Pizza Dough

I’ve tried tons of pizza dough recipes and this one works the best – it’s simple and produces a perfectly crisp crust. You can use all purpose flour, but bread flour is best.

Pizza Dough
(makes enough for two 8-9” pizzas)

3/4 cup warm tap water
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt

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In a small bowl, stir together the water and yeast. Let it stand for a few minutes so that the yeast dissolves.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the salt and flour. Add the yeast and water and mix on medium speed for 12-15 minutes, until the dough is soft and elastic. (You can also do this by hand – mix the water and yeast into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon and stir until the dough forms, then knead on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes.)

Lightly coat a large bowl with extra virgin olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1 to 1 ½ hours (about 1 hour in the summer, 1 ½ hours in the winter) until the dough has doubled in size.

Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and punch it down. Cut the dough in half and flatten into two rounds. Place the rounds on a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with a towel. Let the dough rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Punch down each piece of dough and stretch or roll it out into an approximately 9-inch round.