What do you like on your pizza? Leave a comment.
This recipe makes six 8-inch pizzas, or ten 5-inch pizzas. Thin crust with the crunch of cornmeal on the bottom. You may never order out for pizza again!
UPDATE:
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe
Pizza Dough Do’s and Doughn’ts video
Ingredients for Pizza Dough:
1 packet yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups water
3 – 4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
Equipment:
Electric Mixer with Dough Hook
Kitchen thermometer
wood board
Way better than delivery!
Some say it’s the NYC tap water that gives New York pizza its great taste and texture. So, for a little East Coast-West Coast pizza rivalry, I’m using good ol’ Los Angeles County tap water. Heated to about 110 – 120 (F).
Pour heated water into mixing bowl and sprinkle yeast into water. Add sugar to feed the beast –err, I mean yeast. Let rest about 4 minutes, allowing yeast to activate. Stir. Add salt and olive oil. Mix about 1 minute.
Begin adding flour 1/2 cup at a time with mixer running on low-speed. You may not need all 4 cups.
You will see the dough begin to take shape after each addition of flour. My Mom always says a sticky dough is better than a stiff dough. You can see (above) that the dough is sticky, but firm enough to almost fall from the hook. Oil hands with a little olive oil and pull dough from hook.
Knead dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl.
Nap time! Loosely cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Allow to rest for 45 minutes or until doubled in size. Sweet dreams little dough ball…
Oh, look who woke up? And my how you’ve grown!
Punch down dough and knead. Reshape into a ball and allow to rest an additional 15 minutes. Dough will rise again, this time more quickly.
Now let’s make some pizzas!
Sprinkle board with cornmeal. Cut a hunk of dough off according to the size of pizza you’d like to make. I’m making small, thin crust pizzas, so my dough hunk weighs 2.3 ounces. It’s about the size of a big golf ball.
Shape dough by pressing on board with fingertips. Let gravity work for you. Stretch dough by holding a side and allowing the weight of the dough to stretch it thinner. I’m not going to say that you can read a newspaper through my crust, but I do like it thin. Use a rolling pin for the thinnest crust.
I’m making 5-inch pizzas. Call them extra-personal pizzas if you will. With an assortment of toppings, the possibilities are endless. That said, I’m a bit of a pizza purist. Tomato sauce and cheese is usually how I roll.
Fire up the grill!
Preheat grill to medium, medium-high. Place pizza dough on the grill, cornmeal side up. The key to grilling pizza is not having the grill too hot, not having the layer of sauce, cheese and toppings too thick, and not worrying that you’re gonna get cornmeal all over the place.
Rotate the pizza crust, grilling until golden. Turn the pizza crust over (cornmeal side down) and top however you like! Simple tomato and cheese, mushroom-pesto… whatever floats your boat!
Again, the key is having your grill at a medium temperature so that the cheese melts before you burn the bottom crust. If the grill is too hot and your crust gets dark too quickly, remove from grill and finish under the broiler. Place a cookie sheet or pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500(F). Place pizza under the broiler and watch like a hawk!
If you would like to use your oven, simply place a cookie sheet or pizza stone on the lower rack of your oven and preheat to 450(F). Place prepared pizzas on sheet or stone for 8-12 minutes depending on the size of your pizzas. The toppings will be melted and bubbling and the edges of the crust will be golden brown.
To freeze leftover dough, after the second rise, section into balls and wrap with plastic wrap. Place into an airtight container. To use, thaw dough in the refrigerator, 4-8 hours depending on size of dough portions.
MORE GREAT PIZZA RECIPES
![]() Whole Wheat Pizza Dough |
![]() BBQ Chicken Mac n Cheese Pizza |
Link to the Saving Dough, Making Dough blog post.
it looks like i have everything i need to make this!!! i’m making pizza for dinner tonight!!! thanks betty!!!
Your pizza looks great Betty! Esp the last pic with mushrooms – just look at that thin crispy crust. Yum! My wife and I are throwng a MNF party next week for Packers v. Vikings, now I know what’s on the menu. Thanks Betty!
Hey Shawna! WooHoo! Let me know how it turns out!
Hey there, Sixpack Jack! How exciting that my pizza crust will be at your party… it will almost be like being there myself. Almost ;)
Let me know how it turns out for ya!!
Love y’all!
Betty
Ok, I am a pretty good cook…. but I can’t make bread. Maybe these concise pics will help. GREG
that is the best looking pizza dough I have ever seen, Now I want some pizza! :)
i just ate a three cheese folowed by a chicken curry pizza
mmmmmmmmmmmmm
sorry i got them to go
next time i’ll make my own like yous
What a adorable recipe for a succulent pizza… Yum Yum :)
Cheers!
Gera
YUM! I will definitely try your way!
I just had to go back to my recipe and compare. I started using more salt, like you do, but need to update my pizza recipes with the increased salt. The rest of the recipe is practically the same. My dough is still not as good as the dough from my favorite neighborhood restaurant, even though he has tried to talk me through it. I think I need to watch him. Love the grill idea, I want to try that!
I new twist on pizza! That’s not easy to achieve! Great job. GREG
mmm yum – love it!
Nice Pizza! Thx for recipe & impressions.
Greetings.
Great pictures. Good-looking dough. I find if I just add the yeast as a dry ingredient, it always works fine. If you want a faster rise, just make sure the water’s warm. Cooler water for slower rise,or if you want to freeze some before it starts to rise.
Great recipe
Kristal L. Rosebrook
can i replace the all purpose flour with bread flour? if can what is the amount should i use? pls reply asap.. i need to do this for my project at school..
Hi suzy, Bread flour has a higher gluten content than all-purpose flour… I’ve never made the substitution myself, so I don’t know for sure but I think your pizza dough may have more of a “chew.” If you try it, let me know how it comes out and good luck with your school project!
Awesome pizza. I tried this. But the pizza became kinda hard after a few hours. Like really hard. it was soft when It came out of the oven.. Any tips?
This is absolutely the best pizza ever. Thank you!!!!
So exciting to hear, Emillie! Thank YOU for letting me know!!
Love the blog and the pizza dough recipe worked a treat! Pictures I think always make a difference :-)
Thanks again!