Quick and Easy Pizza Crust
So my recipe for a Homemade Flaky Pie Crust would be perfect for this, but I found myself in a bind the other night trying to make a pizza for dinner and I didn't have pastry flour or shortening for my traditional recipe.
I had to pull together and substitute ingredients, like I do with all of my recipes when I run out of something, and find another way to make a pizza crust. This was the amazing result.
It just so happened that I had bread flour and Active Dry yeast, from all of the bread I make with my amazing bread machine. So I used that instead, with a little sugar, salt, and olive oil to pull this dough together.
Dough Recipes
There are many variations to this recipe in recipe books, online and anywhere else that you find a recipe for pizza crust. Everyone has the version they prefer, but I was trying to find something that I could do in a pinch.
Some recipes suggest using all-purpose flour, some bread flour, and some even pastry flour. Using bread flour will give you a much crisper crust, and pastry flour will give you a very light flaky crust. If you can't find one of these flours, you can easily substitute it with all-purpose flour which will give you a chewier crust.
All in all, bread flour will give you the sturdy, crispy crust you are used to from regular delivery pizza. Especially when you are piling on the sauce, the cheese, and tons of yummy toppings, you'll want a nice firm crust to hold it all.
Finally, the biggest difference between this recipe and many of the others, is the fact that they suggest you let your dough rise and double in size before rolling it out and cooking it.
This might give you a fluffier, lighter crust, along with allowing you to make two pizzas with your dough rather than just one. However, you'd also then have to wait the hour that they suggest to let your dough rise. Rising and punching down, rising and punching down . . . it's all too much for me.
This is a really quick and easy recipe, like the title suggests, for making delicious pizza dough in a snap. I hope you enjoy!
Cook Time
Ingredients
- 1 (0.25 oz) package active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a round pizza pan generously with cooking spray.
- Dissolve your yeast in 1 cup of warm water and stir well. Set aside for 10 minutes or so until it turns creamy.
- In the meantime, in a separate bowl, mix your sugar, bread flour, oil and salt.
- When your ingredients are well mixed, add in your yeast and mix it in thoroughly.
- When your ingredients begin forming a dough, prepare a roller and a large surface with a light dusting of flour, and pour your dough out onto your floured surface.
- Knead your dough for approximately 5-10 minutes before rolling it out.
- As your dough will have some elasticity in it, you will need to stretch it and roll it out into a circle until it's big enough to fit correctly on your pizza pan.
- If you so choose, roll and fold your edges in to make a raised crust. Although this will probably not be necessary.
- Pop your crust into the oven for about 6 minutes before putting any toppings on it.
- It will rise and brown in the oven, and this is okay.
- When you take it back out, you will need to cover it with a towel and smash it back down flat right away before it sets.
- You can now top your pizza crust with whatever toppings you would like.
- To cook your pizza, lower your oven temperature to 400 degrees F and cook for approximately 12 minutes.
- By cooking your pizza crust for a few minutes first, it keeps your crust crispy throughout baking your pizza. Otherwise it will still be slightly wet and still doughy in the middle after baking.
- Yummy! Yummy! This crust actually tastes good all by itself.
Nutritional Information
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1 slice of pizza | |
| Calories | 189 |
| Calories from Fat | 36 |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Fat 4 g | 6% |
| Carbohydrates 32 g | 11% |
| Fiber 1 g | 4% |
| Protein 6 g | 12% |
| Cholesterol 0 mg | |
| Sodium 293 mg | 12% |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
Personal Review
I actually loved how this dough turned out. It was a little spongy, and it fought my marble roller stretching out, but in the end it was heavy enough to securely good tons of pizza toppings, and light enough to have layers of air pockets.
I'm still looking for an even easier dough recipe that just about anybody can pull together with just the ingredients in their pantry. All of these special ingredients really make it difficult to make dough at a moment's notice.
I know one day I'll find it. But in the meantime, this one was fantastic! You really can't beat 15 minutes to a great pizza dough.
However, I highly suggest one more step after kneading, rolling out, and stretching to fit your pan, before actually using it. Bake it at about 425 degrees F for about 6 minutes before pilling on your toppings.
This will prevent the doughy texture in the middle of your pizza that would result if you didn't bake it for a few minutes first. Just know that once you bake it, there is absolutely no more stretching.
Enjoy your delicious pizza crust!
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© 2013 Victoria Van Ness
