Grain Free Pizza Crust Showdown

Pizza night used to be a regular occurrence around here. Craig's got a pretty good crust recipe so I'd just ask him to whip up a batch whenever we had a movie night. Of course, that isn't quite so easy these days. I did find a pretty good mix (local store brand) but the first time I saw it, it was on sale for $1. That must have been an intro price because now its $7. I could probably make something similar with a variety of gluten free flours but since I've been seeing all these grain-free/paleo/low-carb crust recipes on pint erst, I thought I'd try that first. But I wanted to try at least 2 to hedge my bets. Nobody wants to starve on pizza night! And luckily, we didn't.

Assemble and Baking Process:

The cauliflower based crust recipe was from The Lucky Penny Blog. I used the optional almond meal but I didn't cook the cauliflower in the microwave because I don't have a microwave. Several commenters also skipped that step so I thought it would be fine. Despite never having "riced" cauliflower before, this came together pretty easily. I think I should have cooked it a but more pre-toppings. I know, she tells you its important but my edges started burning before the top was golden. But it looked like a pizza coming out.

The almond meal recipe was from Eat Fat Lose Fat (the Holy Grail Version) using part cheddar and part mozzarella. I had to use the oven directions because, again, no microwave! This was a bit odd to put together. I think I should have worked longer incorporating my cheese into the other ingredients but it was awkward with a hot bowl. Next time I'll melt the cheese in one bowl and put it into another for mixing. And I think I needed more almond flour because hers looks like a crust while mine looked like melted cheese. And when it was time to flip, it stuck.I ended up having to scrap some off the silicon sheet (yes, it stuck to that!) and mush it together to reform a crust. And while my oven normal runs cool, I almost burnt this with several minutes remaining on my timer. But once I put it all back together and added toppings, nobody was the wiser.

Current Edge: Cauliflower. While I haven't crunched the numbers, I'm pretty sure the almond meal version is more expensive since it has more cheese and almond meal in it and made a small crust. It was also a slightly more frustrating process.

Looks: 

Hey, its pizza. Without grain! While I had a bit of trouble with the almond flour crust, once topped and baked, they were fine. My cheese wasn't fully melted but that was more because my kids were sitting at the table whining and Craig had to leave for a meeting in 20 minutes more than a result of either recipe. (Note to self: don't try 2 new recipes on a weeknight when your husband has to be somewhere at 6pm)

Cauliflower on the Left, Almond Meal on the Right

The Important Part/Taste Testing

So I was really hoping the cauliflower would win the taste test but nope, hands down favorite was The Holy Grain Almond Flour crust. All 4 of us gobbled it up and we would eat it again anytime. It had a really nice texture and flavor. I ate it with a fork and Jonah's was cut into small pieces but Lucy and Craig ate theirs with their hands like a regular old pizza.

Jonah and I liked the cauliflower one too although not as much. Craig ate a few bites but wanted to know what I had done to it before he finished up (he just doesn't trust me anymore) and Lucy refused to eat it after I told him -and therefore her - that it contained cauliflower. But keep in mind she's 4 and highly biased against cauliflower. I should have held out longer before spilling the cauliflower secret. Again, Jonah's was cut little so he could pick his up but I struggled and used a fork. It just didn't hold together but in hindsight since I used 1 tablespoon of almond meal and almost 3 cups of cauliflower I probably should have used another egg or at least an egg white.

Verdict: 

I actually think I need to try both again, or maybe try mixing them. Both recipes are unique, at least for me as I'm new to grain-free cooking. I'm a pretty good cook but this grain-free is a whole different world and it was really hard for me to judge if I was on the right track. If I tried either one again, I think I would get a much better result. If I had to pick only one recipe to keep, it would be the Holy Grail one, no doubt about it and I think with a bit more mixing on my part, I wouldn't have had the issues I did with it falling apart initially (it did fine once it was fully baked). But I am curious to try a combination. I wonder if using only 1.5-2 cups of cauliflower and upping the almond meal and cheese would help create a crust that had the flavor and crunch of the almond meal but the stability of the cauliflower. I guess we'll need another pizza night to find out!