Homemade Pizza Dough

Homemade Pizza Dough-1-13Busy people need “rescue recipes”. Even on really hectic days when things don’t go as planned or you just have a lot going on, there should be meals that you can make at a moment’s notice. Having pizza dough on hand is a wonderful option for just those occasions. Not only is it really easy to whip up on the day that you plan to have pizza, but you can make it a day in advance and keep it in the refrigerator. Even better – you can store pizza dough in the freezer for up to 3 months! Isn’t that awesome? Make a couple batches of pizza dough, throw them in your freezer, and when you know that you’ll have a really busy day, take out the dough the night before and put it in your refrigerator to thaw. Add the toppings, bake and you have dinner ready in 15-20 minutes. That’s less time than it takes to order a pizza and it will taste incredible too.
Not in a pizza mood? No problem. Pizza dough has many other uses too. How about calzones, stromboli or garlic knots? With tons of different ingredients combinations, you can come up with just about anything that you and your family can enjoy.

I didn’t even talk about this dough yet. It creates the most amazing crisp and chewy crust, just the way pizza dough should be. It’s important to use bread flour if you want that chewy texture. It bakes up to tender and fluffy perfection on the inside and tastes like carb heaven.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup warm water (105-110 degrees Fahrenheit)

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

pinch of sugar

3 1/2-4 cups bread flour (you can use all purpose flour, but the crust will not be as crispy)

2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil, plus 1/2 Tablespoon for coating the dough

Instructions:

Homemade Pizza Dough-1-12Add the yeast and sugar to the warm water. (Honestly, you can just add the yeast into the flour, but I have a habit of always adding yeast to warm water first. This way, I can make sure that the yeast is still fresh and will work. The best way to check if yeast is still fresh is to add it to warm water. If it’s fresh, it will get foamy.)

Homemade Pizza Dough-4In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and olive oil. Bread flour is the best to use, since it will make your crust really chewy. You can use all purpose flour, but the crust will be much softer.Homemade Pizza Dough-2

Pour in the yeast mixture. Homemade Pizza Dough-3Using a dough hook on a standing mixer, start mixing the dough on low speed and gradually increase the speed, until the dough forms into a ball. Continue mixing for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and firm.

Homemade Pizza Dough-5You can also make pizza dough in a food processor. Pulse all the dry ingredients in the food processor first and then add the liquid ingredients until you have a smooth dough.

If the pizza dough seems a little bit too runny, add a Tablespoon of flour at a time until you have the right consistency. Also, if the dough is too tough, add a Tablespoon of water at a time until it’s the right consistency.

Drizzle the pizza dough with the remaining 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil, turning it over to make sure it’s all coated with the oil. This will help prevent a dry skin from forming on top of the dough as it’s rising.

Homemade Pizza Dough-6Place the dough in a large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Set aside in a warm, draft free place to rise until the dough doubles in size, 1 – 1 1/2 hours.

Homemade Pizza Dough-7Cut the dough in half and use to make pizzas, calzone, stromboli, etc.

Homemade Pizza Dough-8You can keep the dough refrigerated overnight.

To freeze the pizza dough, have the pizza dough rise, divide the dough in half, cover with olive oil and place in a freezer bag, trying to get as much air out as possible before closing. Freeze up to 3 months.

Homemade Pizza Dough-9To use the frozen pizza dough, defrost the pizza dough in the refrigerator overnight. Let the dough come to room temperature for about 30 minutes; there is no need to wait for the dough to rise before using it.Homemade Pizza Dough-1-13

Homemade Pizza Dough
 
Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Miscellaneous
Serves: 2 (12-14 inch) pizzas
Ingredients
  • 1½ cup warm water (105-110 degrees Fahrenheit)
  • 2½ teaspoons active dry yeast
  • pinch of sugar
  • 3½-4 cups bread flour (you can use all purpose flour, but the crust will not be as crispy)
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2½ Tablespoons olive oil, plus ½ Tablespoon for coating the dough
Instructions
  1. Add the yeast and sugar to the warm water. (Honestly, you can just add the yeast into the flour, but I have a habit of always adding yeast to warm water first. This way, I can make sure that the yeast is still fresh and will work. The best way to check if yeast is still fresh is to add it to warm water. If it's fresh, it will get foamy.)
  2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and olive oil. Bread flour is the best to use, since it will make your crust really chewy. You can use all purpose flour, but the crust will be much softer.
  3. Pour in the yeast mixture. Homemade Pizza Dough-3Using a dough hook on a standing mixer, start mixing the dough on low speed and gradually increase the speed, until the dough forms into a ball. Continue mixing for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and firm.
  4. You can also make pizza dough in a food processor. Pulse all the dry ingredients in the food processor first and then add the liquid ingredients until you have a smooth dough.
  5. If the pizza dough seems a little bit too runny, add a Tablespoon of flour at a time until you have the right consistency. Also, if the dough is too tough, add a Tablespoon of water at a time until it's the right consistency.
  6. Drizzle the pizza dough with the remaining ½ Tablespoon of olive oil, turning it over to make sure it's all coated with the oil. This will help prevent a dry skin from forming on top of the dough as it's rising.
  7. Place the dough in a large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Set aside in a warm, draft free place to rise until the dough doubles in size, 1 - 1½ hours.
  8. Cut the dough in half and use to make pizzas, calzone, stromboli, etc.
  9. You can keep the dough refrigerated overnight.
  10. To freeze the pizza dough, have the pizza dough rise, divide the dough in half, cover with olive oil and place in a freezer bag, trying to get as much air out as possible before closing. Freeze up to 3 months.
  11. To use the frozen pizza dough, defrost the pizza dough in the refrigerator overnight. Let the dough come to room temperature for about 30 minutes; there is no need to wait for the dough to rise before using it.

13 Comments

    • olgak7

      I wouldn’t use it, Yana. Usually, self rising flour has baking powder added to it, not yeast. It works completely different then yeast. It will have a different texture and taste. Plus, it might not work at all, because the liquid ingredients to flour ratio might not be correct for self rising flour.

  • Lena

    Hello Olga! 🙂 Thank you for the recipe!! What temperature do you bake it at, does it take you 15-20 min? and what toppings do you add? Thanks in advance!!!

  • Lana

    Hello Olga! Do you have a recipe to make your own alfredo and marinara sauce? I work at Cafe and make breadsticks with marinara sauce and they taste but premade and so you don’t know what they put in their. Also, doesn’t taste homy. In addition, how do you know if the dough is overrise? If the the dough is overrisen does it change taste or anything like that? I would be happy if you share those recipes with me. Thank you I appreciate.

  • Alla

    So I made this pizza dough and the pizza turned out great, however after I tried making pizza from the dough that I froze my pizza didn’t rise at all. Have you ever had that happen to you?

  • Peggy Koskiniemi

    Good recipe but even better when you use “00” flour from Italy that works for best for pizza crust. Some grocers carry it or you can buy online. I bake crust at 425 degrees F. For 10 minutes or until golden and then put the toppings on and bake another 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
    You can bake several crusts in advance and freeze them without the toppings.
    .CAPUTO brand
    1924
    Il mulino di Napoli
    Chef’s flour
    Long fermentation baking
    SOFT WHEAT FLOUR
    TIPO”00″
    Net Wt: 2.2.Lb. (1 Kg)

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