Almond Flour Pizza Crust [Paleo, Vegan, Gluten Free]

By Amanda Froelich

When I first started my journey into health at the young age of 15, I couldn’t imagine that one day, I’d again be able to enjoy scrumptious meals like pizza. Sure, I had my buckwheat-based raw vegan pizza go-to crust, but warm, toasty pizza is a one-of-a-kind staple. Well, times have changed, and it’s all due to almond flour.

Almond flour, as the name suggests, is blanched and ground up almonds. Mixed with a few extra ingredients, it can turn into a hearty and low-carb crust that both paleo and vegan eaters will love. Slathered with tomato paste or pizza sauce, and slightly baked vegetables, it turns into an awesome lunch, dinner, or leftover meal to take to work (trust me, I do it often).

You begin by adding all the dry ingredients (almond flour, sea salt, baking soda, and herbs) in one bowl. Then, you mix the liquid ingredients.

After combining both, the mixture should be sticky. With your hands, transfer the mound to a sheet of parchment paper.

Add a second layer of parchment paper on top.

Roll into a medium-large pizza crust.

Using your fingers or a spoon, smooth the pizza crust edges so it resembles a circle.

Next, par bake the crust.

Then, add your preferred pizza sauce on top. From this point, you can kind of go crazy with the toppings.

Sometimes, I pre-bake bell peppers, zucchini, and broccoli. Other times, I’ll steam kale and add it on top – like in the photo below.

I also added home-grown (from my mother’s garden) small tomatoes which were divine.

Though I didn’t picture it, I finished my pizza off with sea salt, spices, artichoke hearts, and sliced olives.

It rocked.

This is a meal I want to nourish everyone with. So please, try it out for yourself and let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Almond-Flour Pizza Crust [Paleo, Vegan, GF]

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Serving Size: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups almond flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp onion powder
• 2 large beaten eggs or 1 flax egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center and add beaten eggs and olive oil.
3. Combine with a spatula at first then use your hands to form a ball of pizza dough.
4. Place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roughly press the ball with your hands to flatten into a thick disc.
5. Start rolling with a pin until it forms a 12-inch (30 cm) diameter pizza crust (for a ultra-thin crust) or roll into a 10-inches (25 cm) pizza crust for a slightly thicker crust.
6. Peel off the top piece of parchment paper, smooth the sides of the pizza crust to make it look circular then slide the bottom parchment paper piece (with the rolled pizza dough on it) onto a baking tray.
7. Par bake the crust for 10-12 minutes or until golden and crispy. The thicker you roll it, the longer it takes to crisp.
8. Remove from the oven, spread a thin layer of tomato sauce and toppings of your choice. Water-rich vegetables, such as bell pepper, zucchini, and tomato may be best pre-roasted, then added as toppings.
9. Return pizza into the oven and bake in the center rack of the oven until the pizza is thoroughly golden-brown and cheese (if added) is slightly melted.
10. Serve immediately into 8 slices. Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container up to 4 days in the fridge.

Notes:

*To make a flax egg, combine 2 Tbsp of flaxseed meal (or ground chia seeds) with 6 Tbsp of warm water. Stir well, set aside 10 minutes until it looks like egg in texture. Use in the recipe as an egg replacer. The vegan option may be less crispy and more fragile.

Source: Life in Bloom

Mandy is a RHN, chef (vegan, paleo, live food), author, world traveler, artist, and business student. She lives in Colorado with her fiance, husky dog, and two cats. When she’s not working on new projects, she’s running, hiking, reading, or cooking healthy food.

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