A Beginner’s Guide to Making Homemade Pizza Dough

Are you intimidated about baking pizza pies at home? Sure you can buy pre made pizza dough but that’s not as much fun and doesn’t compare to homemade.

There is nothing better than the smell and taste of fresh bread baked at home. Making bread is easier than you might think and only involves 4 ingredients. In A Beginner’s Guide to Baking Bread in a Dutch Oven Using Only 4 Ingredients I show you exactly how to do it.

Making pizza dough is very similar and just as easy to make. Once you make your own dough and bake your own pizza, you will never go back to frozen or store bought. Kids enjoy helping and customizing their very own pizzas too. They enjoy eating the pizza more knowing they made it themselves. It’s an event the whole family can participate in!

Ingredients to Make Pizza Dough

Let’s start with the basics ingredients:

• 1 and 1/3 cups warm water
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1 standard packet) or active dry yeast
• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon course salt
• 3 and 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour
• Sprinkle of cornmeal for dusting the pan (optional)

Step by Step Process to Making Homemade Pizza

1.) Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl or a Kitchen Aid Mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

2.) Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Beat on low speed for several minutes. If you do not have a mixer, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for 3-4 minutes.

Tip: After kneading, the dough should still feel a bit soft. Poke it with your finger – if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading.

3.) Using the Kitchen Aid mixing bowl, add a bit of olive oil to the sides of the bowl and coat all sides of the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size.

Tip: You can allow the dough to rise for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator if you want to prepare ahead. The slower the rise the greater the taste. If the dough didn’t quite double in size overnight, let it sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before punching it with your fist.

4.) Preheat oven to 475°F. Allow it to heat as you shape the pizza. Lightly grease baking sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray or olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal, which gives the crust extra crunch and flavor.

Tip: When the dough is ready, release any air bubbles by poking it with your fingers. This recipe makes two 12″ pizzas. If you like a thinner crust, divide the dough into three equal parts using a knife or dough scraper. You can freeze one or more of the dough balls to make pizza at a later time. To do this, lightly coat all sides of the dough balls with olive oil. Place the dough balls into individual zipped-top bags and seal tightly, squeezing out all the air. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator for approximately 8 hours or overnight. When ready to make pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes on the counter.

5.) On a lightly floured work surface using lightly floured hands or a rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into a disc. Place on prepared pan and, using lightly floured hands, stretch and flatten the disc into a 12-inch circle. Lift the edge of the dough up to create a lip around the edges by pinching the edges up to create the rim. Cover dough lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rest for a few minutes as you prepare your pizza toppings.

Tip: To prevent the filling from making your pizza crust soggy, brush the top lightly with olive oil. Using your fingers, push dents into the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. You can add in some garlic for extra flavoring.

6.) Top with your favorite toppings and bake for 12-15 minutes. Cut with a pizza cutter and serve immediately.

We made three pizzas personalized to our tastes. My daughter made a white pizza, as she dislikes tomato sauce. After brushing with oil, she topped her dough with 1/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese and 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese.

My son made his pizza with 1/2 cup tomato sauce, and 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese and fresh mozzarella cheese balls.

My pizza was made with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella balls and topped with fresh basil leaves after cooking was complete.

We enjoyed all the pizzas and shared them with each other. The kids thought theirs was the best..of course 😉

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Do you make your own pizza crust, any advice you can offer our readers?

Denise

XO

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