Homemade Pizza Dough (Makes 2, 10-12 inch crusts)
Servings:
8 people
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
1 day
Total Time:
1 day and 10 minutes
What You'll Need:
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/2 Tbsp sea salt
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more to dust
- Cornmeal
Preparation:
- In a small bowl, stir together water and honey. Sprinkle the top with 1/2 tsp yeast and let sit 5 minutes, then stir.
- Add salt and measure 3 1/3 cups flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center. Pour yeast mixture into the center, then stir with a firm spatula until the dough comes together. Knead by hand for 2 minutes (dough will be sticky).
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 4-5 hours or until doubled in size.
- Transfer dough to a floured surface, turn to coat lightly in flour so it isn't sticky, then divide in half.
- Fold each piece of dough in half 8 times, gently pulling the sides over the center like closing a book, turning the dough each time and repeating for 8 folds. Form a ball in your hands and transfer each piece of dough to a lightly oiled bowl seam-side-down, cover and refrigerate overnight (18 hours) or up to 1 week.
- **How to Form a Pizza Crust:**
How to Form a Pizza Crust:
Prep:
- Remove the dough 1 hour before using to let it relax and come to room temperature.
- Before forming the pizza crust, fully preheat your pizza oven so pizza can be baked right away. Preheat to 700-900˚F and the temperature for the pizza stone should be 500-600˚F.
- Lightly flour a pizza peel with pizza flour and prep toppings.
- (continued) When dough is about room temperature and oven is preheated, transfer 1 piece of dough to a floured surface, turning to lightly coat in flour. Pat the center of the dough gently with fingertips. DO NOT pop any bubbles present.
- Lift the dough over both knuckles and roll your knuckles under the center of the dough, working outward as you rotate the dough along your knuckles and leaving a thicker crust at the edge. Continue working the dough until a 10-12” pizza has formed. It will shrink slightly so make it a little bigger than you think. Place the dough down on a lightly sprinkled with corn meal pizza peel. Give the pizza peel a little shake to make sure the pizza slides over it and is not sticking as you’re working.
- Spread on desired pizza sauce and toppings. Give the pizza another jolt to make sure it slides on the pizza peel (you don't want it to stick while transferring it into the oven).
- Slide pizza onto the preheated pizza stone and bake for 2-3 minutes or until crust is golden brown and some of the larger bubbles on the crust are lightly scorched to ensure a crisp crust.
