Revamped & better than ever Cauliflower Pizza Crust. (Grain/Gluten/Egg/Dairy/Soy Free)

by Brittany on January 31, 2013

Post image for Revamped & better than ever Cauliflower Pizza Crust. (Grain/Gluten/Egg/Dairy/Soy Free)

So lets be real. The cauliflower pizza crust that has been trending like crazy.. is gross. OK, so its edible and it has the flavor of pizza..but its texture? blah. It tastes like soggy cheese. I made it today and I even tried all the fancy tricks like straining all of the liquid from the cauliflower in a cheesecloth. Still just blah.  We can do better.

So, today I set out to find a new way to make pizza- still using cauliflower.

If you have been a friend and reader of Real Sustenance you know that I already have a thick crust grain free pizza recipe that gets rave reviews. If thick crust if your thing.. you MUST try that recipe. That recipe calls for eggs but you will see in the notes there are some directions to remove them. Here’s a picture to entice you.

Grain Free Thick Crust Pizza

So, back to THIS recipe. Today I set out to create something a little lower in starch than my thick crust and already egg free so that many of you would not have to mess around with trying to remove them yourself. By introducing the cauliflower into the recipe I was also able to decrease the amount of almond flour. Making this recipe cheaper to make- that’s always a perk right? Plus its kind of thrilling knowing that there are vegetable hidden in you pizza dough. The flavor of this crust reminds me of the whole wheat pizza that I grew up on.

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Better than Ever Cauliflower Pizza Crust

  • 1  cup of cooked cauliflower “rice”. (see directions below)
  • 2 packed cups of blanched almond flour (see substitution notes below)
  • 6 1/2  Tbs starch (Potato Starch, Tapioca or Arrowroot)
  • 3 Tbs Whole Psyllium Husk OR Flax Meal (crust will be crispier using flax)
  • 1 Tsp. Baking Powder
  • 3/4 Tsp. Salt
  • 1 1/2 Tsp. Garlic Powder
  • 1-2 Tsp. Basil (dried or fresh) optional.
  • 1 1/2  Tbs Oil or Melted Butter 
  1. Make your cauliflower “rice”. Use roughly 1/2 of a small fresh cauliflower and break it up- and stick it into a food processor and process  until it resembles a very fine rice- or even the size of cous-cous if you are able. Place the cauliflower into a skillet and cook with 1 tsp of oil for roughly 6-7 minutes  and stir until soft.
  2. While the “rice” is cooking preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  3. Pour the cooked cauliflower rice into a bowl and add the remaining pizza crust ingredients. Stir and then kneed until really well mixed. The dough will be thick, hold together well and may be slightly sticky.
  4. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment, lightly oil your hands and  then place the dough on the parchment and form a 13 inch round ( 1/4- 1/2 inch thick)  pizza crust. (It does not have to be round- nor does it have to be exactly 13 inches wide. Shape it how you want!) If the dough sticks to your hands at any point- add a little bit more oil to them.
  5. Place the prepared crust into the oven and bake 22-23 minutes or until the edges start to get slightly golden.  Remove from oven- place on toppings of choice and then bake another 15-18 minutes until your cheese (if using) has melted and the edges of the crust have gained a nice color. The longer you bake- the crispier it will be.

Store in a sealed bag or container in the freezer or fridge.

Recipe Notes and Substitutions (PLEASE READ)

  • Instead of blanched almond flour you can try using  another homemade nut or seed flour. If you opt to make sunflower seed flour I recommend using only 1/2 Tsp. of Baking powder to prevent the pizza dough from turning green. (This is a natural reaction that can happen if those two ingredients are combined improperly.) To make your own Nut or Seed flour: simply run the nut or seed of your choice in a high powdered blender or coffee grinder until you have a super fine flour. (If the flour is course- the recipe might not work as well.)
  • Coconut flour or any of the starchy grain based flours will NOT work in place of the Almond flour in this recipe (This includes all gluten free flour mixes)Only use other Nut/Seed flours as an almond exchange.
  • If you can’t have straight starch you might try using chickpea flour, millet flour, rice flour or sorghum flour as an exchange for the 6 Tbs of starch that I call for. I have not tried doing this yet- but think it may work!
  • Don’t go TOO crazy adding a ton of sauce to your pizza. As this crust ages I noticed that it stars to soak up the liquid and lose a bit of its crispness. (I believe this is due to the fact that it contains cauliflower). Use sauce in moderation. 
  • PLEASE follow these guidelines if you would like the recipe to work! Making other changes will give you different results. Experiment at your own risk.

