Thin Crust Hand-Tossed Pizza Dough
- Number of Servings: 24
Ingredients
3¼ cups bread flour1 package Leavening agents, yeast, baker's, active dry2 tsp. Florida Crystals® Demerara Sugar Pure Florida Cane Sugar1½ tsp. sea salt2 Tbsp. olive oil1½ cup warm waterADDITIONAL SAUCES AND TOPPINGS NOT IN NUTRITIONAL INFO.
Measure the warm water to be 105 – 110°F. No higher or it will kill the yeast.
Using a stand mixer (preferred method):
Warm the bowl using hot water. Combine the water, yeast, sugar, salt and oil in the bowl and mix thoroughly on low speed for about 2 minutes. Add the flour all at once and mix ingredients to combined and the dough starts to form a ball, about 4 – 5 minutes.
Using a 14 or 11-cup food processor:
In a warmed mixing bowl or large measuring cup, add the water, yeast, sugar, and whisk until all the yeast dissolves. In the food processor with the steel blade add the flour, salt and turn on. Pour the liquid ingredients into the food processor gradually as it is running until the dough starts to form a ball, about 45 seconds. Add oil through the feed tube and process for another 30 seconds.
Raise the Dough
Put the dough into an oiled 6-quart bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm location for about 2 hours, then punch-down the dough. The dough is ready to use. If you are not using the dough immediately, you can put it in the refrigerator until needed.
Rolling the Dough
To make the pizzas, take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven and stone for 40 minutes at 500 – 550°F.
For one small pizza, take an orange-sized piece of dough and form into a ball. Liberally dust the work surface and ball of dough with flour and using your hands, flatten the dough ball until it is a ½” thick. Liberally dust the top and bottom of this dough disc with more flour and using the rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is about 1/8″ thick so it will extend past the edges of the pizza pan. If the dough sticks to the work surface, dust with more flour. If a hole forms or the shape is wrong, cut and patch pieces and re-roll.
Pre-baking for Texture
Place the sheet of dough onto the pizza pan and allow it to rest for about 3 minutes. This gives the dough some time to shrink within the pan and rise again to give it a lighter texture. Prick through the dough with a fork every square inch or so or use a dough docker. Using the rolling pin along the edges of the pan, trim the excess dough and toss the excess back in with the rest of the dough. Prebake the crust in the pan on top of the pizza stone for 3 minutes in the oven being sure to pop any bubbles that start rising with your fork. Remove from the oven. Optionally, if you are using a stone, you can remove the crust from the pan and place on a pizza peel* lightly dusted with cornmeal. It is extra work, but worth it.
* A pizza peel is a crafted from blond alder, this wide flat “shovel" is the traditional Italian tool for sliding pizzas onto and off of the baking stone in an extremely hot oven.
Add the Sauce & Toppings (NOT INCLUDED IN NUTRITIONAL INFO):
Working quickly and using a small ladle, add about ½ cup of the pizza sauce and swirl it around the crust with the ladle to within ½” of the edges. Top with cheese. Add your toppings and more cheese if desired. Do not overload the pizza or it will not cook thoroughly. If you are using a stone, slide the pizza from the peel directly onto the pizza stone. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until the edges of the crust start to turn a golden brown. Make sure your fan hood is on when you do this because the cornmeal tends to burn and smoke on the hot stone. If you are using a pan, rotate the pan halfway through the cooking.
Remove the pizza from the oven using the peel and transfer to a cutting board. Allow cooling for about one minute and cutting into wedges. If desired, carefully slide the entire pizza onto a serving pan. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy.
Copyright © 2009-2010, Eric Hwang and BricksOfWine. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Eric Hwang and BricksOfWine with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Serving Size: Makes 3 large pizza crusts or 6 small pizza crusts or 24 servings of ¼ of the small pizza
Using a stand mixer (preferred method):
Warm the bowl using hot water. Combine the water, yeast, sugar, salt and oil in the bowl and mix thoroughly on low speed for about 2 minutes. Add the flour all at once and mix ingredients to combined and the dough starts to form a ball, about 4 – 5 minutes.
Using a 14 or 11-cup food processor:
In a warmed mixing bowl or large measuring cup, add the water, yeast, sugar, and whisk until all the yeast dissolves. In the food processor with the steel blade add the flour, salt and turn on. Pour the liquid ingredients into the food processor gradually as it is running until the dough starts to form a ball, about 45 seconds. Add oil through the feed tube and process for another 30 seconds.
Raise the Dough
Put the dough into an oiled 6-quart bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm location for about 2 hours, then punch-down the dough. The dough is ready to use. If you are not using the dough immediately, you can put it in the refrigerator until needed.
Rolling the Dough
To make the pizzas, take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven and stone for 40 minutes at 500 – 550°F.
For one small pizza, take an orange-sized piece of dough and form into a ball. Liberally dust the work surface and ball of dough with flour and using your hands, flatten the dough ball until it is a ½” thick. Liberally dust the top and bottom of this dough disc with more flour and using the rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is about 1/8″ thick so it will extend past the edges of the pizza pan. If the dough sticks to the work surface, dust with more flour. If a hole forms or the shape is wrong, cut and patch pieces and re-roll.
Pre-baking for Texture
Place the sheet of dough onto the pizza pan and allow it to rest for about 3 minutes. This gives the dough some time to shrink within the pan and rise again to give it a lighter texture. Prick through the dough with a fork every square inch or so or use a dough docker. Using the rolling pin along the edges of the pan, trim the excess dough and toss the excess back in with the rest of the dough. Prebake the crust in the pan on top of the pizza stone for 3 minutes in the oven being sure to pop any bubbles that start rising with your fork. Remove from the oven. Optionally, if you are using a stone, you can remove the crust from the pan and place on a pizza peel* lightly dusted with cornmeal. It is extra work, but worth it.
* A pizza peel is a crafted from blond alder, this wide flat “shovel" is the traditional Italian tool for sliding pizzas onto and off of the baking stone in an extremely hot oven.
Add the Sauce & Toppings (NOT INCLUDED IN NUTRITIONAL INFO):
Working quickly and using a small ladle, add about ½ cup of the pizza sauce and swirl it around the crust with the ladle to within ½” of the edges. Top with cheese. Add your toppings and more cheese if desired. Do not overload the pizza or it will not cook thoroughly. If you are using a stone, slide the pizza from the peel directly onto the pizza stone. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until the edges of the crust start to turn a golden brown. Make sure your fan hood is on when you do this because the cornmeal tends to burn and smoke on the hot stone. If you are using a pan, rotate the pan halfway through the cooking.
Remove the pizza from the oven using the peel and transfer to a cutting board. Allow cooling for about one minute and cutting into wedges. If desired, carefully slide the entire pizza onto a serving pan. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy.
Copyright © 2009-2010, Eric Hwang and BricksOfWine. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Eric Hwang and BricksOfWine with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Serving Size: Makes 3 large pizza crusts or 6 small pizza crusts or 24 servings of ¼ of the small pizza
Nutritional Info Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 66.0
- Total Fat: 1.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
- Sodium: 167.9 mg
- Total Carbs: 12.3 g
- Dietary Fiber: 0.9 g
- Protein: 2.3 g
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