Make Your Own Pizza Dough
For pizza lovers everywhere, a good pizza dough is a must! This is a simple yeasted bread dough that will help you make your own delicious pizzas easily, just the way you like them best.
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How do you like your pizza?
Thin and crispy?
Thick and fluffy?
Quick and easy?
Overloaded with cheese and toppings?
However you enjoy your pizza, this pizza dough recipe can work for you.
Not everyone likes the same types of pizza. Just like not everyone has the same amount of time to create their own pizzas from scratch. Here you will find a dough that works well for any of these situations. You will be able to make 2 round pizzas or one large rectangular slab pizza by following this recipe.
Making a thin and crispy crust
Follow this recipe up to the point of rolling out the dough to form your pizza base. Before you roll out your dough, preheat your oven to 200 degrees celcius with your baking tray in the oven. Roll out or stretch your dough to your desired shape and size. Transfer your rolled dough onto a large piece of baking paper before adding your toppings. Bake your pizza for 15 minutes or until the pizza dough is crispy and baked through.
Making a thick soft crust
Follow this recipe up to the point of rolling out the dough. Roll out or stretch your dough to your desired shape and size, make your pizza about half of the thickness that you would like the final crust to be. Leave your uncooked pizza in a warm place to rise for about 1/2 hour or until it has risen to be about twice as thick as before. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Add your toppings to your pizza, being careful not to press anything firmly into the dough. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the pizza is cooked through.
Quick and easy pizza dough shortcuts
Ok I get it, any homemade pizza dough takes time but there are definitely some tips and tricks to speed up your pizza night.
– Make the dough ahead of time. If you have time in the morning or the night before to make a dough you can place it in the fridge for a long slow rise. Cover your bowl with a layer of cling film and leave it in the fridge for up to 12 hours. Take out the dough and roll it whenever you are ready.
– Use your freezer. Freeze the dough, freeze the pizza before baking, freeze cooked pizza. Sometimes I like to make a double batch of this recipe and freeze the dough. You can freeze the dough by wrapping it firmly in cling film, place in the freezer and your done. The defrosting time is just incorporated into the rising time and you are ready to pick up from where you left off.
– Skip all of the rising time. Sometimes if I need a pizza dough for dinner immediately I will simply skip any of the rising time for this dough. The pizza will still have the flavour from the yeast it will just be a little bit more dense of a crust (but still not as dense as many of the pre-made pizza bases are). Make the dough, roll it out, add the toppings, bake and you’re done.
Ingredients
Method
- Combine yeast, sugar and water in a large bowl
- Leave to sit for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to activate. It will become a little fuzzy if the yeast is working.
- Mix in the oil, salt and one cup of flour. Mix very well for 2 -3 minutes to combine.
- Add the remaining flour and mix until it is fully incorporated into the dough.
- Turn out onto a clean bench top and knead together for a minute or to to form a smooth dough ball. Use a little bit of cooking oil to lightly coat your hands / bench if the dough is too sticky to handle
- Place the dough into a clean bowl coat the surface of the dough with about a tablespoon of oil to stop the dough from drying out. Leave your dough to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Roll out your dough to your desired thickness and cover with toppings and bake.
- For a pizza with a thinner, crispier base, cook immediately after preparing in a preheated oven at 200 degrees celcius for 15 minutes.
- For a thicker, softer base roll out the dough and leave it to rise for at least 30 minutes before adding your toppings. Then bake at 180 degrees celcius for 20 minutes.
- Remove your pizza from the oven, slice and serve.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my pizza dough recipe. I hope you enjoy trying this out for yourself. Please feel free to add any questions or comments below. I am happy to help out wherever possible and I would love to hear how this recipe worked out for you.
Crystal Rose
