Gluten-free pizza crust

I love pizza. In fact, I love all combinations of bread and cheese.

I have bought every gluten-free pizza crust available in Montreal and haven't been too impressed (Spice Market is the exception but it's not always available).

I wanted to make my own crust but I've never made bread and was intimidated by yeast. So I tried making a simple almond flour crust this week. My mother-in-law, toddler and husband liked it- I wasn't convinced.  

A few days later, I tried this Gluten-Free Goddess recipe and LOVED it. I added some seasoning and made a few substitutions based on what I had in my kitchen.
 
Ingredients:

• 1 cup tapioca flour
• 1 cup sorghum flour
• 1 cup potato starch
• 1/2 cup white rice flour
• 1/2 cup gluten-free millet flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
• 1 and 1/4 cups warm water (between 110 - 115ºF)
• 1 pinch maple flakes (or other sugar for proofing the yeast)
• 1 packet (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1/4 cup beaten organic free-range egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• pinch of nutmeg

Instructions:

1. The recipe calls for TWO 12-inch pizza pans. (I only seemed to have enough for 1 medium-thick pizza crust). Grease them and dust lightly with gluten-free cornmeal or rice flour. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flours and dry ingredients.
3. Proof the yeast in 1 cup warm water with a pinch of maple flakes (or other sugar). I had no idea what proofing meant! Here is an explanation of proofing.
4. Add the proofed yeast and water to the dry ingredients. Add the oil, eggs and vinegar.
5. Beat the dough until smooth and sticky. Add the remaining 1/4 cup water if you need to. The pizza dough should be creamy smooth and not too thick- it's not sturdy like typical bread dough. It almost borders on batter.
6. Using a silicone spatula divide the dough in half. Scoop each half onto the center of a prepared pizza pan. Using clean, wet hands press down lightly and flatten the dough to create a thin, even pizza shell, with slightly raised edges. You'll have to rinse your hands more than once to do this. Take your time to smooth out the dough with wet palms.
7. Set the pizza shells to rest and rise a bit- about 15 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
9. When the oven is hot, place the two pizza pans side by side on the center rack (if your oven is too small to accommodate both pans on one rack, you'll need to use two racks; rotate the pans half way through baking time to avoid overcooking on the lower rack).
10. Bake for ten minutes until golden brown (I accidentally left it in for 15 minutes and it was ok)
11. Remove from the oven. Preheat the broiler.
12. Brush the pizza shell with extra virgin olive oil. Season with sea salt and fresh garlic.
13. Sprinkle with Italian herbs.
14. Dress it up any way you like and heat it up for a few minutes on broil.