This easy pizza dough is put together for everyday home baking. Made with basic pantry ingredients, it works well in a home oven without the need for special equipment or a high-temp stone/electric oven. What you get is a soft, workable dough that’s simple to make and always reliable, even for beginners.
Well, I’ve had more than my fair share of store-bought frozen pizza; da Michele’s famous margarita and marinara pizza, which you should travel to Naples for. And restaurant pizza that either left me dumbfounded as to what the fuss was about, while other restaurants lured me back for more.
But one thing remains true: one of life’s simple pleasures is knowing how to make homemade pizza dough. Plus, you get to decide what and how much of the toppings you want on it.
Is it so simple to make pizza? Are you worried the dough might not ‘rise’ to the occasion? Well, if you have already read my post on pizza dough ingredients, this article shows you how to bring the ingredients together to make one of the best and easiest homemade pizza dough.
This recipe has been updated on 22/08/2020: Flour measurements.
What to Expect from This Pizza Dough
This pizza dough is easy to handle and yields a soft crust made for a standard home oven, not a restaurant-style or high-temperature oven. A dependable everyday recipe that’s perfect for homemade pizza nights.
2 Reasons to Use This Pizza Dough Recipe?
I already let the first reason out of the bag, which is that you can have a decent pizza with a soft pizza crust in under 6 hours. So what else? Well, you do not need to look elsewhere for a 24-hour pizza dough recipe because you can use this one – just prepare it ahead of time.
Useful Tools for Handmade Pizza Dough
When making pizza dough at home. There are the usual tools we use, such as mixing bowls and cling film to avoid pesky dough crust forming during the rise. However
Stand mixers: I won’t lie, the dough is a little sticky, but you want a nice soft crust, right? While it can be helpful to use a stand mixer because it does all the heavy lifting for you. While it is more efficient to use one, as it saves you the arm workout while you multitask. This dough recipe is such that it can be made successfully by hand using the slap-and-fold method.
Dough scrapers: when the dough is a little sticky, they will make your life a little easier. They come in handy when portioning the dough balls, or scooping to move them from, let’s say, the chopping board where they had their second rise to the kitchen counter for shaping.
How to Use This Recipe for the 24-Hour Pizza Dough?
Simple, after you knead the dough, leave it to slowly rise in the fridge (covered with cling film) for 24 – 72 hours.
After which, take it out and let it come to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Then portion into preferred weights- this recipe makes 3 portions of approximately 215g each. Roll them into tight balls and let them rise on a lightly floured surface loosely covered with cling film for 5 hours. Finally, roll/stretch them out and make some pizza!!! Just don’t forget to share the pictures with me on Pinterest or Instagram.
Yes, 24 – 72 hours is quite a long time, but once you have a taste of that pizza, I have a feeling that you will never eat pizza made for a lesser time. Why? ooohhh so many reasons that I will get into in my next Pizza series post, which will highlight why you should make pizza dough at least 24 hours in advance. So check back later for that post, or subscribe to be notified when it comes out.
This is the simple 6-hour basic dough made from white flour. However, you can use this whole-grain pizza dough recipe with a sprinkle of white flour) if you wish to try something different.
How to Make Pizza Dough for Beginners
Mix
The first step is all about mixing the ingredients for pizza dough: flour, water, yeast, sugar, and olive oil. After most of the flour is incorporated with the water and the dough, give it a little knead- about 2 minutes, then cover and let it rest for at least 15 minutes.
Make sure to properly activate your yeast first if you aren’t using instant yeast.
Knead
The autolyze is done, and now we move on to working some muscle. I suggest you knead for at least 15 minutes (or until the dough is smooth) if doing so by hand, and begin with a lightly floured surface. If after kneading for at least 10 minutes the dough is still a little sticky, do not worry- just don’t add more flour. Tip it into a lightly oiled bowl to rise, covered with cling film.
If using a stand mixer, you would knead for about 10 minutes. You know you’re done when the dough is smooth and springs back when pressed.
To prepare the dough for the initial rise, you need to mold it in a way that it retains tension. Refer to this video to learn how to roll the dough into a tight ball. Leave to rise in a warm place covered with cling film to avoid a crust forming.
