Pizza Dough

I just posted a recipe for BBQ Chicken Pizza, and since many people have a hard time finding a good pizza dough recipe that is easy to work with, I thought I'd share my favorite dough with you!  It's taken me a while to perfect this dough, and the recipe and technique for making it has changed several times, but I think it's finally perfect!

My sister has an allergy to wheat, so I always make this recipe gluten free, but it can be made a wheat dough by simply leaving out the xanthan gum and replacing the gluten free flour with normal flour!  We make our own gluten free flour, but if you want to use store bought that already has xanthan gum, just use an extra ½ tsp xanthan gum for every cup of flour.

1 ⅓ cups body temperature water
1 TBSP yeast
1 TBSP agave nectar or honey
3 cups & 2 TBSP gluten free flour
1 TBSP xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 ½ TBSP powdered egg whites (or 2 liquid egg whites)
¼ cup olive oil

Feel free to add chopped herbs, garlic, or extra olive oil to the recipe!  As long as you keep the ratios basically the same, you shouldn't run into any problems.


Whisk together the yeast, agave nectar (or honey), and water until the yeast is dissolved.  If the mixture doesn't begin to bubble within 5 minutes, your water may be either too cold or too warm, so dump it out, adjust the temperature of your water, and start over.


Mix together the flour, xanthan gum (if you're using it), salt, and powdered egg whites.  If you're using liquid egg whites, don't mix them with the dry!

Once your yeast mixture has sat for 5 minutes, add the dry ingredients, then pour in the oil.

Now it's time to mix the dough with my handy dandy KitchenAid mixer!  If you're using gluten free flour, use a paddle for this step, but if you're making a wheat dough, you should use a dough hook.

If you follow my recipe exactly, you should be able to just mix the dough without having to add anything, but you may have to add some extra liquid or flour depending on if you live in a particularly humid or dry place.  If you are making your dough gluten free it needs to be very moist, because the gluten free flour absorbs more water over time.

Once your dough is an ideal texture, form it into a ball, brush or spray it with some olive oil, then cover and let it rise 2 or more hours.

By the time you are ready to use your dough it should be a light dough that holds together easily, but isn't heavy or too sticky.  I haven't had any problems with this recipe so far, and hopefully you don't either!

If you are making your dough gluten free, right before you are about to use the dough, put it back in the mixer and knead it with the paddle attachment once more.  I know it sounds a little weird, and totally goes against all the rules of baking and cooking, but it really helps the gluten free dough hold together.

Use this dough to try my BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe!

My next post will have a recipe for BBQ Chopped Salad that is the ideal companion for my BBQ Chicken Pizza.

To see more of my pictures you can find me on Instagram at @audreygracephotography.