My Very Favorite Pizza Dough Recipes

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.

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).

FAVORITE PIZZA CRUST

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix together water and sugar. Sprinkle with yeast. Allow to sit 10 minutes. Add salt, olive oil, and flour. Knead until very smooth. Divide dough in half. Roll each piece into a 12-inch circle. Place on lightly greased baking sheet and let rise 20 minutes. Flatten each and top with pizza toppings. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
• If you choose to use this recipe for garlic or cinnamon bread sticks, bake untopped for 5 minutes. Remove from oven, top with margarine of choice and either garlic salt or cinnamon sugar mixture. Return to oven for about 3 minutes. Remove from oven and cut into breadsticks.