 -Brittany-

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{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }

Nicole S. January 31, 2013 at 2:44 am

Family just went paleo a month ago, and we also have egg allergies. I can’t wait to try this recipe and others on your blog. A god send!!!

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belenda January 31, 2013 at 3:06 am

I can’t wait to try this, but, have to ask….is this kind of “dry” crust, or chewey? The pictures look like it is more of a dry crust and with the mention of not using much sauce am wondering if it’s because the sauce would soak into the dryer crust? Just trying to get my taste buds ready…..THANK YOU so much for a revised version of this recipe. I’m very anxious to try it. Also, I can. not. wait. to. try. the. lasagna. noodles!!!

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Brittany January 31, 2013 at 3:29 am

The edges are super crisp. The center is firm but is softer than the edges. I only noticed that the sauce started to soak in after sitting in the fridge overnight.

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Ginean January 31, 2013 at 4:42 am

Getting Cauliflower tomorrow and trying this w/ the flax meal unless I easily find some Psylliumum husk stuff…lol! Glad to not have to try and replace an egg in the recipe! Now off to make Almond cookies, no chocolate tonight, but adding pumpkin spice and maybe a raisin or two!

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Nick March 28, 2013 at 6:09 pm

How did this taste with flax meal instead of almond flour?

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Brittany March 28, 2013 at 6:16 pm

I would not replace the almond flour with flax. Only the psyllium with flax.

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Jenni January 31, 2013 at 2:39 pm

Hi this looks delicious! I’m wondering if it is possible to make a nice thick crust without the use of almond flour? I find it is so expensive and I also dont like baking nuts (high heat) because of the oxidation factor… Do you have any ideas for substituting almond flour for something else in your recipes?
Thanks!

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Grace January 31, 2013 at 3:12 pm

Are almond meal and almond flour interchangeable?

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Brittany January 31, 2013 at 3:21 pm

Eh. Sometimes but generally no. Almond meal won’t work nearly as good. It doesn’t soak up as much moisture.

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Wendy January 31, 2013 at 9:20 pm

Trying this tonight, sounds yummy!

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Erin January 31, 2013 at 10:06 pm

Now can you come up with a good cheese recipe? :) I don’t really care for Daiya…I’ve been searching for a good vegan (dairy free) recipe to use for pizza…I love your site by the way! Your recipes are amazingly good!

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Brittany January 31, 2013 at 10:12 pm

Have you ever heard of the ” uncheese cookbook”? You might be able to find something you like in it!

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Leslie January 31, 2013 at 11:06 pm

I have ground psyllium… Any hope that will work like the whole?

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A January 31, 2013 at 11:26 pm

What is the role of the oil? Can you reduce it a little?

How many do you think this pizza will serve?

Can’t wait to make it!

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Deanna February 1, 2013 at 1:50 am

Hiya,
We made this crust for dinner tonight. We did the par baking before martial arts, then topped it and finished the baking when we got back. When you made it, did the crust hold together well enough to pick it up, or was it fork pizza? It was definitely fork pizza for us.

It was FAR better than the previous cauli crust I tried, which actually got scraped off the pan into a bowl and tossed with veggies. It was more like a really thin omelet than a crust. But, the kiddo was still sort of meh about it. I’ve yet to find a grain-free crust that he’s not meh about. *sigh* Kids. Whatcha going to do? :)

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Brittany February 1, 2013 at 2:07 am

It held together for us! But ill play with the recipe further to see if I can get it to more sturdy.
You guys should try my thick crust that one is super sturdy!

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Deanna February 2, 2013 at 12:19 pm

I have a feeling we used less starch than you. The kiddo was doing the measuring, which can always mean some variance….

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Brittany February 2, 2013 at 1:06 pm

Ahahaha! So cute that he helps though :) I’m making the pizza again this weekend to double check to make sure it’s behaving properly!

