way.
Before & After Rise
After Blind-Bake
The Flours
We like a mixture of super fine almond flour, flaxseed meal, psyllium husk and xanthan gum best. But if paleo, substituting the xanthan gum for twice the amount of flax seed meal yielded good results too.
As previously mentioned, for the rise you’ll want active dry yeast and a touch of baking powder.
Also, to ensure best texture always be sure to re-grind your psyllium husk and flaxseed meal in a (very dry!) blender or bullet.
In terms of brands, for the almond either Anthony’s or WellBees work great. Both are super fine grinds. And for the psyllium husk you’ll want to use the NOW brand, as others may stain your keto focaccia purple.
The Recipe Video 📽
We’re working on a unique video for the pizza crust, but in the meantime the focaccia methodology is exactly the same (plus some added flaxseed meal).
Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Paleo & Keto Pizza Crust
Oh, and if baking with cups rather than grams is your thing, just click on US Cups for an instant conversion.
Ingredients
For the paleo & keto pizza crust
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey, to feed the yeast (NO SUGAR WILL BE REMAIN POST BAKE)*
- 80 ml water lukewarm between 105-110°F
- 96 g almond flour
- 30 g golden flaxseed meal finely ground (or more almond flour**)
- 28 g psyllium husk finely ground
- 1 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 2 egg whites at room temperature
- 13 g extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Topping suggestions for a classic pizza Margherita
- our keto marinara sauce
- fresh mozzarella
- basil leaves
Instructions
For the keto pizza crust
- See recipe video for guidance!
- Add yeast and maple syrup (to feed the yeast, see notes) to a large bowl. Heat up water to 105-110°F, and if you don't have a thermometer it should only feel lightly warm to touch. Pour water over yeast mixture, cover bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 7 minutes. The mixture should be bubbly, if it isn't start again (too cold water won't activate the yeast and too hot will kill it).
- Mix your flours while the yeast is proofing. Add almond flour, finely ground flaxseed meal (or more almond flour, see notes), psyllium husk, xanthan gum (more flaxseed meal), baking powder and salt to a medium bowl and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.
- Once your yeast is proofed, add in the egg, egg whites, olive oil and vinegar. Mix with a whisk or electric mixer for a couple minutes until light and frothy. Add the flour mixture in two batches, mixing until thoroughly incorporated. You want to mix thoroughly and quickly to activate the xanthan gum, though the dough will become very thick by the end and form into a round.
- Line a pizza dish or baking tray with parchment paper and grease with olive oil (so the dough doesn't stick while you spread it). Dip a spatula (or your fingers) in water and spread the dough until even in thickness of choice. Fold the edges inward to create thicker edges (optional). Cover with a kitchen towel dome (don't rest the towel directly over the dough), and place in a warm draft-free space for 40-50 minutes until lighter in texture. You don't want the dough to double, but it will puff up noticeably (see pictures for reference).
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C while the dough is proofing. And if you're baking at high altitude, you'll want to bake it at 375°F/190°C.
- Transfer the dish gently into the oven and blind bake without toppings for 10-14 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven, add toppings of choice, and return to oven for 15-18 minutes.
- Serve right away (extra fresh basil highly suggested!).
Notes
Nutrition
This sounds like exactly what I’m looking for 😁
I genuinely think this must be the best low carb pizza crust recipe that exists! After trying some really disappointing coconut flour pizza crusts, this recipe was absolutely delicious. It turned out so fluffy and thick, light in texture yet hearty at the same time, not greasy, no weird aftertaste, and was close in consistency to a regular pizza crust. We topped it with marinara, Miyoko’s liquid non-dairy mozzarella, olives, peppers and onion, and shredded chicken. I used homemade cashew flour because of being allergic to almonds and it still worked perfectly. I used the Now Foods brand psyllium husks and they didn’t turn the crust purple, so hopefully that helps some people. Multiplying the recipe by 1.5 made enough dough for a large pizza.
I want to thank you for specifying that yeast feeds off of sugar/honey and doesn’t affect carb count. I just looked up and read that the fermentation breaks down the carbs. Great to know!