Basic Pizza Dough Recipe

Basic Pizza Dough
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Posted On: October 6, 2014
Last updated: December 17th, 2021

Next time you feel like having pizza, why not just skip the takeout or frozen pizza and make it yourself.  Pizza dough is relatively easy to make yourself and the payoff is a preservative free, delicious crust that you made on your own!  Let’s be real here, you can put the most amazing toppings on your pizza but without a good crust it’s just another ordinary pizza.  Like many things we eat these days, the mega-food conglomerates have taken over and provided a false sense of health and nutrition from their pre-packaged processed dough like products.

Pizza Dough Crust Options

Refrigerated Pizza Dough In A Tube:

You know the one I’m talking about, you press at the seam of the can in anticipation of the pop!  Those cans of pizza dough have quite a shelf life, how do you think they attain that?  You are correct if you answered…Preservatives!  Here is the ingredient list from one of those cans:

Enriched Four Bleached(wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Water, Dextrose, Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean And/or Cottonseed Oil*. Contains 2% or less of: Vital Wheat Gluten, Leavening(glucono delta-lactone, baking soda), Salt, Mono and Diglycerides, Xanthan Gum. *Adds A Trivial Amount Of Trans Fat

I especially like the last line “Adds A Trivial Amount Of Trans Fat”!  Thanks to the FDA, these companies are allowed to show 0 g trans fat on the nutrition label when it actually does contain trans fat!  This topic is for another post.

Basic Pizza Crust Ingredients
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Pre-Made Pizza Crust:

This option is even easier, just open the package, cover with toppings and bake.  What could be wrong with that?  It can just sit on the shelf and not take up valuable fridge space, but wait…how does it stay out for so long without going bad?  If you answered…Preservatives, you are correct again!  Here are the ingredients for one of these pre-made pizza crusts:

Unbleached enriched wheat flour[flour, malted barley flour, reduced iron, niacin, thiamin mononitrate(vitamin b1), riboflavin(vitamin b2), folic acid], water, palm oil, yeast, salt, milk casein, sugar, mozzarella cheese(milk, cheese cultures, salt and enzymes, preservatives(calcium propionate, sorbic acid), fumaric acid, modified food starch, sodium phosphate, whey, monoglycerides, lactic acid, natural flavor, garlic, artifical color.

Make Your Own Healthier Pizza Dough!

Sure it takes a little more time to make your own pizza dough, but you can make it ahead of time and store it for a few days or even freeze it till you need it; no preservatives or junk, just the real ingredients you put into it.  Here is a list of the ingredients that are in this homemade pizza dough:

Organic unbleached flour(organic wheat flour, organic malted barley flour), yeast, honey, water, salt, olive oil

That’s it!  There are more ingredients in just the flour of pre-made pizza doughs than there are in this entire Pizza Dough recipe!

 So…Enough talking, let’s start cooking!

I make this Pizza Dough using a mixer with a dough hook

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.  It can be made by kneading it totally by hand, but I opt for the quicker option!

The water temperature is very critical for proper yeast activation and proofing.  If it’s too cold, it won’t wake the yeast up, too hot and the yeast will die.  I use a fast read digital thermometer

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to make sure my water is between 95 and 115 degrees F.

Use your own judgement when mixing to determine if more flour or water are needed.  It is one of those things that will be different for everyone based on many variables.


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Basic Pizza Dough

Basic Pizza Dough
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A basic pizza dough recipe that can be adapted to make many variants. This makes 2 large pizzas or 4 small thin crusts.

  • Author: Josh
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 package Yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)
  • 3/4 to 1-1/3 cup Warm Water (Amount varies by type of flour used)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Honey (Local Unfiltered)
  • 3 cups Unbleached Organic Bread Flour (All-purpose works also)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons Olive Oil

Instructions

  1. Mix 3/4 cup of the Water and Honey together and heat between 95F and 115F (Prime temp for yeast to thrive). Add your yeast and gently stir. Let this set until you see the yeast begin to foam, this means your yeast is activated and beginning to proof.
  2. Add 2 3/4 cups of the Flour and Salt to the mixer with the dough hook attachment installed. Turn it on low and slowly add the Olive Oil. Let it mix for about a minute.
  3. Pour in your proofed Yeast mixture and mix on medium low for about 5 minutes. If after the first minute or so, it liquefied but hasn’t formed a cohesive ball, add a little bit more flour, tablespoon at a time until it forms into a ball. If it gets dry and crumbly, add a little more water just a little at a time. Be patient and don’t start adding too quickly. You must rely on your own judgement at this point!
  4. Remove the ball of dough from the mixer and place on a clean, solid un-floured surface. Knead it by hand for 3 to 4 minutes. Knead vigorously, folding it onto itself occasionally.
  5. Finish kneading by forming it into a ball. Place this in a lightly oiled bowl, large enough to let it triple in size. Cover with a warm damp towel and place in a warm place for at least 30 minutes to let the dough rise.
  6. Divide dough into 2 or 4 portions depending on how big you want your pizza’s. I do 2 for sheet-pan pizza’s and 4 for individual round thin crust pizza’s.
  7. Roll each portion for about 1 minute under the palm of your hand on an un-floured surface to form it into a ball. Cover with a damp towel and let sit again for about 15 minutes where they will continue to rise.
  8. You can go ahead and roll it out on a floured surface now or wrap with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for up to a couple days. When ready to use, remove from the refrigerator and let sit for 20 minutes or so before rolling it out on a floured surface.
  9. Once you add your toppings, cook at 500F for 7 to 10 minutes, watching closely the last couple minutes to make sure the edges of the crust don’t burn.

Notes

The flour you use makes a big difference in the outcome of this recipe. I prefer bread flour but all-purpose flour works also. If you use any other type of flour, please let us know how it turns out!

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 16

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @wholemadeliving on Instagram and show us what you created!

 

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