I love a good pizza. Not some fast-food style, but a traditional thin crust pizza. Just like everyone else, I have my go-to delivery place on hand, but more often than not I am willing to take a touch more time and spend 1/3 of the money to make my own perfect pizza dough from scratch. It is so much better, and a lot of fun to make! I highly recommend picking up a pizza stone which runs about $14 and makes a big difference, but if that’s not an option, you can always use a good old cookie sheet and pre-heat that in the oven to get the crust crispy.
This perfect pizza crust recipe takes all of 10 minutes to make. I’ll admit, you do have to make it a few hours ahead of time to let the dough rise, but the active prep time is close to non-existent, and then you just let the dough sit and do its thing. Trust me, totally worth it! Since this recipe makes enough dough for two pizzas, you can always save it for later in the week. The dough keeps well in the fridge in a ziplock bag, but if you are going to use it more than a week after making it, I would suggest freezing it. Just make sure to get as much air out of the back as possible to prevent freezer burn.
After dough is made and before assembling your pizza, pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees with either your pizza stone or cookie sheet in the oven. You want the oven and stone/cookie sheet to be on for about 20 min prior to putting the pizza in.
Pizza Dough Ingredients
- 1 cup + 1 TBSP water, heated to 110 to 115 degrees
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 tbs granulated sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- Corn meal for dusting
Heat water to between 110 and 115 degrees (about 20 seconds in my microwave, but everyone’s works differently) Next, pour the water into bowl of standing mixer and sprinkle the active dry yeast over the water, sprinkling 1 tbs of sugar over the yeast. Let it sit until the water has become frothy and the yeast blooms. If it doesn’t froth, dump your water and start again.
Next, add oil and salt, starting the mixer with a dough hook to get everything combined. Add in a total of three cups all-purpose flour, one cup at a time, beating slowly so flour doesn’t fly everywhere. As the dough starts to come together, keep dough hook running until a smooth dough forms.
Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Put the dough ball in and cover with slightly damp dish towel. I always wash my hands from the dough and dry them with the towel I am going to use to drape over the bowl of dough. Allow dough to double in size, about an hour or two. **Don’t be afraid to let it sit for more time if you are busy. Extra time won’t hurt it. I always keep my dough in the microwave or a cool oven to ensure that the dough is free from any drafts.
Once the dough has risen, divide it into two pieces, and sprinkle a large cutting board with cornmeal. You can also use flour, but I think the cornmeal adds more texture. Coat dough in either cornmeal or flour depending on what you want to use, and roll it out as thin as you want.
For this pizza, I used a combination of asiago, gruyere, and mozzarella cheeses, along with tomato sauce, coppocola, (a dry Italian deli meat) and an array of fresh herbs like thyme, oregano, and rosemary. You can top your pizza with any topping you desire, and this perfect pizza dough will be the tender and crispy base you need. Slide your unbaked pizza onto pre-heated pizza stone or cookie sheet and cook at 500 degrees for about 10 -15 minutes until crust is crispy and cheese is bubbly.
This perfect pizza dough recipe is fail proof as long as you follow the instructions and give it the necessary time to rise. Pizza delivery is convenient, but fresh, homemade pizzas are amazing!
