How to Make Basic Dough for Pizza

Original Thin Crust -  for one 16” pizza

Here is my tried and true recipe for pizza dough from scratch. It is still makes my favorite pizza crust after 35 years of making pizza for my family and friends. Here it is:

 

Ingredients for Basic Pizza Dough:

---8 ounces of water  (should be at 80 degrees)

---1 ½ tsp active dry yeast – Sam’s has Red Star commercial grade yeast in 1 pound vacuum packed bags. Yeast needs to be refrigerated  in an air tight container after opening.

---1 TBSP Olive Oil (recommend a good extra virgin olive oil, but vegetable, canola or even peanut oil will work fine.)

---1 tsp salt

Add water to mixing bowl. Add yeast. Mix with a wisk. Add salt and oil. Mix with wisk again.  Then add:

---3 ½ cups (approximately) of all purpose flour.

Making Pizza Dough Directions and Tips:

My preferred equipment for mixing and kneading my pizza dough is a Kitchen Aid mixer, but another brand may work as well. I use the dough hook and set my Kitchen Aid mixer on speed number 2 .

Kitchen Aid Mixer Kneads Pizza dough

Dough is ready when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl easily and most of it is forming a dough ball. This only takes a few minutes with a mixer.  It is OK if some of the dough is not a part of the dough ball on its own. You don’t want the dough to be wet and sticky. It should appear somewhat dry, rather than wet and soft. You want a drier tougher texture. You must knead it all together by hand to get your final dough ball.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pizza dough ball

I form a dough ball with my hands. My dough ball is actually more the shape of the cap of a mushroom. (The picture at right shows my dough ball upside down.  The second picture shows the dough ball turned over for the rising process.)

 

Place dough ball in a greased Tupperware type container and let it rise for about 2 hours. It can be placed in the refrigerator for a longer rise time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pizza dough ball

A food processor can be used instead of a stand up mixer with a dough hook, but you will have to premix the first 4  ingredients in a bowl first, before adding to food processor and before adding flour.

Add 3 cups of flour while using the pulse function with the metal blade attachment. When the dough ball begins to form, slowly add the last cup of flour through the feed chute.