Pizza Dough From Scratch

We used to buy a lot of brand-name frozen pizzas every week at the grocery store. With a house of guys we ate a lot of them, but I quit cold turkey and started to make my own pizza. It is way cheaper and so much healthier. Today, I will share with you my homemade pizza dough. Years ago, I shared this, but I have changed the recipe a lot since then, so it was time for a redo. This is a picture of the activated yeast before I mix it with the flour. 

I mix my dough in this bread bowl. I bought it years ago at a flea market. 

I have tried this recipe in the bread machine, but it seems to make the dough too tough, so I prefer to hand-knead it for around five minutes, and then it is ready to proof.

Some of the equipment I use to make pizza is a pizza stone, a pizza peel, parchment paper, a kitchen scale, a digital cooking thermometer, and an air fryer with a proof setting to proof the dough. You wouldn't have to have these things to make the pizza, but it does help to make the pizza turn out more like your favorite pizzeria. In this picture I am covering the dough to place in the proofer.

In this picture, the dough has proofed for an hour and risen nicely. 

I will now make six equal portions of the dough, and put them in a labeled baggie, and place them in the freezer or refrigerator if using therm right away.

I have tried several flours for this recipe. The best and most widely available flour that will give you

pizzeria results is bread flour. I have tried 00 flour, but it isn't absolutely necessary to go to the expense of buying that flour for that light, airy, crisp crust.

Here is the dough out of the freezer. I have put it in the microwave on defrost for 1-2 minutes, or maybe a little longer, until it is no longer frozen. 

I place it on parchment paper and roll out a 12-inch pizza. Dimple the dough with your fingers to get that airy crispy crust.

Here is the veggie pizza, ready for the oven. I bake it on a pizza stone in a preheated 485°F in a oven. 

My pizza has evolved over the years. It is getting easier to recreate a takeout pizza without the expense. I am prefecting our favorite sauce and will share that soon, as well as a recipe for cheesesticks.

Pizza Dough from Scratch                                           Yield: 6-12 inch pizzas

Ingredients:

600 gm bread flour (4 3/4 cups)

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cup of water, warm (100°F)

1 teaspoon sugar placed in the water to dislove

2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Combine flour, salt, in a large bowl. Weighing the flour will be more acurate. Add the water, yeast, and the sugar to a measuring cup set in a warm place and wait to see the yeast activate. (As in the first picture above.) After the yeast is activated add the olive oil to the water and yeast mixture. Add water mixture to the flour mixture and combine till liquid is dispersed. Turn the dough onto your preferred kneading surface and knead the dough around five minutes. Cover the dough with a tea towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm area to rise for an hour or use proof setting on an air fryer. 

When fully risen cut dough into 6 equal parts and freeze or use right away. 

To cook preheat oven and pizza stone to 485°F.

Roll out dough to a 12-inch crust and top as desired. (Use only enough sauce to cover.) Bake on the hot stone 11 minutes. Remove from oven and serve hot.

Pizza at home can be made rather easily and much cheaper and healthier for you than the frozen store brands. I have not bought another store pizza since making this dough. It has been around five years now.

In Victory,

Sherry