The cauliflower pizza crust.  For many, it is an elusive dream.  You see recipes on Pinterest and they claim that it is the best crust ever (just like real pizza) and that will fulfill all your gluten-free pizza dreams.

And then you make it.

And it turns into a soggy wet pile.

Or it has five pounds of cheese and eggs holding it together.

I’ve tried a lot of cauliflower pizza crusts and while some were good, none were great.  Most of them had to be eaten with a fork and a knife and that’s ok if you’re eating a deep dish pizza but not ok when you want to pick up a slice and feel like you’re eating pizza.  That’s what I wanted.

Then I stumbled across Sprint 2 The Table’s quinoa flour crust pizza and it sounded simple enough and didn’t have the cheese that most crust recipes use to keep everything together.  So I gave it a shot and EUREKA!  It worked.  I could actually pick it up and while I won’t go as far as saying it tastes exactly like real pizza it was the closest I had ever come.

I kept playing with the crust and swapping out a few things and came up with one that doesn’t use eggs or grains as the flour.  If you’re totally fine with eating quinoa flour and eggs then go ahead and try Sprint 2 The Table’s pizza crust.  If you want an eggless and grain-free version try this one below.

I’ll give you a step-by-step tutorial (along with pictures) so you can get the best pizza crust possible then you can go crazy with toppings.  And I may have gone crazy with my toppings aka the whole refrigerator on my pizza.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza- Based on this one by Sprint 2 The Table

• 1 cup of cauliflower with as much of the stems removed as possible
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 3 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 6 tbsp water
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat your oven to 425 and get out a pizza stone/pan or regular baking sheet.  Line whatever you’re going to use with parchment paper (I used a pizza stone and cut my parchment paper into circles) and then cut another piece of parchment paper to match the first.
2. In a small bowl, combine the ground flaxseed and water and let it sit and gel for a few minutes.
3. In a blender or food processor, pulse the cauliflower a few times until it’s in small rice-like pieces and then dump it into a large bowl.  Add the flour and seasonings and whisk to combine everything.  It’s ok if it’s a little clumpy.
4. Add in the flaxseed and water mixture and start stirring everything together with a spatula.  It should start to form a big dough ball.  If it’s too dry, add a little water a tablespoon at a time.  Remember that coconut flour likes to soak up water like a sponge so as you add water wait just a few minutes to see if it needs more.
   

   Nice dough ball. Not too dry or too soggy.

5. Once you have your dough ball place it on your stone or pan that’s lined with parchment paper.  Slightly flatten the dough with your hand and then using a rubber spatula start pressing the dough out into a pizza shape.
   

   Spreading out the dough. It takes awhile so don’t rush it

6. Work from the middle pressing out and keep going until you have about a 10 to 12-inch circle.  You want it to be fairly thin so the crust will cook all the way through and not end up soggy.  As you press the dough out the edges might crack a little but that’s ok just press them back together.
   

   About how thick you want your crust. You could even go a little thinner for a crispier crust.

7. Place the other piece of parchment paper on top of the crust and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove it from the oven.
8. Ok, this is the slightly tricky part.  You’re going to flip the whole crust over.  What worked for me was putting on an oven mitt and then using the parchment paper to slide the middle part of the crust onto my hand and then flipping it over in a quick motion.  The crust should be mostly cooked at this point and if you rolled it out thin enough won’t break apart on you.  Don’t freak out, I’ve made this crust a dozen times and even if I totally botched the flip it hasn’t broken or ruined the crust.
9. Once it’s flipped remove the parchment paper from the top of the crust and top with your favorite pizza toppings! Bake for another 5 minutes and enjoy!
   

   Ready for toppings!

A few other tips:

• Don’t use a crazy amount of sauce because that is just going to turn the pizza to mush.  Trust me.  My favorite sauce so far has been a light layer of my spinach or cilantro pesto.
• If you put on a lot of heavy toppings your pizza may fall a little bit as you pick it up.  If you don’t care and want all of the toppings go for it!
• You can make this crust in advance and keep it in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to use it.  I’ve only done it a few hours in advance so I can’t vouch for the quality after it’s been frozen and thawed but I will update this if I try it.
• If you put onions or peppers on your pizza and you want them cooked a little more than the five minutes at the end, saute them before you top your pizza.  If not, they might be a little less done than some would prefer.