Pilsbury Gluten Free Pizza Dough

Anyone who is Gluten Free knows that the number one difficulty, other than the obvious, is having to make nearly every previously consumed starch item from scratch. This can get frustrating to say the least, as all the other grains do not behave the way that wheat behaves. There is a reason wheat is the chosen grain. It puffs, it fluffs, it expands, it stays moist, it crumbles perfectly. You can make it chewy, soft, crispy, or all three at once. But alas, for those of us with "wheat belly" these things are usually a thing of the past.

For myself, making dough of any kind is difficult because no matter what recipe I follow, or pre-made mix I use, it comes out sticky and almost impossible to manage. Pizza dough, bread dough, sugar cookie dough, bread sticks, French bread -- all come out sticky and irritating.

On a never ending search for the pre-made item that will make my life occasionally easier, when I heard that Pilsbury was soon going to be releasing pre-made gluten free pizza, pie and cookie dough: I danced. I screamed for joy, I called my husband at work and giggled in his ear, I posted it on Facebook. Finally I danced in the refrigerated section of my local Kroger as I hugged two tubs of pizza and cookie dough, almost afraid to let them go should it all turn out to be a bad dream.

I wasted no time in breaking into my tub of hopefully yummy goodness. That very night, I ventured forth into a homemade pizza with my new dough.

The first thing I was pleased with -- NOT STICKY! Hallelujah, the dough was finally not sticking to every thing it and I touched. Normally you have to keep your hands wet to spread gluten free dough, but not with this stuff.

And that is the end of that list.

Now to let you know all the reasons I will not be buying Pilsbury Gluten Free Pizza Dough again.

It is expensive for the quantity of pizza crust that it yields. You literally get just enough crust for a flimsy thin 8" pizza. At my local grocery store, one tub costs on average $3.99-$4.75.

It is flavorless, absolutely flavorless.

I know it says thin crust on the tub -- but eeeww is it thin, and flat, and chewy and dense. I baked it for longer than the required time because the crust never really did change color, and yet it still tasted doughy and uncooked in the center.

It has to be baked twice. I don't know about you, but I personally don't have the patience level for a pizza crust that has to be cooked twice; especially if it doesn't even taste good when I am finished.

If you are anything like me, you were probably pretty excited by the prospect of pre-made gluten free dough. As new as it is, I didn't think there would be any reviews of it, or I might have read them before shelling out the green to buy it.

But I don't want to just sit here and tell you that it wasn't worth the fuss and then just leave you hanging. So here are what I consider to be better options.

At my grocery store, Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Dough Mix averages $4.35-$5.00 a bag and makes TWO 12" pizza with a fluffy, just right crust. This one does involve a rest and rise period and a pre-baking step. But if you are sold on making your own crust, this is a good one to try. The dough is super sticky, but super yummy when finished.

Kinnikinnick gluten free products are pretty awesome too.

This product comes in a box of four pre-baked personal sized pizza crusts. I find them in the frozen natural food section. They run on average $6.35-$7.99 a box.

At first, this may seem crazy in price, but I have found that when it comes to gluten free items, when you find something you like that works for you, the price is relative. In my household, I am the only one who eats gluten free, so I do not need the two 12" pizza crusts that the Bob's Red Mill makes.

Kinnikinnick doesn't require a pre-bake step, so it is a lot faster in that respect. They come packaged by two's so I can make a little at a time and keep the rest frozen for later.

I am a fan of thick crust with a fluffy edge, and although this pizza does not have that, it is a good marriage between thick and thin crust. It has a great texture and taste.