Growing up, for the longest time we had pizza night out. Every Friday night all five of us would pile into the mini van and drive to one of the two Pizza Huts in town, cram ourselves into a tiny booth and totally and completely pig out on pizza. At the time Pepperoni Lovers was our poison of choice. Paired, I’m sure, with cheesy breadsticks. Sometimes there was a trip to the salad bar, but not often. I mean, we didn’t want to over do it.
I’m not sure when it happened, but Friday night pizza eventually stopped. Possibly because we were all older, in high school and had too many weekend activities going on. Or perhaps our parents got tired of dragging our teenage and pre-teenage butts out as a family, when more than likely one or more of us really didn’t want to go. My memory is a little foggy on the matter, so I can’t say for use.
About two years ago we started the same tradition in our house. Only instead of going out for pizza every Friday, we make it at home. From scratch. From the dough right down to the sauce. Okay, okay, the toppings are not usually from scratch. I don’t make my own pepperoni or sausage. I’m not a crazy person after all. And try as I might, I just can’t make my own cheese {you would be surprised to learn that letting milk sit on the counter until it’s chunky does not in fact turn it into cheese.}.
But…we make our own crusts and our own sauces. We have just a few favorites of each, depending on what type of pizza we are in the mood for. Thin and crispy to bready and thick. Plus a few in between. There’s nothing better than a good homemade pizza crust.
Which brings me to the pizza-extravaganza series. Beginning today and going until I run out of pizza crust and sauce recipes {or until this baby comes} I’m sharing my tried and true pizza crust and pizza sauce recipes. Weeks and weeks dedicated to making pizzas. Because it’s that important.
First up, one of my favorite thin and crispy pizza dough recipes. This is best for a pizza that is light in toppings, especially cheese. Yes, I said it, light on cheese. But really, if you over load this crust with toppings, it doesn’t crisp up the way that it should. And you’re left with a soggy crust. And nobody wants a soggy crust.
Although making pizza crust is a multiple step process, and it takes hours, it’s really rather simple. Mix, knead, rise, then shape the dough. Well, depending on the recipe it can be a little more complicated than that. But in the end, it’s worth it. And once you get the hang of it, it doesn’t seem so bad.
Thin and crispy pizza crust, for those times when you really want your toppings to shine.
Ingredients
- 2-1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast (1 package)
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
- 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix together the yeast, honey and warm water. Let sit for a few minutes until the yeast is bubbly.
- Using a mixer with a dough hook, {I heart my KitchenAid Stand Mixer}, mix the flour and salt. Add the yeast/honey/water mixture slowly, while mixing on low speed. Add the olive oil. Mix until the dough forms a ball, about 5 minutes. Mix for another 3 minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 2-3 minutes. The dough will be smooth and firm.
- Spray a bowl with non-stick spay and place the dough in, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap allow to rise until doubled in size, 30 to 60 minutes. {Tip: to help the dough rise heat the oven to 200ºf for 10 minutes, turn off and place dough in the warmed oven to rise}. The dough is ready when it stretches if lightly pulled. If you aren't ready to use the dough yet, you can continue to let it rise, punching it down if necessary, or store it in the fridge to prevent it from rising any further.
- Divide the dough into 2 halves. We often do one slightly larger than the other. The larger is for pizza, the smaller is for cheesy garlic fries. Work each half into balls by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of the ball. Repeat this 4 or 5 times. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Move one rack in the oven to the lowest possible position. Preheat the oven to 500º.
- To make the crust place it on a pizza stone* {a cookie sheet or tin foil sprayed with non-stick spray works as well} and gently roll out with a small rolling pin or using your hands to press it into the desired size, shape and thickness. You can go very thin with this dough. Do not over handle the dough, or it will result in a tough and chewy.
- Add toppings of your choice. Remember, go light on the toppings, especially the cheese. Bake on the low rack in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly, and the crust is thin and crispy. If the crust is done before the cheese is melted, move the pizza to a higher position in the oven.
Notes
A pizza stone is your pizza-making best friend. Seriously, you can't beat a crust that was baked on a pizza stone. It doesn't have to be a high-priced fancy one either. Be sure to season it well before using it.
Adapted from Wolfgang Puck
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks great. I love pizza dough recipes
I love pizza. I will try to make this one. hanks for this article.
I really love pizza!!!I always crave for it and sometimes, it is our way of bonding within the family…Thanks or making my mouth melts!!!
Great dough recipe, very similar to the one I use for pizza night every Friday. Our weekly pizza night from scratch tradition started about 7-8 years ago and our teenage kids still won’t miss it for the world. http://blog.buylocalwausau.com/2011/01/22/home-made-pizza
We love making our pizza crust!!
Friday is definitely pizza night at our house. We’ll have try homemade! That looks so yummy!
Following you from Tip Junkie‘s link party. Would love to have you link this up to my {wow me} wednesday link party going on right now over on my blog. Hope to see you there. 
Ginger
gingersnapcrafts.blogspot.com
You had me at pizza. Just subscribed so I don’t miss any.
Your recipe looks so good. I would love it if you came over to my party “Cast Party Wednesday” tomorrow and shared some of your recipes with us.
Thanks,
I hope to see you there!
I have been looking for a good pizza dough recipe. Cannot wait to try this one. Great post.
The pizza is mouthwatering !
Loved your step by step explanation.
I grew up on thin pizza dough. I personally prefer making my own dough over the stuff you buy in the store. It just tastes so much better.
Holy Cannoli Recipes
Ohhh…Pizza. We have tried numerous doughs and still haven’t found the PERFECT one. This may be the next to conquer all!!
Thanks for linking up to Foodie Friday. I hope to see you again next week!!
Looks delish. We’d love you to share your recipe with us at
Simply Delish.
Thin and Crispy is my favorite. This is a great recipe, makes me want pizza. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you again real soon!
Miz Helen
I like pizza with thin crispy dough…This is a perfect idea!!!
love to eat pizza, this is really great thanks
I keep forgetting to tell you how thrilled I was to find a pizza dough recipe that made more than one pizza! We’ve been using this recipe as a base and using it for the past month now and let me say it’s incredible. We haven’t actually used the dough to bake with it in the oven, but rather we’re grilling the dough and it’s perfect every time. We had made some tweeks here and there to suit our taste buds, but this recipe has been an inspiration to us! So thank you so much for sharing
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