Parbaked Gluten Free Pizza Crust #BreadBakers

Long proofing and the addition of baking powder ensure that this parbaked gluten free pizza crust is chewy, crunchy and able to support all the toppings you love.

Gluten free dough for something quick-baked like pizza is a challenge when regular pizza dough sets such a high standard of crunch, chewiness and texture. I like to add a little cornmeal to the dough – and use it when rolling it out to bake – which helps a lot. 

Is this the same as your favorite gluten-full pizza crust? Not exactly. But it’s darn close. The secret is partially baking it just so it rises but doesn’t really brown much. Parbaking the crust means that it retains its shape and texture, even when toppings are added. Best of all, parbaked crusts can be frozen or refrigerated for future pizza nights. 

Parbaked Gluten Free Pizza Crust

As per Serious Eats, 95°F or 35°C is the best temperature for yeast to multiply, but that's not quite warm enough for proofing active dry yeast. It needs the extra warmth to dissolve and become active. If you have a thermometer, employ it when warming your water to the specified temperature range.

Ingredients

2 ¼ teaspoons or 7g active dry yeast

1 cup or 240ml warm water (between 105-110°F or 40-43°C)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 ½ cups or 400g gluten free bread flour (with xanthan gum) plus extra for kneading (I used Freee White Bread Flour.) 

1/4 cup or 60g cornmeal plus extra for rolling out the pizza crust

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

5 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing on when baking

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Method

Warm the water to the correct temperature range. I like to use a microwaveable measuring vessel with quick zaps of the microwave but a small pot over a low flame will also work. 

Stir in the sugar and the yeast and leave to prove for five minutes. Your yeast should start frothing up, showing that it has been activated by the warm water. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. 

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, vinegar and olive oil. 

Stir in the water/yeast mixture.

Add in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bowl.

 Mix them together with a wooden spoon or Danish whisk until a sticky dough forms. 

Cover with cling film or a shower cap and place somewhere warm for 2-3 hours. 

After the rising time is up, preheat your oven to 425°F or 218°C and put the dough in fridge for 15 minutes to rest. This will make it easier to roll out.

Lightly flour a clean work surface and knead the dough with a good sprinkling of flour until it forms into a smooth ball. 

Avoid adding too much flour, just enough until a ball dough forms and the dough isn't as sticky.

Divide the dough into two even pieces. 

Sprinkle your work surface lightly with cornmeal and use a floured rolling pin to roll each piece of dough into a roughly 10 in or 25cm circle. 

Sprinkle a little more cornmeal on your baking pan and transfer the pizza crusts to a pan. Generously brush the top of the crusts with olive oil and bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven.

Remove from the oven. Leave to cool completely and then store in a refrigerator or freezer, well wrapped, until you are ready to add toppings and bake again. 

When ready to bake as pizza, add your favorite sauce and desired toppings. 

Bake in an oven preheated to 425°F or 218°C for about 8-12 minutes, perhaps just a little longer if your crust was in the freezer. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. 

Cut in slices to serve.

Enjoy!

It's the second Tuesday of the month which means it's time for my fellow Bread Bakers to share their recipes. Our theme today is gluten free pizza. Many thanks to our host, Renu of Cook with Renu. Check out the links: 

• Cook with Renu: Gluten Free Millet Pizza
• Food Lust People Love: Parbaked Gluten Free Pizza Crust
• Sneha’s Recipe: Rice Pizza With Tandoori Chicken
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Spicy Corn Pizza

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Buttermilk-Brined Roast Chicken Crown

After 24 hours of marinating, and a hour + in a hot oven, this buttermilk-brined roast chicken crown is tender and juicy inside with the most delectable golden skin outside!

We love a good Sunday roast dinner, especially for a special occasion like Mother’s Day and, frankly, I am much more likely to roast chicken than an expensive cut of beef. No pressure to get it exactly the right amount of rare! Add some roast potatoes, tasty onion gravy and some young peas and I’m happy. 

I don’t know why but it’s hard to find chicken crowns, an all-breast cut that still has the bones underneath left on. I was jumping around in my local grocery store when I happened to come across one, on sale no less, because my mom was never a fan of chicken legs or thighs. A chicken crown was pretty much her ideal bird for roasting. She loved this dish!

Buttermilk-Brined Roast Chicken Crown

This recipe is adapted from one on New York Time Cooking, where it was in turn adapted from the fabulous cookbook, Salt Fat Acid Heat, Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat. If you haven’t read the book or watched the show on Netflix, I highly recommend both. 

Ingredients

1 chicken crown, weight about 4 lbs 4 oz or 1966g

Kosher salt or fine sea salt

2 cups or 480ml buttermilk (or substitute 3 tablespoons white vinegar in measuring cup filled to 2 cups with milk)

2 medium onions

1 small lemon

Method

The day before you want to roast it, season the chicken crown generously with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Stir 2 tablespoons kosher salt or 4 teaspoons fine sea salt into the buttermilk to dissolve. Place the crown in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag and pour in the buttermilk. 

Seal the bag, squish the salty buttermilk all around the chicken, place on a rimmed plate, and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours, turning the bag every once in a while. 