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Roxanne February 2, 2013 at 12:46 am

Agar-Agar works! Just made this…very yummy. Not a traditional taste, but my daughter and I like it all the same! I subbed the Agar-Agar for the Psyllium Husk 1-to-1 and used a combo of Almond Flour and home-made Almond meal (10 oz is 2 cups packed). I like the thickness of this crust compared to the grain crust I normally do that is GF and vegan. It had the crispness on the bottom I believe you were looking for. We do ours sans cheese, but it was delicious with sauce, peppers, onions, tomatoes and kiwi. Time for seconds!

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Roxanne February 2, 2013 at 12:53 am

ps. Ours was sturdy enough to hold. I kept it in the full 18 min for topping.

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Brittany February 2, 2013 at 1:58 am

Great to hear!! Thank you for the feedback :)

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Robin S. February 2, 2013 at 6:20 am

You’ve done it again!!I just passed your fb page to a gluten free friend in Ohio ,we give you 4 thumbs up!!thank you for all you do .

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Sara February 4, 2013 at 1:32 am

I tried this recipe for the first time tonight. First, let me say it was the best almond flour-based pizza crust I’ve tried so far. The first recipe I tried was so disgusting I literally cried. The flavor was good — I used fresh chopped garlic & some crushed dried rosemary in the mix. Unfortunately, I was kind of disappointed in the end, though. I don’t know how you did it, but I could not get the dough to come together at all … unless I squeezed bits of it tightly in my palm like play-dough and even then it still had the consistency of semi-wet sand. I had to add some water in order to get the dough to come together. I was surprised at how delicate the final product was, considering all of the psyllium in it (my normal pizza dough that’s made with gluten-free grains is more flexible but uses less). It was soggy in the center, too but that’s probably my fault since I had to add the water. It was, as another person commented, definitely fork pizza for us. I’m not sure what I could have done to make this recipe work, unless I misunderstood & the dough is supposed to be really crumbly and not really come together like normal dough?

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Brittany February 4, 2013 at 2:14 am

Thanks for the feedback!
Ill be toying with this recipe more to figure out if there are any issues.

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Katie February 4, 2013 at 4:31 am

Thanks for the awesome recipe!! I actually followed the recipe exactly…EXCEPT that I used flax seed meal instead of the psyllium husk. It. Was GREAT! The dough concerned me as I was mixing it…it was neither sticky nor completely staying together. However, I was able to form it into a round shape on my PamperedChef baking stone (no parchment paper). The end result was awesome! The crust stayed together and we were able to totally eat it like normal pizza. I used sauce, spinach, feta, sun dried tomatoes, chicken, and mozzarella. Yum :)

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Kat February 14, 2013 at 1:34 am

Hi Brittany. I LOVE your recipes, but is there an easy button for printing. My computer and kitchen are on opposite sides of my home <3

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Shaun June 13, 2013 at 2:47 pm

Hi Kat,
I’m not much of a computer peep, but I did find how on a PC to copy/print out recipes that don’t have the “printer friendly” button. Just highlight the desired text (with left hold click). Your dropdown menu, with a right click, should include the option to print. You also may get the chance to preview your text before choosing print. Hope this helps. I have a PC at work and a Mac at home. I get so confused as to which works where, but I copied just before responding to your post and was successful.

OH, and Brittany, thank you so much for your recipe. I’ve been missing pizza, not for the flour crust but the whole package deal. Just like pasta dishes; I didn’t miss the pasta but the toppings and yummy add-ons. Zoodles cured that in a yummy way. Only been Paleo(ish) for two months and I’m loving eating –guilt-free–now.

Cheers,
Shaun

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Melynda February 17, 2013 at 4:29 pm

I was wondering – can this dough be mixed, wrapped tightly, and then frozen (not baked first)? I was about to go hog-wild and make eight of them for my freezer and then I thought, hmmmm…I better check with someone who has a bit more experience in the gluten-free baking department than me.

I am having some major surgery in a while and am trying to get ahead things for my gluten-free boy. Having stuff like this on hand in the freezer would make it so much easier when Dad is in charge of the kitchen!

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Brittany February 17, 2013 at 5:02 pm

I would par-bake the crust and then freeze!

