Recipe for Homemade Pizza Dough

Who has the best pizza dough in your opinion? Is it mom's recipe? The local pizza parlor's pizza dough recipe? Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Sbarro? Each one's crust is a little different. Pizza crusts vary greatly: thin and chewy, thick and chewy, thin and crispy, pan pizza, hand-tossed, sweet, whole wheat, Chicago style, brick-oven pizza, the choices are endless.

What makes pizza crusts so different?

Some people attribute the differences in pizza dough to the oven temperature. Others say it's due to the oven itself, bricks, coal, electric, or wood. Still others say it's the yeast, even the altitude or water that makes different pizza crust! Legend has it that one famous pizza shop down south imports its water from New York - saying that you can't make great New York City Pizza without New York City water!

You can make your dough a day or two in advance of when you plan to use it and store it in the refrigerator for pizza night. It's also a good idea to make extra batches that you can for making homemade pizza another day.

Pizza Dough Recipe Ingredients

• 1 Small Package Active Dry Yeast
• 1 Cup Warm Water
• 2 1/2 to 3 Cups Flour
• 1 1/2 teaspons Salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Olive or Vegetable Oil

Homemade Pizza Dough Directions

• In a large bowl, combine yeast, water, olive oil, salt and stir. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes.
• Add half of the flour and mix well. Set ½ cup of flour aside. Add remaining flour and mix well with your hands.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead dough for about 5 minutes, adding additional flour as necessary. Knead until dough is smooth and not sticky.
• Lightly oil a large bowl. Place dough in bowl, then turn dough over so that both sides are coated with oil. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let stand for about 1 hour to rise.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven.
• Divide dough into 2 portions and form into balls. Place dough balls on a lightly oiled baking sheet and cover with a damp towel. Let stand for 15 minutes.
• Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll dough into circles with a rolling pin. Roll to a thickness of about ¼ inch.
• Dough is ready to bake or to add your favorite pizza toppings and Enjoy!

Personally, I like to make pizza dough in my bread machine, It is a quick easy pizza dough solution!

Tools of the Trade, the Pizza Peel & Pizza Stone

A pizza peel is a flat wooden or stainless paddle used to slide pizza into and out of the oven. Usually the pizza maker will dust the pizza peel with cornmeal so the dough doesn't stick to the paddle.

A pizza stone is a flat stone or earthenware piece, either circular or square, which is placed in the oven to preheat prior to cooking the pizze dough. It helps to evenly distribute the oven heat to cook the pizza. To prevent cracking, the stone should be placed in a cold oven and heated slowly for at least 30 minutes before placing the pizza on the stone to bake. The stone should be left in the oven and cooled down slowly inside the oven after turning oven off. Do not leave pizza stone in the oven when in self-cleaning mode.

Herb Pizza Dough

Adding herbs to pizza dough can give the dough an flavor boost! While you are mixing the ingredients add the herbs or seasonings to the dough for a delicious herb crust. Some additions you might like to try:

• Herbs
• Garlic
• Italian Seasoning
• Onion powder
• Rosemary
• Cheese
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Chili Flakes

Other Uses for Pizza Dough

Pizza dough is so versatile and easy to make, especially if you use your bread machine! Let the machine do all the work. I usually get on a roll and will do batch after batch on a day I'm hanging around the house doing other things. Then I freeze a bunch of dough balls and use them later for tasty treats such as:

• Focaccia
• Stromboli
• Garlic Knots
• Cinnamon Sugar Bites
• Calzones
• Dinner Rolls
• Flat Bread
• Fried Dough sprinkled with powdered sugar