Basic Pizza Dough

Make this pizza dough today and come back tomorrow for a fabulous pizza recipe!

Basic Pizza Dough
Adapted from Annie’s Eats

½ cup warm water
2¼ teaspoon instant yeast
4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
1½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cup water, at room temperature
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Directions:
1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle the yeast over the top. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the bread flour and salt, mixing briefly to blend.
2. Measure the room temperature water into the measuring cup with the yeast-water mixture. With the mixer on low speed, pour in the yeast-water mixture as well as 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed.
3. Switch to the dough hook. Knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
4. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.
5. After ~2 hours, press down the dough to deflate it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces.

6. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball. (If you’re not using the dough immediately, freeze the dough at this point. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in freezer.)

Cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 30 minutes.
7. To bake, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 500˚ F for at least 30 minutes. Transfer the dough to your shaping surface (parchment paper works good here), lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Shape the dough with lightly floured hands. Move pizza dough to the pizza stone (you can leave the parchment paper under the pizza while cooking).
8. Brush the outer edge lightly with olive oil (about 1 Tablespoon). Baked pizza crust “naked” for about 5 minutes in oven and remove. Top as desired. Bake until the crust is golden brown, and cheese is bubbling, 8-12 minutes. Makes 2 medium pizza doughs. Serves 16.

Nutrition Notes: Like anything, homemade is best. No preservatives or strange chemical names. Just lovely dough like your grandmother used to make. Bread flour has a higher gluten content than regular flour, resulting in a chewier product. It makes a big difference in the texture so make sure to buy some bread flour!

Taste Test: Doughy and delicious! Definately a lot more work than going to Trader Joe’s and picking up their pizza dough – but also very rewarding and healthier! They crust actually doesn’t need much flour when you’re handling it. The dough is a nice firm product and results in a crispy and yummy crust!

Random thought of the day from The Great Balancing Act:

It’s not always about searching for happiness, but rather being still enough to let it come find you. Because when you wipe away the things that worry and scare you, you will sometimes find the beauty in the world you never knew existed.

 

Make this pizza dough today and come back tomorrow for a fabulous pizza recipe! Basic Pizza Dough Adapted from Annie’s Eats ½ cup warm water 2¼ teaspoon instant yeast 4...