Also I just posted a brand new thin crust that I actually love way more than this one! It’s flaky and crispy :)

https://realsustenance.com/best-ever-flaky-crispy-gluten-free-thin-crust-pizza-graineggdairysoy-free/

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Melynda February 17, 2013 at 5:29 pm

Thanks so much for the quick response! I will go ahead a try to par-baked and freeze one and see how it turns out.

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Dagmara February 23, 2013 at 2:36 am

Takes me forever to make haha (practically everything does) but it’s so delicious! Thank you :)

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Dagmara February 23, 2013 at 2:37 am

And I will definitely try your new crusts that you say are even better soon!

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Amanda February 25, 2013 at 12:08 am

It turned out so great! We enjoyed it with pesto, caramelized onions and mushrooms, brisket, and goat gouda cheese. Super tasty. It held up nicely eating it by hand and was crispy yet not too crispy.

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Jennifer March 3, 2013 at 11:08 pm

Just tried it and LOVED it! My husband who has never eaten cauliflower in his life due to the smell, ate it and loved it. I did use flax seeds and it worked beautifully. Rather than a red sauce, we brushed it with olive oil and sprinkled on some italian seasoning. Then we covered it with fresh sliced tomatoes, various toppings, conventional mozzarella for him and veggie shreds for me (lactose free). Yum, yum. Ate too much. Shared link to recipe on my facebook. Thank you Brittany!

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Jeni Clark March 16, 2013 at 12:30 am

Hi there!
Pausing to say…. WAY-TO-GO! This is AMAZING! WOW! Tastes like it has a stick of butter in it, but it doesn’t! LOVE! Ooo and the garlic! YUM YUM! My family and I use it as “bread” and dip it into sauce (vs making pizza). We don’t do grains/starches often, but this is a super duper delish treat! I am going to blog this recipe and point folks to your site! EXCELLENT job from one REAL FOOD cook to another! THANK YOU!
Jeni Clark~

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Mia March 17, 2013 at 12:16 am

My husband and I have been Paleo for a month now and this pizza is what convinced him to do it. It is AWESOME! Thank you so much for this. We honestly have this at least once a week. You’re awesome keep it up!

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Cathy March 21, 2013 at 5:25 pm

Help! I just tried to make this for the first time today and i messed it up! I didn’t have almond flour, so i ground up some almonds…i had everything else…the only other error i made was miss reading the amount of baking powder..i put in a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon I can’t imagine that was the issue..perhaps it was the ground almonds in place of almond flour? the result was not a dough per se..it was a mess of sticky crumbs. I went with it, pressed it into my pan and baked it. the result was crumbs…i think perhaps i didn’t have enough liquid???

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Brittany March 21, 2013 at 5:46 pm

Only finely ground blanched almond flour will work properly.

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cecily March 22, 2013 at 8:55 am

Hi Brittany,
This was a great find for my very fussy gf-cf ‘wont eat any vegetables’ son. thank you very much. Last night I got thinking. Could you make some equivalent kind of gingerbread style cookie dough using the basic cauliflower/almond combination? I’m thinking with ground up dates mixed in. Could you be inspired enough to try something? (: Thank you!

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CM March 22, 2013 at 11:51 pm

This is such a fantastic recipe! Since we found out our son is allergic to wheat we’ve been experimenting with wheat-free recipes and this is definitely a keeper! I had some trouble getting it to come together while mixing at first. It felt a bit like wet sand, but I added a little water and it was fine. It smelled fantastic while it was baking, and there wasn’t a single slice leftover after dinner. It held together so well that my husband began to complain that I’d skimped on the toppings, since it could take it :) Thank you so much, this is our new go-to recipe for pizza!

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gina March 28, 2013 at 8:24 pm

i do not see a print option here…?

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Pam Austin March 29, 2013 at 2:01 am

I just made this now- forget to add the psyllium, but it was DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for the recipe!

