Name: Homemade Pizza Dough
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 2 Servings
Ingredients: All-Purpose Flour: 3.5 cups (430g); Active Dry Yeast: 1.5 teaspoons; Sugar: 1 teaspoon; Sea Salt: 2 teaspoons; Olive Oil: 2 Tablespoons; Water: 1.3 cup (297ml) warm*

Directions

Homemade pizza dough is easy as 1-2-3!

You will just need 5 ingredients, and I guarantee you already have 4 in your pantry!

All-purpose flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast, olive oil and water. That is it!

I do recommend you use a standing mixer to make this dough but it is also doable with a wooden spoon and some elbow grease.

After the instant yeast is activated in warm water, it is incorporated into the flour mixture with olive oil.

I prefer using a fruity extra virgin olive oil, something that comes in a dark, glass bottle.

Whenever a recipe has minimal ingredients, it’s even more important to use high-quality products.

All-purpose flour is the common flour but you can also use bread flour or a mix of white and whole wheat!

Organic and unbleached all-purpose flour is best.

I have also added semolina flour. Adding just a few tablespoons of another flour will add flavor and color to the dough.

To keep the hydration the same, I recommend adding no more than 30 grams of another type of flour to the white flour.

Another ingredient in this recipe is time. The longer you let the dough proof, the more flavor it develops.

My personal preference is to let the pizza dough proof in the refrigerator overnight.

During this time, the dough also gains more strength.

Top your homemade pizza dough with sauce and cheese to make the classic margherita pizza, add pepperoni, other toppings, or make pizza muffins!

Steps

1 Done	Bloom The Active Dry Yeast Using the microwave (40 seconds) or a pot on the stove top, warm the 1 1/3 cups of water until it is about *100°F -110°F. Add the 1 + 1/2 teaspoon of active dry yeast to the warm water as well as the 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir to dissolve then allow it to bloom and get foamy for 5-10 minutes. If it does not get foamy, the yeast is most likely not active anymore and you will need to get new yeast. If you are using Instant Dry Yeast, there is no need to bloom the yeast in warm water. You can add it straight in with the flour.
2 Done	Make The Dough Add the foamy yeast water to your standing mixer or large bowl (if mixing by hand) along with the 2 teaspoons of sea salt, 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and 2 cups of all-purpose flour. Mix on low and add the remaining 1 + 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour I stages. When using the standing mixer, use the dough hook attachment to mix on low speed then increase the speed to medium and mix until all of the flour has been absorbed and the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl and form a shaggy dough ball. If the dough looks too wet and is not pulling away from the sides, add 4-6 Tablespoons of flour and mx on low and scraping the sides. The dough should form into a shaggy ball. If you are mixing by hand, use a wooden spoon to mix. Once it gets more challenging to mix the dough, place the dough on a clean and lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes until you have a shaggy dough ball.
3 Done	Allow The Dough To Rest Place the dough in a large and lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. You can rest the dough on your kitchen counter for 1-2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. The longer you allow the dough to rest the more flavorful and light the dough will be. Personally, I like to keep the dough in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
4 Done	Flatten & Stretch The Dough If your dough has been in the refrigerator, move the bowl to your kitchen counter and allow the dough to come up to room temperature (at least 1 hour) before shaping it. Place the dough on a clean and floured surface. Lightly flour your fingers and flatten it into a disk. Next, lightly press along the edges to create the crust. Press with your fingers to flatten and lightly stretch and rotate until it is your desired shape, circle or rectangular.
5 Done	What Do I Make With the Pizza Dough? Other than using this pizza dough to make classic margherita pizza, you can also use it to make garlic knots, pizza buns, calzone or pizza muffins!