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Homemade Pizza Crust

Homemade Pizza Crust
Follow these easy instructions for creating a thick & chewy pizza crust at home.
Yield 2 pizza crusts
6

Reviews

Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 cups (320ml) warm water (110-115°F)
  • 1 (0.25oz) package (7g) or 2 1/4 teaspoons Platinum Yeast
  • 1 tablespoon (13g) granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) olive oil
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
  • 3 1/2 cups (438g) all-purpose flour
  • Cornmeal (for dusting pan)

Instructions

  • Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. *If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula in the next step.
  • Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for 3-4 minutes (for a visual, watch me do it in the video above!). The dough can be a little too heavy for a mixer to knead it, but you can certainly use the mixer on low speed instead. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger – if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading.
  • Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray– just use the same bowl you used for the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size.
  • Preheat oven to 475°F (246°C). Allow it to heat for at least 15-20 minutes as you shape the pizza. Lightly grease baking sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray or olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal, which gives the crust extra crunch and flavor. Highly recommended.
  • Shape the dough: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. (If not making 2 pizzas, freeze half of the dough for another time– see freezing instructions below.) On a lightly floured work surface using lightly floured hands or rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into a disc. Place on prepared pan and, using lightly floured hands, stretch and flatten the disc into a 12-inch circle. Lift the edge of the dough up to create a lip around the edges. I simply pinch the edges up to create the rim. If using a pizza stone, place the dough directly on baker’s peels dusted with cornmeal.
  • Cover dough lightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for a few minutes as you prepare your pizza toppings. 
  • Top & bake the pizza: To prevent the filling from making your pizza crust soggy, brush the top lightly with olive oil. Using your fingers, push dents into the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Top with your favorite toppings and bake for 12-15 minutes.
  • Slice hot pizza and serve immediately. Cover leftover pizza tightly and store in the refrigerator. Reheat as you prefer. Baked pizza slices can be frozen up to 3 months.

Notes

Overnight/All Day Instructions: Prepare the dough through step 3, but allow the dough to rise for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator. (If it needs to be in the refrigerator for longer, use cooler water in the dough which will slow the dough’s rise and allow for more time.) The slow rise gives the pizza dough wonderful flavor! When ready, continue with step 5. If the dough didn’t quite double in size overnight, let it sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before punching down (step 5).
Freezing Instructions: This recipe yields enough dough for two 12-inch pizzas, a little less than 2 pounds total. After the pizza dough rises and you divide the dough in half (step 5), you can freeze one of the balls of dough to make pizza at a later time. Or you can simply freeze both balls of dough separately. Lightly coat all sides of the dough ball(s) with nonstick spray or olive oil. Place the dough ball(s) into individual zipped-top bag(s) and seal tightly, squeezing out all the air. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator for about 8 hours or overnight. When ready to make pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes on the counter. Continue with step 5, punching down the dough to release air if needed.
Recipe by Sally’s Baking Addiction.

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Review & Comments

Paul C | Reply

can I use bread flour

Red Star Yeast | Reply

Hi Paul,

Yes you can but you’re going to need to have additional water on hand. Bread Flour has a higher protein content so it will need more water to hydrate. Add 1-2 TBS of water at a time to your dough to get the right consistency.

Happy Baking!

Easy Homemade Garlic Knots Recipe - Red Star® Yeast | Reply

[…] garlic knots are extra soft and fluffy, made from my favorite 6 ingredient pizza dough, and are topped with flavorful garlic herb butter before AND after baking. Shaping is a breeze with […]

Michele | Reply

I made this pizza dough a couple weeks ago and it was great. Making it now waiting for it to rise and it was so much wetter tonight needed to add a lot more flour. Splitting it up for individual pizzas for a house of hungry teenagers.

Martha | Reply

5 stars
Best pizza dough I’ve ever made. I made a white clam pizza and deluxe pizza with sausage, mushrooms and jalapeños. Excellent.

“Adulting” Mentors Launch Food Skills – Home Baking Association | Reply

[…] can make pizza dough. (Yes, you can.) Time challenged?  Make it one day, refrigerate or freeze the dough and shape and […]

Alice Hall | Reply

5 stars
I made this pizza dough last Saturday, by far the best I have ever made. Good flavor, very tender and such an easy recipe. I used your Platinum yeast for the first time…what a difference from plain or rapid rise yeast. I will continue to only use the Platinum from now on. Instead of pizza I made a calzone with Italian sausage and pepperoni and lots of Mozz cheese.

Robert Southey | Reply

Just ate the pizza with this dough recipe, and by far the best home dough for pizza I have ever made thanks.

Kim Bradford | Reply

Could this be made in a Zojirushi bread machine? Could I get some directions?

Red Star Yeast | Reply

Hi Kim,
Yes, as long as your bread machine capacity fits this size dough. Add the ingredients in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the dough cycle (this will mix, knead and rise the dough). Once completed, removed dough and continue with step 6.
Happy baking!
Carol

DIY @ Home: Homemade Pizza | My Milwaukee Adventure Blog | Reply

[…] found the perfect homemade pizza crust recipe from Red Star Yeast that uses their new Platinum yeast. Platinum yeast is key because it has dough […]

Hiram tv | Reply

My fist time, i used by step by step And works great, my tip is to use a coffee mug (double wall to maintan 110-115 degres) hot water sugar and yeast let rest from 5 to 10 mins with the cap not closed at all and easy grow up, mix and let rest the dough in a little preheat gas oven ( 80 – 100 degrees) by an hour the dough grow up pretty good
I love this receipe.

plasterer bristol | Reply

This turned out perfect for us, great tasting recipe. thanks.

Simon

suzn lacerra | Reply

Google gave me 2 very different recipes for pizza dough using Red Star yeast. One says bake at 400 degrees and the other says 475 degrees. Plus the first recipe doesn’t mention kneading by hand and letting it rise. I’m going by the 2nd recipe letting the dough rise.
Will let you know how it goes.

Sue Lacerra

Lydi | Reply

5 stars
Every time I feel for a pizza, I just go to my web bookmarks and find this dough recipe! I’ve used it more than twice already and it’s never let me down. The crust is nice and crispy, the flavour is perfect and isn’t overbearing, and the dough cooks through every time. Very easy to make.

Wittenburg | Reply

5 stars
EXCELLENT dough and crust everytime with Platinum Red Star Yeast. This website has become our go-to recipe for homemade pizza nights. I can get two 16″ pizza crusts from one packet of yeast/recipe. I us a little olive oil on the pan before spreading the dough and the pizza peels right off the pan with crispy crust. This recipe is a proven winner!

Sameer | Reply

4 stars
Tried it and it came out pretty good. Used olive oil as the oil.

SAsher | Reply

4 stars
If you let the dough rise for an hour, then punch down and refrigerate for 1 day, the crust will have a lot more flavor (pizzeria trick, they make their dough the night before and refrigerate it)

Also, I’ve found that dark baking sheets brown the crust better than a light (aluminum) baking sheet. I also bake my pizzas at 500° for 10 – 12 minutes.

Gary E | Reply

Looked up your recipe on line after buying the yeast a week back. Excellent dough and crust! Froze half the dough for another time! Thanks.

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