If you have kids, chances are they love pizza.
Our kids aren’t picky but they love homemade pizza far better than the store brand – and we haven’t gotten store brand pizza in a LONG LONG time.
After making your own for SO long … it’s a little hard to buy anywhere else.
Every pizza is different – while some might like a thin crust, my kids like theirs THICK and CHEWY. Making this homemade pizza is actually pretty simple – not to mention the recipe below makes enough for (2) 12 inch pizzas. If you don’t have that many hungry kids to feed, you can freeze the second ball of dough for pizza later on – but ours can definitely tear through both on their own without any help.
Please be familiar with the ingredients before you start – it’s important to know what you are using (and why!)
Yeast: We use Red Star Platinum Yeast – it works BEST for us, and we buy it in bulk because we use so much.
Flour: We used Bob’s Red Mill Organic Unbleached, NON– Enriched Flour – we usually buy 15-20 bags at a time in bulk online, we blow through flour fairly fast here in our house. Although we do have Whole Wheat too, we haven’t specifically tried that with this pizza. If you do use wheat, we recommend using Organic Flour only; and if you aren’ too knowledgeable on flour and the differences between Unbleached and non-enriched, head HERE.
Water: For this recipe, 1 1/2 C. of water works best – you’ll want to keep the water between 105-115 degrees F. Anything too hot will kill the yeast and render the recipe useless.
Sugar: For this recipe, 1 Tbsp of sugar is necessary – it helps increase the activity of the yeast. It will also make the dough a little more tender.
Cornmeal: This is a must if you are making this pizza – use it to dust your pan so that your pizza doesn’t stick. It also gives the pizza plenty of flavor. Just remember though that most Corn-based products are GMO, so it’s important to use Organic Cornmeal – you can find it here on Amazon.
Salt: Helps enhance the flavor – without it, you will find your dough a little tasteless.
Olive Oil: A MUST if you make breads or pizza crust – you’ll want to coat the bowl (that the pizza dough will rise in) in a little olive oil. You will also want to brush your hands with olive oil before handling the dough so your hands don’t get to be a huge sticky mess.
Your pizzas might just turn out more attractive than ours – we don’t buy shredded cheese too often (and didn’t in this case). All we had was a block- and block cheese sliced up into thin pieces works just as well for us. Make sure you have baking mats – they are essential!
- 1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 1/2 C. Organic Unbleached, non-Enriched All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/3 C. Warm Water (105-115 degrees, F)
- 2 1/4 tsp Red Star Platinum Yeast
- 1/8 - 1/4 C. Organic Cornmeal (to dust the baking mat)
- In your KitchenAid with the hook attachment, combine the warm water & yeast - let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy & dissolved.
- Add flour, olive oil, salt and sugar and mix with the dough hook for 1 minute.
- Knead with your dough hook for 7 minutes, on medium.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place in a well-oiled large mixing bowl, & turn it to coat all sides.
- Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- (If you wish, you can preheat the oven to 200 degrees F, and then turn it off - place the mixing bowl in there and allow your dough to rise).
- After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to release the air and divide into two smaller balls. Roll each into a ball and place in separate bowls for 10-15 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Generously sprinkle cornmeal on your baking mats or, baking sheets (if you use baking sheets then grease with olive oil before cornmeal).
- Flatten each ball of dough on your baking mat/cookie sheet - into a 12 inch circle.. lift the edge of the dough up to make a rim, and brush the dough with olive oil lightly.
- Top with your favorite toppings - sauce, cheese, and herbs and bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Not using both balls of dough? You can freeze one for later - once the first rise is done and you separate into two balls, take one ball and lightly coat with olive oil. Place in a quart or gallon freezer bag and squeeze out all the air - freeze for {up to 3 months}. When you are ready to use, thaw in the fridge for 12 hours. Then let rest 30 minutes on the counter and continue with rolling it out and putting on toppings.
