Homemade Pizza Dough For Beginners

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If you are wanting to get into making breads, pizza is a great place to start. You don’t need a huge rise, it can be really forgiving, as my oldest always says “There’s no such thing as bad pizza…. unless it has mushrooms”

Make it a tradition: Pizza Saturday

I love recipes with a tradition behind them. Ones that bring people and places back every time you make it. This one is that for me.My father gave me this recipe when I was looking for a dough to make when my family started a tradition that is now lovingly known as Pizza Saturday.

When Michael and I decided that we would have pizza on Saturdays to cut down a little of the mental load of meal planning, all I could picture was the kids gathering around a thick bubbly crust like I always had growing up. This is the pizza crust of my childhood and now that of my children’s childhood.

Pizza Dough for Beginners

Pizza dough like many other yeast doughs are made up of Flour, Water, Yeast, Sugar, Salt and Oil. The difference is that instead of forming it into a loaf for it’s final rise it will be rolled out flat to rise before being topped with sauce, cheese and beautiful meats and vegetables.

For beginners it’s important to remember to keep it simple and let it rest. This dough does not have a lot of active time, but it is a very short turn from start to finish so it is easy to be in there every couple of minutes, checking it, trying to get to the next phase but trust me. This dough is happiest when you just let it chill.

FAQs about pizza dough

Can the dough be made ahead of time?

The dough is best when made and used on the same day, but can be frozen for future use.

Why is my dough not rising?

Doughs may not rise for several reasons, typically it is that the yeast is old or that the room is too cold. But other reasons can be that too much flour has been added or if chemicals are used to clean the kitchen, they can impact how the yeast blooms, impacting the rise.

How so I freeze and thaw the pizza dough?

The dough can either be frozen in a freezer bag or container. Once divided into single pizza dough balls, place in a heavily greased bag or container and put in the freezer. When ready to use take out of the freezer 8-12 hours before planned use and place in the fridge to defrost. This will help the yeast remain semi-dormant and prevent over proofing.

Ingredients and Equipment

• Flour
• Room Temperature Water
• Yeast
• Sugar
• Salt
• Olive Oil
• Vegetable Oil or melted butter

Homemade Pizza Timeline

3pm: Begin making the dough by blooming the yeast with sugar in room temperature water in the bowl of a mixer. Once the yeast begins to bloom add salt and oil and half of the flour. Mix with a dough hook. This may also be done by hand, in a large mixing bowl.

Slowly add remaining flour until smooth but still tacky. Allow the stand mixer to knead to dough for 5 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface, and divide in two or four.

Form the dough into balls, and allow to rest until doubled. About 45 minutes.

4pm: Once doubled place the dough on parchment, well oiled pizza pan or cookie sheets. Begin to shape the dough. If it does not form nicely to he pan, allow the dough to rest another 10-15 minutes and try again.

Once the dough is shaped on the pans, also them to rise again for about 30 minutes.

While waiting for the second rise, it is a good time to make the pizza sauce.

4:45pm: Preheat oven to 450F

5:00pm: Top pizza and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Allow the pizza to sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting.