We've been eating sugar free and low carb off and on since June 1st of 2002. I have a lot of different pizza crust recipes in my collection over the past 15 years. And I have one I make 'the most often' but I'm not married to it. I, unfortunately, am one of the those people who can taste the carby taste of carbalose, Carbquik, Low carb bake mix a mile away and gag. Some can't taste it at all (which makes low carb baking MUCH easier) but I can smell it and taste it and... hate it. And my 'favorite' recipe has a bit of that taste so I have many low carb pizza crust recipes in my collection and I make whatever one I have ingredients on hand for, and that sounds good at the time.
The problem is -
I may or may not improvise substitutions, I may or may not jot down notes on the recipe, and I may or may not make the same recipe each time. Some of the recipes I've tried over the years are HORRIBLE. Some are EH. Some are huh, NOT BAD. Crust recipes that are all cheese, some have cream cheese and eggs, some with shredded chicken, some with almond flour, some without. Wheat protein isolate, oat fiber, a small amount of wheat flour... I've tried them all.
And?
Last weekend I was going to make pizza for dinner by request from my husband and as I stared at my recipes I sighed to myself and said, "I need to make a bunch at the same time and taste test them all at the same time to truly compare."
So I did.
I made 3 different low carb pizza crust recipes.
And frankly, we surprised ourselves!
I THOUGHT I had a clear winner from the start based on the taste and texture of the dough. I even scribbled down 'winner' in the corner of the paper I had written the recipe down on. Later, I had to scribble it out!
My husband and I both tasted them separately without sharing our findings until we had 3 small bites of each. We both chose the same winner, the same 2nd place and the same 3rd place!
Taste tested at 3 different points:
1 - tasted the dough
2 - tasted the baked crust with no toppings
3 - tasted the finished pizza with various toppings
*I prebaked the crusts with no toppings to get a clear picture and to taste test the crusts without any toppings so I could compare fairly.
You can search AMAZON HERE for any products you may need or want to purchase for any of my recipes. If you choose to buy from Amazon I may make pennies from the sale because I'm an affiliate - but your price never changes.
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| My stuffed cheese, low carb pizza crust got 2nd place in the taste-tests |
2nd place: The most like 'real' pizza crust in texture
We both thought this would be 1st place but it ended up 2nd. The texture is most like a 'real' wheat crust but because it has a cup of low carb bake mix in it, it has that slight 'carbalose' flour taste to it that I just can't get past. It makes 2 pizzas but I made it into 1 large stuffed crust.
LOW CARB PIZZA CRUST TRIAL #3
Came in 2nd place
1/8 c wheat protein isolate 8000
1 c Bakesquick Mix or Carbquik
1/3 c unflavored whey protein powder
1 c wheat protein isolate 5000
1/8 c wheat resistant starch 75
1 t Thick It Up
1 t sweetener of your choice
2 t baking powder
1 t sugar to feed the yeast
1 pkt Rapid Rise Yeast
1/2 c half and half
1/2 c warm water
2 eggs
2 T butter
3 T parmesan cheese
1 t apple cider vinegar
Extra wheat protein isolate to add as needed to make the dough not sticky
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl starting with the yeast, sugar and warm water, letting it get foamy before adding the rest of the dry. Add the wet to the dry and start to knead (I used a KitchenAid mixer with a bread dough hook). IF you need it; add the extra WPI 5000 as you would any flour, watching until the dough just comes together and isn't sticky. Sometimes I don't need any, other times I need up to 1/3 cup. Knead about 5 minutes. Divide dough into 2 balls - press each onto a greased pizza pan. Prepare your toppings. I've baked right away AND I've let set and raise 20-30 minutes before baking. I actually get similar results either way. Bake at 375 approximately 20 minutes or until done.
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| 2nd place crust |
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| 2nd crust place is the most like 'real' wheat pizza crust in texture |
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| This was my 3rd crust that afternoon and I decided to use the whole batch in one LARGE stuffed crust pizza instead of 2 smaller |
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| Last place. Looked like a great whole wheat pizza but was spongy and eggy in texture |
Last place: Spongy and eggy in texture
We both thought this would be 2st place but it ended up 3rd. The dough had a decent flavor and it looked like a great whole wheat pizza crust. Unfortunately it's hard to eat because of the texture. My husband's notes described it as spongy. In my notes I wrote down egg-y and spongy. I made it palatable by making this one into a BBQ Chicken and Smoked Mozzarella pizza but I admit by the time we were eating leftovers, I scraped the toppings off and ate those; throwing away the crust. I liked the taste of this dough the best. The flavor is great because there is no carbalose flour or soy in it. But we didn't care for the texture.
LOW CARB PIZZA CRUST TRIAL #2
Came in 3rd place out of three
1 1/4 c almond flour (I used natural, unblanched)
1/4 c unflavored wheat protein isolate
4 T psyllium husk powder
1/2 t sea salt
2 t baking powder
2 eggs
2 T parmesan cheese
1 c boiling water
Mix the dry in the bowl. Add eggs. Add boiling water. Knead until it all comes together. Dough is very sticky. When it forms a sticky ball, remove and place on a well greased pizza pan. Place a piece of greased parchment over the dough before pressing or rolling out. Top with favorite toppings and bake at 375 about 15 minutes, take out, add your toppings and bake about 5 minutes more until done.
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| Yummy tasting dough - good flavor |
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| Your dough will be sticky - no worries |
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| Covered with greased parchment to press out |
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| Ready to go into the oven to be prebaked |
AND THE WINNING LOW CARB RECIPE COMING IN THE NEXT POST!
(Because I need a break from typing and uploading photos. Ha ha.)
You can search AMAZON HERE for
any products you may need or want to purchase for any of my recipes.
If you choose to buy from Amazon I may make pennies from the sale
because I'm an affiliate - but your price never changes.
Low carb recipes turn out extremely different based on the brands you buy.
Different brands have very different carb counts and sugar counts as
well. If you try any low carb recipe (not just on my site but anywhere)
and you have used different brands or different amounts or substituted
an item from the original recipe, you will have different results. It's
just how low-carb cooking is.
! 
seed 
and a dash of orange juice to the ribs, and wrap tightly in the foil or just add to the crockpot/slowcooker. Slow cook them on low all day til tender. Remove ribs to finish off either on the grill or under the broiler for a few minutes to finish them up. *If you want to make a BBQ Sauce from the juices; Opening one side of the foil, pour off the juices into a pan on the stove and then unwrap the ribs completely. Broil the ribs under the broiler for a few minutes each side until golden brown. Drizzle with your favorite sauce and serve. 
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