Easy Pizza Dough
This easy pizza dough only requires a handful of ingredients and just a few minutes of kneading time. The pizza dough has all the characteristics of pizza dough you love – chewy, crisp but pliable crusts, and a crust that holds up to all of your favorite toppings. Pair this pizza dough with my homemade roasted cherry tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil.
Is there anything better than homemade pizza? Growing up we always had pizza night once a week, usually on Fridays. Now that I have kids of my own, I am carrying on the tradition. Pizza is such a crowd pleaser. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who doesn’t like pizza.
This easy pizza dough is one of my favorites to make. It comes together rather quickly and only requires one 45-minute rise. The pizza dough is baked at a high oven temperature, which results in a crispy yet pliable crust and a crust that is sturdy enough to hold all of your toppings. I paired this easy pizza dough with a homemade roasted cherry tomato sauce and have included the recipe below. You can make it if you have some extra time (I highly recommend trying it at least once, it’s so good!), or just use your favorite store bought sauce.
Here is what you will love about this easy pizza dough
- easy to make – perfect for beginners and experts alike
- the crust has all of your favorite pizza crust characteristics – chewy, crisp but pliable crusts, and a crust that holds up to all of your favorite toppings
- you can use bread flour or all-purpose flour in this recipe, making it versatile. The bread flour results in a chewier texture
- you can prep this dough ahead of time and freeze it for later use
What type of flour should I use?
This pizza dough recipe uses either bread flour or all-purpose flour. The bread flour results in a chewier crust, so if you desire that characteristic chewy pizza crust, I recommend using the bread flour.
The all-purpose flour will result in an equally delicious pizza crust. It just won’t be as chewy.
Storage
You can freeze this pizza dough for up to 3 months. After the dough rises, you can divide the dough in half (if you desire smaller pizzas), or leave as one single dough (if you desire a larger pizza). Place in a freezer safe zip-top bag. Coat all sides of the dough with nonstick spray, or a light coating of oil.
To thaw, place the dough in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight. When ready to bake, allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour, then shape the dough, top with toppings and bake.
Here are a few other easy dinner recipes I think you will love
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Easy Pizza Dough
- Total Time: 1 hour 36 minutes
- Yield: 12-inch pizza 1x
Description
This easy pizza dough only requires a handful of ingredients and just a few minutes of kneading time. The pizza dough has all the characteristics of pizza dough you love – chewy, crisp but pliable crusts, and a crust that holds up to all of your favorite toppings. Pair this pizza dough with my homemade roasted cherry tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil.
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/4 cups warm water (warmed to 110F)
- 3 cups bread flour (or all-purpose)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Cherry Tomato Sauce
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
Toppings
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 cup provolone cheese, shredded
- Thinly sliced fresh mozzarella
- Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add yeast, honey, warm water, flour, salt and olive oil. Knead on medium-low speed for 5 minutes. Transfer to a greased bowl. Spray the top of the dough with nonstick spray, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
2. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
3. Make the cherry tomato sauce. Preheat oven to 400F. Add the cherry tomatoes, garlic, dried herbs and olive oil to a pan. Toss to coat, then bake in oven for 30 minutes. Add roasted cherry tomatoes and garlic to a blender and blend until smooth.
4. Once the dough is done rising, preheat the oven with your pizza stone in the oven to 550F.
5. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface, do NOT punch dough down. You can make either one large 12-inch pizza or two 8-inch pizzas. If making one large pizza, do not divide the dough. If making two smaller pizzas, divide the dough into two roughly equal pieces.
Use your fingertips to press down and make a border around the outer edge of the dough, leaving approximately 1-inch for the crust. Gently place the center part of the pizza dough in the palm of your hand. Transfer the dough back and forth between the palms of your hands a few times. This will stretch out the dough. Don’t worry if it is not a perfect circular shape. Place the dough back onto your floured work surface and shape into a circular shape by gently stretching/pulling the dough. Continue until the dough is 12 inches in diameter.
6.There are a few ways to set up the pizza to successfully transfer onto the hot baking stone.
– Sprinkle a piece of parchment paper large enough to fit the size of the pizza, with cornmeal, or semolina flour. Transfer the pizza dough to the parchment paper. Please note, I find it easier to transfer the pizza dough off of the parchment paper onto the hot pizza stone when baking. (you can bake the pizza dough on the parchment paper, but the parchment paper may darken or scorch)
-However, if you prefer, you can skip the parchment paper and just sprinkle the flour or cornmeal on the pizza stone and transfer the dough directly off of the pizza peel onto the hot stone when baking.
-Lastly, you can get the hot stone out of the oven and place on a heat proof surface. Sprinkle the hot stone with cornmeal, then place pizza dough on hot stone and quickly assemble the pizza with the sauce and toppings.
7. Spread the pizza dough with pizza sauce, cheese and your favorite toppings.
8. Use a pizza peel to transfer the pizza from your countertop to the hot pizza stone in the preheated oven. You can pull the hot pizza stone out of the oven and place on a heat-proof surface for easier transfer. If you have the pizza on the parchment paper, gently slide the pizza dough off of the parchment paper onto the pizza stone. Bake in oven for 5 minutes, then turn the oven to broil and broil an additional minute or two to crisp the crust.
9. Serve pizza warm and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 30
- Rise Time: 60
- Cook Time: 6
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
