Best Pizza Dough

After I tried to make my first homemade pizza crust with yeast in February, I got the urge to play around with making a true rising pizza dough. While the first recipe was quick to make and delicious, I had heard great things about rising pizza dough and wanted to give it a try. I tried a couple of recipes, with mixed results, and then at my bridal shower I received a great recipe from my good friend Grace. She appropriately calls it the Best Pizza Dough recipe and I agree!

I’ve made this dough twice in the past month and we LOVE it. It’s perfectly crisp on the outside, with a fluffy doughy center. It makes two 12″ pizzas, or two 14″ thin crust pizzas.

I like to roll it out thin and then top it with our favourite toppings. I have a great recipe for BBQ Chicken Pizza that I’ll be sharing with you next week.

The ingredients are simple, and you’ll have most of it in your pantry already. If you buy a jar of yeast, make sure to keep it in the fridge.

Best Pizza Dough

I use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the warm water, either holding it under the faucet while it gets warm, or pouring very warm water into a measuring cup like this, setting the thermometer and waiting until it is cool enough. I usually let it sit there while I’m pulling out all the other ingredients.

In a large mix bowl, slowly stir and dissolve the sugar and yeast in the warm water. Let sit to allow the mixture to mature, for about 10 minutes or until it gets a foamy head.

Add salt and olive oil, stirring to combine.

Add 1 cup of flour and whisk, then the 2nd, 3rd and 4th cups of flour.

You may need to use your hands as it starts to get more stiff and difficult to whisk.

Remove dough from bowl and place on a clean surface dusted with flour. Fold the dough for 8-10 minutes. It’s a great arm workout – you’ll look like Michelle Obama by the end.

Alternatively, you can use the dough hook on your electric mixer to do this, but where is the fun in that? Make sure that it is safely placed on the counter, or it will start jumping everywhere.

Coat the dough ball with olive oil and return to the mixing bowl.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place two tea towels over top. Set in a warm room and allow it to rise for 80 minutes.

I always love to lift the tea towel off and be greeted with a big puffy mound of risen dough. It smells amazing.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Take dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface and cut in half.  Using a flour dusted rolling pin, roll the dough pieces out as thin as you would like. I always use our pizza stone when cooking pizza (one of my favourite gifts ever), so I just roll it out right on the stone.

Top with your favourite toppings. Bake for 14-16 minutes

I’ll be back next week with this BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe. We’ve made it an awful lot lately. My current favourite post-baking pizza topping? Cilantro. Always.