I’ve included this Straight Up Pizza Dough recipe so that whenever anyone feels like making pizza dough, you can find the recipe and detailed instructions right here!
I’ll also specify that this dough is particularly good for those 10 inch round, crispy crust pizzas. If making pizza today, preheat your oven to 500 to let your pizza pan/stone heat up for AT LEAST an hour. You want the pan scorching hot to get the crispiest crust.
It also helps to get the kitchen warm for your dough to rise. I let my oven preheat for at least two hours, which helps my dough rise when placed on the shelf directly above my oven.
If you aren’t making this dough to make pizza immediately, it will keep in the fridge for 3-5 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months. I’d recommend keeping a few of these containers in the freezer for whenever a pizza hankering comes around.
I’ve also included the step by step instructions below, with pictures to accompany it, so that you can’t screw this one up. I promise, it’s easier than you think.
Happy pizza making!
Pizza Dough (recipe courtesy of Pizza School)
This recipe makes 4 ten inch pizzas.
3 1/2 cups (20 oz) all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) warm water (should be around 110 degrees, or a little warmer than body temp)
2 1-4 tsp (7g or 1 packet) active dry yeast
1/8 tsp (1g) sugar
1 tbsp (18g) fine sea salt (just don’t use kosher salt, it will rip your dough)
1 tbsp (14g) extra virgin olive oil
Semolina flour for dusting pizza peel
- Proof your yeast to make sure it’s active. Add yeast to warm water, add sugar. Stir once and let sit for 10 minutes until bubbly/foamy on the surface. That’s how you’ll know it’s alive.
- Combine flour and salt.
- Add olive oil to water yeast/mixture.
- Add wet ingredients in the middle of the dry. Slowly stir, starting from the outside of the wet puddle, slowly pulling in the flour, making a paste. The dough will then start to become shaggy. Continue to mix until there is no dry flour left.
- Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Lean into the dough with the palm of your hand. Fold it over and repeat. Add flour whenever the dough gets sticky. When the dough is shiny and elastic, you’re done.
- Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. I like to put each quarter in an oiled plastic pint container, with the lid on. Let rise for 1 hour in a warm place (I leave mine on top of my stove, or if it’s cold, let rise for 2 hours until the dough has expanded and taken up the entire pint container.)
- Once the dough has completely risen to the top of the container, empty the container onto a lightly floured surface gently. BE GENTLE with the dough, and flatten by patting the dough gently with open hands, starting from the center and moving outwards. Be sure to leave a little more thickness in the center.
- Pick up the dough from the outside of the circle and place both hands on the outside of the dough, letting gravity do the work to stretch it out. Turn the dough as it stretches until it’s thin enough in the middle to almost see through.
- Place on a well semolina’d pizza peel.
