Pizza Dough
This dough is incredibly easy, delightfully airy, and sturdy enough to hold all your favorite toppings!
| Recipe Snapshot | Serves: 4 | Time: 2 hours | Level: Medium |
What you’ll need…
3 ½ C All Purpose Flour + more to perfect the dough 2 tsp Sugar 1 rounded tsp Kosher Salt 1 Packet Instant Yeast 1 ½ C Lukewarm Water 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Get Cooking…
In the bowl of a stand mixer, sift the flour and sugar together. Next, sprinkle in the salt and yeast. Fit your mixer with the dough hook attachment, and start it mixing on a low speed. Slowly stream in the lukewarm water – stopping once about half the water is added. Pour in the olive oil, and let the dough continue to mix for a few seconds. If the dough looks dry, go ahead and add more of the water. If you add too much water, sprinkle in a little more flour. Once you have created a nice dough texture, continue to knead in the mixer until a smooth, elastic ball forms.
Grease a large bowl with about 1 tsp olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour.
Once doubled in size, punch the dough down and turn out onto a clean surface. Divide dough as desired – I divide into 2 for regular-size pizzas or 4 for personal size pizzas. Form into balls and cover with cloth again to rest for about 10 minutes.
Cook as desired – I like to roll the dough thin using a little cornmeal or semolina flour and cook on a pizza stone on the grill.
Note 1 – You do not need to use a stand mixer to make this recipe, but it helps to make it so easy. If you don’t have a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment simply mix the ingredients in a large bowl, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to knead into a smooth, elastic ball.
Note 2 – Sifting the flour and sugar together is a key component to creating a nice airy, light crust. The sifting action helps lighten up the dough and allows the yeast to leaven the dough even more.
Note 3 – You might notice there is a little more sugar in this recipe than most. That is because I like the balance of a sweeter crust and acidic tomato sauce. It also helps the yeast leaven the dough by giving them more “food” to break down into gas.
