Homemade Pizza Dough - Our Favorite Way
Making your own homemade pizza dough costs a fraction of the price of purchasing the shells at the grocery store. It's one thing to buy the whole pizza for a quick dinner, yet another to buy the shell only to come home and assemble all the ingredients yourself for that homemade look.
You can make the shell dough with or without yeast, i.e., thick crust or thin and usually have it rolled out and ready to go in less than an hour. The following recipe for pizza dough is one of our favorites and makes enough dough for two large rectangular, thick-crust pizzas.
Ingredient List
6 cups flour (more or less)
Mixed Italian Seasonings
2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
5 teaspoons bread yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
Equipment List
Large Bowl
Coffee cup or small bowl
Saucepan
Measuring cups and spoon
Mixing spoon
Rolling pin
Proofing the Yeast
Add 1/4 cup hot water to a coffee cup or small bowl. Stir in three tablespoons of sugar and five teaspoons of bread yeast. Set the cup aside as your assemble the rest of the ingredients.
Assembling the Rest
In a saucepan, combine the two cups of water, 1/4 cup of sugar and two tablespoons butter. Heat over low heat until the butter melts and the water is warm to the touch.
In a large bowl, measure out two cups of flour and stir in two to three tablespoons of mixed Italian seasoning.
Mixing the Dough
Add the yeast to the dry flour mixture and stir to incorporate it thoroughly. Add the water mixture and stir until the mixture is smooth, much like a pancake batter.
Continue to add flour, one cup and a time, stirring to mix completely. When the mixture gets too thick to stir, dump the dough out onto a floured surface.
Cover the dough with another cup of flour and begin kneading the flour into the dough. You will probably use at least six cups of flour, maybe a bit more.
Knead the dough until it is smooth and no longer sticky.
Rising the Dough
Wash the large bowl and dry with a towel. Add two tablespoons of oil to the bottom of the bowl. Place the dough ball in the bowl and coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until double; this may take 30 to 45 minutes.
Roll the Dough
Punch down the dough in the bowl and move it to your workspace. Cut the dough in half or thirds depending on the size of your pans.
Roll each section of the dough to fit the pans you are using.
Words of Wisdom:
Grease the baking pans to keep the dough from sticking, making it easier to remove after cutting slices.
You can replace the water with milk if desired and the butter with olive oil, but water and butter are things I have on hand all the time.
