Pizza Crust
Create delicious, made from scratch pizza with this easy Homemade Pizza Crust recipe. This step by step tutorial will help you make perfect pizza dough at home.
Servings: 2 small round crusts or 1 large pan pizza
Calories: 109kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water 105 degrees F. to 115 degrees F.
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 package active dry yeast 2 ¼ teaspoons
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 to 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour or bread flour divided and as needed
- cornmeal as needed
Instructions
- Pour the warm water into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the sugar and yeast and give it a little stir. Let it sit for 10 minutes to proof the yeast
- When yeast has come alive, using either the dough hook or paddle attachment (either works), mix the salt and oil into the yeast solution on a low to medium speed (speed 2 or 4 with the KitchenAid). Add in 2 ½ cups of the flour. Mix well and then add more flour in ¼ cup increments. Stop as soon as the dough is holding more to the hook than to the bowl. It is better to err on the side of it being too sticky because you can always add more but you can’t take it out! Continue to mix the dough on speed 2 for another 2 or 3 minutes.
- Use olive oil to coat a medium mixing bowl. Using floured hands, remove the dough from bowl of mixer and shape into a ball. Place the dough into the well-oiled mixing bowl. Flip the dough over a couple times to coat both sides with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel, and leave in a warm place to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
- Punch down the dough and form a tight ball. Cut the the ball of dough in half with a knife. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before shaping.
Shape the Pizza Dough
- Use a rolling pin to flatten one of the balls of dough on a lightly floured board. Set the rolling pin aside and finish shaping it with your hands, pressing it out from the inside working out. Stretch the sides until you reach the desired diameter - about 10- to 12-inches. If the dough is resistant or difficult to stretch, let it rest for a few minutes and try again.
- You can also hold up the edges of the dough with your fingers, letting the dough hang and stretch, while working around the edges of the dough. If a hole appears in your dough, place the dough on a floured surface and push the dough back together to seal the hole.
- Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. Pinch the edges if you want to form a lip.
Assemble and Bake the Pizza
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. with the oven rack in the lowest position.
- Spread the dough with pizza sauce, cheese, and other desired toppings.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the thickness of your crust), until the crust is nicely browned and the cheese is melted.
Notes
Makes about 1 ¾ pounds of pizza dough. This recipe yields enough dough for two 10- to 12-inch round pizza crusts or one large pan style pizza.
Making Pizza Crust Without a Mixer
- After proofing the yeast, add 2 ½ cups of the flour and use a wooden spoon to mix well. Add all the remaining flour except ½ cup and mix it well with your hands.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board and knead it for at least 5 to 7 minutes, adding additional flour only if necessary to form a smooth, elastic dough. Follow the remaining instructions as directed in the recipe.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. with the oven rack in the lowest position. Coat a 12- x 17-inch rimmed baking sheet with olive oil or nonstick cooking spray.
- Roll out the pizza crust dough then pat it down into the pan, shaping it so that it fits right up to the edges. Lightly poke the top layer of the dough all over with a fork to help prevent air bubbles from forming.
- Par-bake the crust for 5 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven, top the crust with pizza sauce and your pizza toppings, and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the edges of the crust are browned. Remove the pizza from the oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Refrigerator - Instead of allowing the dough to rise immediately, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge until needed. You can do this one or two days ahead to save time on a busy day. Remove the bowl from fridge and let it rest while you are preparing the toppings. Then, proceed with shaping, topping, and baking as directed in the recipe.
- Freezer - Before rising, generously dust the ball of dough with flour and transfer it to a 1 gallon freezer-safe plastic storage bag. Pizza crust dough freezes well for up to one month. To use frozen dough, transfer the bag to the refrigerator the night before. Once fully thawed, let it rest on the counter for about an hour before assembling and baking the pizza. Proceed with shaping, topping, and baking the pizza as instructed in the recipe.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 109kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 147mg | Potassium: 28mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg