This Unique Almond Pizza Crust, using both almond meal and either barley or spelt flour for a nutty flavor and crisp texture, offers an option from wheat dough.
Pizza Crust
Let’s be honest, most pizzas are favored for their crust.
Deep dish pizza, thin crust pizza or stuffed pizza, it’s all about the pizza crust.
Most pizza crusts are made with highly processed wheat flour, making them very glutenous; often tasteless.
I love bread and that is what pizza basically is to me.
Therefore I wanted to up the flavor and nutrition in my pizza crust, and not just eat white bread.
So, I created a unique pizza crust to love, not just cover with a ton of cheese.
Almond Pizza Crust
Despite the general thinking that almond flour is just for desserts, I found the gentle nutty flavor perfect for a savory dish.
Obviously, in order to get a pizza dough that would rise, I needed a gentle gluten helper. Since I wanted to be able to roll the pizza dough out onto pizza pans, I treated the dough just as I would bread dough.
Consequently, I created the best darn pizza dough I’ve ever had.
Anything and everything will taste delicious on top.
Why Almonds?
Often in Mediterranean cooking, nuts are used in savory dishes in place of a meat protein.
While I had planned to make a pizza that could be topped with or without meat, I wanted the crust to be spectacular alone.
Almonds have such a gentle nutty flavor and lend wonderfully to many other flavors in a single dish.
What Makes An Almond Pizza Crust Unique?
Basically everything makes this pizza crust unique!
There are three types of flour, bringing both nourishment and flavor to the dough.
Additionally there is a heavy handed amount of olive oil, adding a slightly peppery flavor to the crust.
How To Make Almond Pizza Crust
To start off with, like any yeast dough, the yeast, sugar and water sit for 5-minutes to foam and proof.
Once the yeast is proofed, olive oil and an egg are whisked in, adding to the amount of liquid.
The three types of flour are gently whisked in with salt, stirring and folding in more flour until the dough comes together and is no longer sticky.
The dough is covered and placed in a warm place to rise, then ready to become the best pizza you’ve ever had.
Unique Pizza
While you can certainly pile on the tomato sauce, pepperoni and cheese on this pizza crust, why not try a few different pizza toppings!
Just a few of my favorite options for your unique pizza experience:
- Spinach Pesto Pizza
- Deconstructed Ratatouille Pizza
- Sfeeha – Mediterranean Meat Pies
- Fig and Garlic Chive Pizza
Equipment Needed
- Medium size bowl
- Wire whisk or wooden spoon
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Rolling pin
- An oven
- 8-inch pizza pans
Ingredients Needed
- Almond flour
- Barley flour
- Spelt flour
- Water
- Yeast
- Sugar
- Egg
- Olive oil
- Salt
Unique Almond Pizza Crust
Equipment
- Pizza pan
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 1 cup Almond flour finely ground almonds
- 1 1/2 cups Barley flour
- 2 cups Spelt flour extra for dusting
- 1 cup Water
- 2 tsp Yeast
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1/4 cup Olive oil extra to brush pan
- 1 tbsp Salt
Instructions
- Place the water, yeast and sugar in a medium size bowl for 5-minutes to form foam and bubbles.
- Whisk in the egg and olive oil.
- Sprinkle in the almond flour, barley flour and salt. Continue to fold in the spelt flour until the dough is no longer sticky and easy to pick up into a ball. Cover and let rise in a warm (not hot), place until doubles in size. About 90-minutes.
- The dough is now ready to roll out.
- Brush a little olive oil onto the pizza pan, transfer the rolled out dough onto the pan and work the dough to the edges, crimping the edges.The almond pizza crust is now ready to top with favorite toppings and bake.
- Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18 minutes.
Video
Notes
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.