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Vivienne March 29, 2013 at 6:20 am

I havnt tried this recipe but I’m excited to forward it onto a friend. I did however want to make a comment about the cauliflower crust pizza – the trick I’ve found is putting a piece of baking paper over the top (as well as under) of the base (made thinly) – oil the top of the baking paper and your able to bake the base for a good 30-40 minutes so its all brown and becomes a much firmer and better texture and taste in my opinion. My hubby is very fussy and loves it!
Try it – I’m sure you’ll notice the difference!! :)

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Coleen April 7, 2013 at 9:56 pm

This pizza was fantastic! We all devoured it, even my four year old. Well done!

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Pam April 9, 2013 at 4:45 am

Made it for the second time yesterday. So good. My 7 year old who does not like many vegetables ate three slices. I think I was low on blanched almond flour so I did use some almond meal (from Trader Joe’s) and it was fine.

I found that I can roll this between two pieces of parchment and get a nice smooth surface. (I tried that with your almond flour and egg crust and it was a disaster.) I like the taste and texture of this even bette than the almond flour crust (which I make thin.) This is now our family pizza crust. And my son will get servings of cauliflower. I’m totally excited about that, too.

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Casey April 20, 2013 at 1:22 am

Tried this tonight and it didn’t come together when mixed like described, so I just spread it all together on the pan and hoped for the best. Somehow, when it came out of the over, the crust was easy to pick up and held together. I don’t eat cheese, so I just had sauce and some meat and veggies on it. It was a hit at our house.

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MeToo52 April 21, 2013 at 12:49 am

Tried this a few days ago and loved it. I doubled the recipe just because I wanted to use the whole head of cauliflower. The first crust I overbaked but cut it up for crackers. The second one I watched more carefully; I froze it for a few days, then added the toppings (mushrooms, olives and pepperjack cheese) and baked it yesterday. Great hot and also good cold today in my lunch bag. It sat on my desk from 8am to 3pm and even then it was delicious. Another winner!

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Lysa April 30, 2013 at 12:28 am

I tried this with almond meal, it’s super good. The middle is not as crispy but it’s delicious thank you for you recipes:)

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Pam May 1, 2013 at 5:06 am

Made it again. My cauliflower cooked down to 2.75 cups of rice so I made 2.5 batches. Made one 14″ pizza and a bunch of little pizza crusts I froze. I forget how many of those my 7 year old ate tonight. (Think of all the cauliflower he ate!)

I just read your favorite crust recipe. I noticed it had LOTS of flax in it. Do you think this crust would be really crispy with that much flax?

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Maya August 7, 2013 at 8:32 am

Made my first ever paleo pizza for dinner last night using your dough, and it was an enormous success! It was really, really delicious and actually satisfied my bread craving, which I still have after going paleo two months ago. We have no basis for comparison among other kinds of paleo dough, but my husband said he likes it waaaaay better than regular pizza dough and I think I might agree. It was a white pizza (given your comments about soggy sauce), with mozzarella, shredded chicken, sautéed red peppers and cremini mushrooms, caramelized red onions and fresh chopped rosemary…a recreation of (maybe improvement on???) the non-paleo pizza we used to get delivered from our local artisan pizza place at least a few times a month. Will definitely make this as often, if not more. In the meantime, SO glad I get to eat leftovers today :)

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Helen August 10, 2013 at 1:28 am

I just made this is and this is definitely the best gluten-free crust I have tasted! I really like it and it was pretty easy and quick to make, too.
I was so excited about it, I took a picture and shared your recipe on Facebook. (I hope that was okay.) Thank you so much for this recipe!

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Brittany August 10, 2013 at 1:56 am

Hey!! So glad you liked it!
Sharing a picture is great :) I just prefer than only a link is shared ( vs. the actual recipe itself)

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Taylor August 14, 2013 at 1:09 pm

can i ground Almond’s for the flour? And then use half almonds and half sun flower?

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Jenny September 8, 2013 at 12:55 am

I love this recipe. It’s my favorite for yummy pizza crusts. It is definitely the best of the cauliflower recipes out there. Today, I doubled the batch and made mini pizza crusts. I par-baked three of them to freeze for later, and I am enjoying the other one tonight! Thanks for your amazing work. I recommend people to your blog all the time.

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Sarah October 23, 2013 at 12:24 am

I have a pizza stone..can I use that for this recipe or will it not work well?

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Brittany October 23, 2013 at 1:55 am

I think that should work just fine! :)

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