crust Archives -

This flaky and buttery pie crust is the perfect compliment to your favorite pie. If you love traditional pie crust, this healthy and grain free version will surely satisfy you because it is just like the real deal! Best of all its super easy to make with only a handful of simple healthy ingredients! (Gluten free, grain free, paleo)It’s that time of year again- the holiday season is upon us! It seems to sneak up on me every year. Do you guys feel the same way?? One minute its a hot sweltering summer day in August, and with the blink of an eye (so it seems) we are on the cusp of Thanksgiving! I mean, where does the time go?

I actually got to start my holiday season extra early this year because my mom came in town this past week. Since I won’t be traveling back east this year for the holidays we decided to celebrate our turkey day a few weeks early! It was great to have her in town, and she helped me exhibit at my very first art fair! I am so excited to say my Moss Art was a big hit:) What do you guys think of it? (click here for my ETSY shop if you are interested in seeing more!)

So this week was pretty awesome with an early Thanksgiving feast and a successful art show! What more can a girl want?

With my mom’s help this year, I really perfected all my paleo/ grain free holiday recipes! This pie crust is no exception. My mom is truly a Super Mom. Did I mention she runs marathons and bakes the best pie crust ever!? Yep, that’s a fact! Well she was quite impressed with this one and I am so very happy to share it with you all today!

Perfect Paleo Pie Crust

1 1/4 cup almond flour
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1/4 cup arrowroot flour
4 tablespoons grass-fed butter, cold ((or ghee or palm shortening))
1 pasture-raised egg

Combine dry ingredients in the food processor and mix.
Add the egg, mix for a few sections.
Add the cold butter, 1 tablespoon at a time until a dough forms, on a slow/medium speed.
Scrape the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper.
You can chill to for 1 hour in the fridge and roll it out with a rolling pin (work quickly because as it warms it gets soft), or you can forgo the chilling and press the dough into the pie plate using you fingers to make smooth pie crust about 1/6″ thick.
Use a fork to poke holes into the bottom pie crust.
Bake as 350 degrees for 12 minutes (if it’s going to be baked again) or 15-18 minutes for use with a no-bake recipe.

Dessert

American

I made a pizza yesterday. Like, A REAL Thin Crust PIZZA! With one bite I died and went to pizza heaven. Seriously, it blew away all expectations I had for this pizza. It is that good! And EASY! And VEGGIE-BASED (no cauliflower:))! Only 4 INGREDIENTS! Seriously! Can you tell how excited I am? This pizza is for everyone. Your traditional eaters will LOVE it, I swear. Best of all this thin pizza crust secretly is grain and gluten-free, paleo, vegan, dairy-free and healthy. No eggs. No yeast. You’re gonna love it!

What is your all-time favorite pizza? I originally hail from the NYC area (CT to be exact) and NY pizza was where it’s at. I mean it’s world famous right? But I happen to love a little pizzeria in New Haven, CT the most! I’ll get to that in a sec….

As a child I wasn’t much of a pizza fan. I’ve always had a hot and steamy love affair with fresh bread so at the many pizza parties of my youth you could find me peeling off the cheese and eating the bread and crust alone! My friends, on the other hand, would peel off the cheese, and eat that all alone! Haha. The cheese was always so greasy and when the pizza wasn’t super hot and fresh from the oven, the cheese would be a solid gummy and chewy mess, yuck!

Then one day I discovered New Haven pizza- the famous Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana. Now this was the real deal! The crust is intoxicating. The sauce is flavorful and fresh and topped with just a bit of the perfect kind of cheese for the ultimate flavor. Check out their website and if you happen to be in the New Haven area, do yourself a favor and stop (if you can eat wheat occasionally of course), but if you can’t for dietary reasons that is A-OK because I have the perfect grain and gluten-free alternative for you!!

This crust is just like the authentic Italian thin crust pizza. It’s crispy, light, flaky, and has a nice bit of chewiness. Even Cricket, who isn’t a big fan of baked goods (she prefers her meat served straight-up, no fillers!), likes this crust. She stood at attention in front of the oven while it was baking, the wonderful smells wafting in her direction. Unfortunately it was so good I could only sacrifice a small crumb, which she swallowed without chewing and glared at me as to say “where’s the rest mom!?”

When you make the dough it will be sticky, and that is ok! It should look something like this:

And I’ve added a personal-size crust option too in the recipe!

So the main ingredient in this pizza crust is yuca, aka cassava. It’s a starchy root veggie that happens to be the star of this crust. And it’s also healthy, packed with vitamin C and has a low glycemic index of 46 (a white potato is 85). Best of all, cassava bakes up light and crispy, but still has a wonderful chew. You can even fold your slices just like real pizza!

NY Style Thin Crust PIZZA {Easy, 4 Ingredient Veggie-Base Crust}

This AMAZING crisp, flaky, light and chewy NY Style Thin Crust Pizza is intoxicatingly delcious! And it’s super EASY! And VEGGIE-BASED (no cauliflower:))! Only 4 INGREDIENTS! Seriously! Can you tell how excited I am? This pizza is for everyone. Your traditional eaters will LOVE it, I swear. Best of all this thin pizza crust secretly grain and gluten-free, paleo, vegan, dairy-free and healthy. No eggs. No yeast. You’re gonna love it!

LARGE PIZZA CRUST:

1 cup yuca (cassava, boiled and mashed)
¼ cup light olive oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coconut flour (sifted)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

PERSONAL PIZZA CRUST:

1/2 cup yuca (cassava, boiled and mashed)
2 tablespoons light olive oil
dash of sea salt (optional)
2 teaspoons coconut flour (sifted)
1/8 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F,
Peel the yuca and cut into chunks.
Boil the yuca for 15-20 minutes, or until very fork tender.**
Mash the yuca in a bowl with the olive oil, use a hand blender or food processor for best consistency (should be smooth and sticky, no lumps).
In a small bowl mix the coconut flour, baking soda and salt.
Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly into the mashed yuca and form a ball (will be sticky!).
Place the ball of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place another piece of parchment on top.
Use your hands to smooth out the dough until it’s about 1/8″ think or less. (very important to get it very thin to ensure crispiness. Dough should be somewhat transparent when it’s thin enough.)
Remove the top sheet of parchment and place in the oven.
The large crust will cook for 15-20 minutes and the personal-sized crust for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. I baked it on the middle rack then moved it one rack lower the last few minutes.
Remove the crust, add toppings such as tomato sauce, pastured-raised cheese (if you eat dairy), veggies and/or meat.
Place back into the oven for a few minutes until toppings are cooked to desired temperature.
**note: make sure to drain yuca well before mashing to ensure dough isn’t too wet, and mash while it’s hot otherwise dough isn’t easy to work with.