Pizza night at home is such a beautiful tradition (according to me) and this recipe is going to help you make that happen. This pizza dough recipe is something I’ve tested for almost 4 years now. It is a quick pizza dough recipe that needs 2-3 hours of proofing time only with easily available ingredients. What really helped this recipe were some pizza dough tricks I learned from my trip to Rome. Adding honey to yeast makes the dough so airy and also helps reduce the proofing time. This pizza dough recipe is the best recipe for beginners, and you don’t need a stand mixer for this recipe. This dough is perfect for making cheese pizzas, you’ve got a crunch and softness with air pockets! Baking it with cornmeal makes it crispy but you also get a flop like a New York style pizza. Lathered with tomato sauce and cheese over it you can add your favorite toppings and make this a great pizza. Plus if you have a pizza oven you will get such amazing air pockets but for this video, I’ve used a traditional conventional oven. I can’t wait to hear how much you love this pizza dough recipe after you try it!
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 1/3 cup (310g) warm water around 100F
- 3 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 3 1/3 cups (437g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp extra virgin Olive oil
- 1.5-2 tsp salt
Toppings & for Baking
- About 2-3 tbsp yellow Cornmeal
- 2.5-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- About 2-2.5 cups of Pizza sauce
- 1/2-1 lb Mozzarella cheese (fresh) crumbled or sliced- check notes
- 3-4 cups Mozzarella cheese shredded
- Veggie toppings as you want like onions, peppers, corn
- Fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl add the lukewarm water. To it, add the yeast, sugar, and honey and whisk it together till combined. Let it stand for 10 minutes till it is foamy.
- Once it’s foamy, add flour, and then add olive oil, and then salt. Use a spatula and combine till the liquid is mixed in.
- Empty the bowl onto a work surface and start kneading it into a dough. Knead for about 5-7 mins. After kneading, the dough should feel a little soft and moist. Check if it is done by poking it with your finger – if it slowly bounces back, you are done kneading. If not and it bounces back fast, knead it for another 1-2 mins and check again. You can knead it in a stand mixer if you want. Keep the speed on low and always scrape the edges of the bowl. If it gets too heavy for the stand mixer give it a knead by hand for a few minutes to bring it together.
- Lightly grease the bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it. Place the dough in the bowl, and gently grease the sides and top of the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise for 2 hours. If it is a warm humid day, you can let the dough rise at room temperature. If it is a cool day, heat the oven to 100F and turn the oven off. Once it’s off place the dough in the oven and let it rise in the oven. The dough should double in size.
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Start shaping the pizzas when the oven preheats so the oven is at 425F for 15 mins before you put it in. This helps it bake better.
- Prepare a baking tray or pizza pan by lightly dusting it with cornmeal. Cornmeal helps make it crusty and not stick to the pan. You want a little cornmeal, not too much otherwise it will give a grainy bottom of the crust.
- When the dough is ready and has doubled in size, punch it to release the air bubbles. Divide the dough into 2 or 4 depending on the thickness and size of the pizza you want. Keep the other divisions covered with a damp towel when working on one division. You can even freeze the dough and keep it for future- check notes.
- Shape a division into a circle and place it on a lightly floured surface.
- Using a lightly floured rolling pin, flatten and roll the disc into a circular pizza base. I like to keep it 1/4 inch thick for a thin crust pizza and 1/2 inch for a thicker crust. While rolling if the dough keeps shrinking back or resisting, stop rolling and cover it lightly for 5-10 minutes. Then start rolling it after resting it.
- Use a lightly floured rolling pin roll the dough over the pin and transfer it onto the prepared pan. Gently move the tray forward and back to see that the pizza dough moves. If any part doesn’t move, sprinkle some cornmeal under it.
- Cover the rolled dough with plastic wrap for 5-10 mins to let it rest.
- Once rested, brush olive oil on the dough. Press around the edge to form the edge of the crust. Press down in places on the crust to prevent air bubbles.
- Spread pizza sauce over the pizza leaving 1/2-1 inch around the edge.
- Crumble fresh mozzarella cheese over the sauce and sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over it.
- Top your favorite toppings over the cheese.
- Bake at 425F till the pizza has baked and cooked through and the crust is golden brown. For an 8-inch thin crust pizza bake for 11-13 mins. For a 12-inch thicker crust bake for 13-16 mins.
- Once out of the oven top with basil leaves.
- Slice the pizza and serve immediately! You can even enjoy this pizza cold.
