Basic Pizza Dough (Joy of Cooking)

  • Minutes to Prepare:
  • Minutes to Cook:
  • Number of Servings: 8
Ingredients
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) dry active yeast1 1/3 cups warm (105 to 110 degree F) water3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour2 Tbsp Olive oil1 Tbsp salt1 Tbsp sugar (optional)
Directions
Combine yeast and warm water in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes.

Combine flour, olive oil, salt and sugar. Mix with yeast and water.

Mix all ingredients by hand or on low speed for about 1 minute to blend all the ingredients. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or with the dough hook on low to medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly coated with olive oil and turn it over once to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (75 to 80 degrees) until double in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Grease and dust 2 baking sheets with cornmeal; or place a baking stone in the oven and preheat it for 45 minutes.

Punch the dough down and divide it in half. Roll each piece into a ball and let it rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 10 to 15 minutes. At this point prepare the desired toppings.

Flatten each ball of dough 1 at a time on a lightly floured work surface into a 12-inch round, rolling and stretching the dough. Place each dough circle on a prepared baking sheet; if using a baking stone, place them on baker's peels dusted with cornmeal. Lift the edge and pinch it to form a lip. To prevent the filling from making the crust soggy, brush the to of the dough with olive oil.

Use your fingertips to press dents into the surface of the dough (to prevent bubbling) and let rest for about 10 minutes. The pizza is now ready to be topped.

After topping bake until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden if using cheese). This takes about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, slice and serve at once.

And you can lightly coat a dough ball with olive oil, put it in a zip-loc bag and either refrigerate it for 1 week or freeze it for 1 month. Just thaw in refrigerator for one day, take out and roll. If doing this you can prepare the dough and put directly into the refrigerator (it will slowly rise). Then just take it out, roll into a round and let rest for about 10 min before baking.

Enjoy!

Number of Servings: 8

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user BETHANYFONTENOT.

Servings Per Recipe: 8
Nutritional Info Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 235.0
  • Total Fat: 3.9 g
  • Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
  • Sodium: 873.2 mg
  • Total Carbs: 43.3 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 1.5 g
  • Protein: 5.6 g

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