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Homemade Pizza Dough

Print Recipe
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 2 12" pizzas

Ingredients
  

  • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast My favorite is SAF
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 3 cups bread flour divided
  • 3/4 cup cold water
  • 2 Tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt

Instructions
 

  • Combine warm water, yeast, sugar and a 1/2 cup of bread flour. Whisk until smooth in a large mixing bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes. The dough should be very bubbly after.
    Mix in warm water, olive oil, salt and 2 more cups of bread flour. Mix until well incorporated and turn dough onto a counter with the remaining 1/2 cup of flour to catch any stickiness as you knead.
    Knead the dough for 5 minutes or until it is very smooth and elastic. Place dough into a bowl sprayed with non-stick spray and allow to rise for at least 1 hour (2 is great!). Dough will double in size.
    You can certainly make this dough ahead, simply allow it to rise for 1-2 hours and then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until the next day.

For baking pizzas

  • This dough makes 2, 12" or 4 mini pizzas
    Place pizza stone (I highly recommend getting one if you don't have one!) into the oven and set oven temp to 500° F. Allow it to preheat for 20 minutes while you make your pizzas before baking them.
    Separate your dough. Roll pizza dough to your desired thickness.
    Place pizzas onto parchment sheets.
    Spread pizza with 1/2 cup or so of your sauce of choice, leaving about 1/2" of crust clean.
    Add cheese, veggies, or toppings of your choice, again, leaving edges clean.
    Carefully place the pizza (including parchment sheet) onto the hot stone or baking tray in your oven. Allow pizza to bake for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and the crust is crisped and golden brown. If baking on a cookie sheet, I usually give it 15 minutes or until golden.
    Remove from the oven and add fresh herbs, parmesan and chili flakes if desired. Cut into squares and enjoy!
    *If 500° is too hot for your parchment sheets, you can lower temp to 450° and just bake the pizzas for a few minutes more until the bottom center is golden.

BBQ chicken pizza recipe

  • I love to add bbq sauce to my pizza dough, and top with shredded rotisserie chicken, red onion, spinach or kale leaves, mozzarella (or cheddar!) cheese, red pepper flakes, cilantro and jalapeno slices for a bit of spice.