I love pizza and I love making bread dough, so making pizza dough is almost like a hobby for me at this point. I mean, how convenient is it to be able to just make pizza whenever you want?! Mix up a simple dough, knead it a bit, and wait in anticipation for it to rise and then voila! Pizza for dinner-or any other time of day!
The perfect pizza dough starts with flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. When measuring these things out, make sure not to dump the yeast and the salt into the same spot. Mix it all together with a spoon, and then add a glug of oil and regular ol’ tap water. Mix it all together with the spoon again until a rough dough starts to form.
Time to knead! Of course, you can do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook, but I always do mine by hand. There’s something therapeutic about kneading dough by hand and having it turn into this perfect, soft, glossy sphere.
Rub some oil in your original mixing bowl and then drop your dough ball back into it. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let it rest for ~1.5 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
Boom – Done! It’s ready to be formed into that delicious pizza crust and topped with any and all delicious toppings!
Side Note About Freezing
My recipe makes 2 pizza crusts worth of dough. If you want to freeze half the dough for another time, simply divide the dough in half after you’ve kneaded it and let it rise the first time. Wrap it well in plastic wrap, and then place it in a freezer bag with as much air squeezed out of it as possible. Then, just pop it in the freezer instead of allowing it the second rise.
When you want to use it again, all you have to do is take it out, unwrap it, plop it in a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap, and let it thaw/rise for 3-5 hours in a warm spot, or in the fridge overnight.
Perfect Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2¼ tsp yeast
- 1½ cup water
- 2 Tbsp oil separated
Instructions
- Start with ~3.5 cups of flour.
- Add the salt, sugar, and yeast. Be careful to not allow the salt and yeast to sit together.
- Mix with a spoon, and then create a "well" in the center of the flour mixture.
- Add 1 Tbsp oil and the water. Mix well.
- When the dough starts coming together, flour a countertop and turn out all the mixture onto it. Scrape any of the dough out from the sides or bottom.
- Knead the dough together, adding small amounts of flour as needed, until it is soft, slightly sticky, and "bounces back" when prodded. This can take up to 10 minutes depending on kneading speed. Hang in there!
- Add the remaining Tbsp of oil to your bowl you used to mix the dough in. Swirl it around to coat the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Place your beautiful dough ball back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap and then a towel.
- Set in a warm place to rise for ~1.5 hours or until doubled in size.
- That's it! Once it's risen, it's ready to be shaped and made into the perfect pizza, stromboli, or calzone of your choice! Happy Baking!!
Kneading really is a great stress reliever.