Pull the chicken from the fridge an hour before you plan to cook it. 

Heat the oven to 400°F or 180°C with your degrees with an iron skillet on a rack set in the center position.

Slice the onions in thick slices to act as a baking trivet. Poke the lemon all over with the sharp point of a knife. 

Remove the chicken crown from the plastic bag and scrape off as much buttermilk as you can. If the skin is riding up a little bit at the pointy end, use a toothpick or two to secure it.

Carefully lay the sliced onions in the hot cast-iron skillet. 

Place the chicken on top, tucking the lemon underneath it. Put the hot skillet back in the oven. 

If you have eagle eyes, you might notice that I also put my Meater thermometer into the chicken crown at the thickest part. (The silver thing on the top left, with the black top.) It was a Christmas gift from my husband a few years back. The Meater runs with an app and tells me when the internal temperature has reached whatever I set it on. Like magic.

After about 20 minutes, when the chicken starts to brown, reduce the heat to 350°F or 180°C and turn the pan around. Cook until the internal temperature of the crown reaches 165°F or 74°C, about another hour.  

If the skin is getting too brown before it is cooked through, use a foil tent to protect it.  

Once the chicken crown is cooked to the desired temperature, take it out of the skillet and put it on a board covered with a foil tent to rest for 10 minutes.

Carve to serve. Enjoy! 

It's Sunday FunDay as well as Mother's Day in the United States so my friends and I are sharing recipes for a mom pleasing brunch! Many thanks to our host, Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures. Check out the Mother's Day brunch links:

• Buttermilk-Brined Roast Chicken Crown by Food Lust People Love
• Cheesy Chive Popovers by Culinary Cam
• Mini Pavlova by Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Moong Dal Chila by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Sausage Balls by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Tomato Ketchup Chicken & Rice Platter by Sneha's Recipe
  

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Java Dry Spice Mix Chops

These java dry spice mix chops are seared for a few minutes in a hot grill pan, then finished off in a hot oven, which keeps them tender and juicy. The java dry spice rub is made with ground roasted coffee beans, cumin, brown sugar, smoked paprika and garlic powder. And, of course, salt! 

This is probably my favorite homemade spice mix. The roasted coffee really adds a depth of flavor that goes so well with pork. So well, in fact, that I also use it on whole pork roasts. If you have a sous vide precision cooker, you'll want to have a look at my sous vide java dry spice pork roast recipe. Boy, howdy, it is good! 

Java Dry Spice Mix Chops

Apologies for the lack of photos of the pork chops being cooked in the griddle pan. Lighting wasn't great but I hope I have made up for it with good instructions. Should you have a question, please leave me a comment. 

Ingredients

2 thick cut pork chops, untrimmed 

3­-4 teaspoons java dry spice rub (Get the recipe here: Java Dry Spice Rub)

Tools needed

heavy grill pan 

wooden skewers

Method

Wash the pork chops and dry them slightly with a paper towel. Sprinkle the chops liberally with the java dry spice rub and use your clean hands to rub it all over.

Cover the chops with cling film and refrigerator at least half an hour or longer if you have the time. 

When you are ready to cook the pork chops, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and remove the chops from the refrigerator. 

When the oven is just about at temperature, heat your grill pan or an iron skillet over a medium high flame. 

Use several wooden skewers to pin your chops together, fat/skin side together. Once the pan is hot, stand the chops up fat/skin side down for 4­-5 minutes. 

Move them around the pan to take advantage of the heat to render the fat and get the skin a bit crispy. 

Transfer the chops to a plate and remove the skewers. 

Put the chops back in the pan, this time on their sides and set a timer for 3 minutes. 

When the timer rings, turn the chops over and set it for another 3 minutes. 

Repeat, giving the chops only 1 minute on each side. If you want to get fancy, turn the chops so the grill lines cross. 

Transfer the grill pan to your preheated oven and roast for a further 8-10­ minutes. You can cut near the bone to check for doneness. (If you have a meat thermometer, the ideal temperature is 145°F or 62.8°C.) The pork can be slightly pink. It will continue to cook as it rests. 

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. 

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 10th addition to the 2024 Alphabet Challenge, brought to you by the letter J. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the J recipes below:

• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Jeera Bhaat | Jeera Rice 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Jhatpat Bhendi Masala 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya 
• Culinary Cam: Bulgogi-Inspired Oven Beef Jerky 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Blueberry Jam Palmiers 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Johnnycake Cobblers 
• Blogghetti: Jam-Filled Corn Flake Muffins 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Brown Sugar Caribbean Jerk Seasoning 
• Magical Ingredients: Jackfruit Paratha 
• Food Lust People Love: Java Dry Spice Mix Chops

Here are my posts for the alphabet challenge, thus far: 

A: Anchovy Deviled Eggs

B: Spicy Braised Ginger Pork Belly

C: Cecilie's Favorite Coleslaw

D: Cajun Chicken Eggpland Dressing

E: Everything Pizza Tartin

F: Baked Chicken and Feta Meatballs

G: Grape Juice Jigglers

H: Crispy Bacon-wrapped Chicken Hearts

I: Raspberry Rhubarb Ice Cream

J: Java Dry Spice Mix Chops - this post!

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