My Favorite Pizza Dough Recipes

MY VERY FAVORITE PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Mix yeast and sugar and dissolve in warm water. Let stand for about 5 minutes. Add in salt, oil and oat bran, if desired.
• Mix in 4 1/2 cups of flour. Then continue to add additional flour (up to 6 cups) and knead until dough is smooth and elastic (I use my Kitchenaid with the dough hook attached--dough should clean the side of the bowl).
• Place into a greased bowl, turning once, cover and allow to rise until dough is doubled in bulk.
• Prepare 2 large (14 inch or larger) pizza pans by coating them with cooking spray and sprinkling lightly with cornmeal.
• Punch down and roll dough to fit 2 large pizza pans.
• Top as desired.
• For a crust that is crispy on the bottom, place pizza on the bottom rack in a cold oven, set the oven for 500° and bake for about 20 minutes or if the oven is already hot, bake at 500° for 10-15 minutes (watch closely).

MY FAVOURITE PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. and whisk to blend. Add the remaking ingredients to the bowl, and using a dough hook, blend the dough until everything is incorporated. Knead the dough with the hook for 5 minutes.
• Grease a large bowl. Shape the dough into a ball and place in the greased bowl. Grease the dough, cover with plastic then place in the fridge overnight. At this point, you can freeze it, well wrapped, if you like.
• Remove from the refrigerator and divide the dough into 2 or 3 parts, depending on whether you want thin or thick crust pizzas. Shape into balls and let rest for about 2 hours before baking.
• Shape the pizzas using your hands and place on parchment paper, then on the pizza pan. Add your preferred pizza sauce and top with desired toppings. *I prefer not to use too much sauce, and I like to sprinkle some italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese prior to adding the mozzarella cheese and toppings.
• Preheat the oven to 500°F If using a pizza stone, place it in the oven prior to heating the oven.
• Using the pizza pan, slide just the pizza and the parchment paper, onto the hot stone. Bake for approximately 7 minutes, or until desired colour is reached.
• To remove from the oven, slide the cooked pizza using the parchment paper, back onto the pizza pan. Let cool several minutes before slicing. Enjoy.
• *If you make a margarita pizza, put the fresh basil underneath the cheese instead of on top, the pizza is so much more flavorful. I also skip the parmesan cheese when I make the margharita pizza.
• **Try my fresh uncooked pizza sauce recipe.

GOLD MEDAL® CLASSIC PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• In a 1-quart saucepan, heat the water over medium heat until warm and an instant-read thermometer reads 105°F to 115°F. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. With a wooden spoon, stir in half of the flour and all of the oil, salt and sugar. Stir in enough of the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough is easy to handle.
• Sprinkle flour lightly on a countertop or large cutting board. Place dough on floured surface. Knead by folding dough toward you, then with the heels of your hands, pushing dough away from you with a short rocking motion. Move dough a quarter turn and repeat. Continue kneading about 10 minutes, sprinkling surface with more flour if dough starts to stick, until dough is smooth and springy. Spray a large bowl with the cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place 20 minutes.
• Gently push your fist into the dough to deflate it. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 48 hours. (If dough should double in size during refrigeration, gently push fist into dough to deflate it.)
• Move the oven rack to the middle position of the oven. Heat the oven to 425°F. Place dough on center of an ungreased cookie sheet or 12-inch pizza pan. Press the dough into a 12-inch round, using floured fingers. Press dough from center to edge so the edge is slightly thicker than the center. Spread the pizza sauce over the dough to within 1/2 inch of edge. Add the toppings for either cheese, hamburger, Italian sausage or pepperoni pizza.
• Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheeses are melted and lightly browned.

MY FAVORITE PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Mix flour sugar salt yeast.
• Add water.
• Mix dough. It should be slightly sticky, and a little rough looking.
• Pour oil onto the dough ball, coating it on all sides using fingers or spatula.
• Place dough back in bowl.
• Let dough rise at least 1 hour at room temperature if needed immediately, otherwise let it rise for 1/2 hour at room temperature and then refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator for an hour before making pizza.
• Make pizzas and cook on a hot pizza stone.