Rise
It has been a few hours, and the dough is way up in the bowl. You would then tip it onto a lightly floured surface and proceed to portion it into equal weights. Then form little tight dough balls and leave to rise another 2 hours or so.
Roll and bake
And that’s it, pizza crust dough is ready, and I hope your toppings are too. Roll them out, top them, bake and eat! How simple was that?
Common Pizza Dough Problems
Why Didn’t My Pizza Dough Rise?
The most likely reason why your dough didn’t rise is the yeast. It may be stale and inactive, or you killed it by adding water that was too hot.
The temperature of your kitchen could also be another factor why your dough didn’t rise. To solve this, leave it in a warm room or in the oven with the lights on.
How do i Know When Pizza Dough is Ready?
To test if your dough is ready to autolyse (rest for the first rise), perform the window-pane test. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Using a piece of the dough, stretch it as much as you can. It should not easily break, but instead, you should be able to see a silhouette of your fingers.
What Should Pizza Dough Feel Like?
A properly kneaded pizza dough should be soft to the touch and spring back when pressed because of its elasticity. Pizza dough textures will vary depending on the hydration level (how much water was used). Some recipes use more water while others use less, resulting in dough that is barely sticky. Regardless of how much water was used, the dough should be elastic and not easily break when stretched.
Some Pizzas You Should Make With Your Amazing Dough!
Tuna Pizza
There are so many things that are so right about this pizza, and if you like tuna, then this is definitely something you should sink your teeth into! It’s made with a very simple tomato base, a good ol can of tuna, mozzarella, and optional black olives. And if spicy is your thing, then sprinkle on some dried chili flakes and black pepper. Otherwise, if you would rather just keep it sweet and mellow, then a pinch of earthy oregano should do it.
Leftover Broccoli Stem and Sweet Corn Pizza.
Yes, I really did mention leftover broccoli stem intentionally. Other than the ‘shock factor’ of how delicious this pizza was, I am excited at having one more reason not to throw away the leftover broccoli bits. What you will like about this pizza are the sautéed charred bits, mingled with the chili and mozzarella that’s like the ref trying to calm them all down and make them play well together.
A teeny tiny suggestion: When making homemade pizza dough and experimenting with toppings, you could also try to match the base to the topping. What do I mean by this? Well, take, for example, you want to make a pizza with spicy toppings that could be considered a little heavy. You could opt for a dough that will ‘support’ the flavors instead of the dough and toppings having to battle it out for attention.
Do you know what I mean? If the toppings are intense, how about you let the base be subtle? And if the toppings are simple, why not use a dough that is more flavourful by adding not just white but 2 or 3 other types of bread flour?
This dough makes pizza for 3, with each dough ball weighing 220g each.
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Easy homemade pizza dough
(+40 rating, 8 votes)
Loading...This is a very simple homemade pizza dough made with white flour, so you can have fun with toppings and not have to buy pizza again!
Ingredients
- 390g bread flour
- 260ml lukewarm water
- 8g Instant yeast
- 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 15ml olive oil
Instructions
Sift the flour into a bowl or stand mixer if using one and add in the sugar and yeast- mix through with the flour
Make a 'well' in the flour and add the salt to one side
Pour the water and olive oil into the 'well' and using your fingers or the handle of a wooden cooking spoon slowly incorporate all the flour to form a lumpy dough.
Cover and leave to rest (autolyse) for 15 minutes
Knead the dough for at least 15 minutes if doing so by hand and about 10 minutes if using a stand mixer. The dough should not be sticky and should be soft and spring back when pressed
Tuck the dough into itself to shape it into a tight ball and tip it into a clean lightly oiled bowl with the seam side down
Leave to rise (double the size) for 2 hours in a warm place, covered with cling film.
Portion the dough into equal weights, then using the same 'tuck in' motion, fold the dough into itself to make a tight ball
Leave to rise again on a lightly floured surface, covered with cling film or a damp towel to avoid a crust forming
It should be ready to use when doubled in size.
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Creamy Spinach Pizza With Ricotta | My Food Memoirs
28th January 2023 at 3:17 pm[…] 1- Prepare the pizza dough: use this simple homemade pizza dough for beginners. it yields 3 medium-sized pizzas. This will take about 6 […]