July 3, 2019

Pizza Dough – Bake! Grill! Fry!

This versatile No-Fail recipe is perfect for Pizza (duh!) Calzones, Focaccia… the list is never-ending!

Sure, you can buy fresh Pizza Dough (and who hasn’t, in a pinch) but this recipe is so easy it will become your favorite go-to. As long as you have yeast (I keep mine in the fridge all the time) and flour you can mix up this pizza dough for any occasion. Brunch? Breakfast Pizza. Fall Dessert? Apple Gallette. Easy Party? Make your own pizza. Taco Tuesday? Mexican Pizza. There is virtually no time that you can’t improvise a pizza into place.

There is no moment in life that can’t be improved with pizza.
Daria.

Unless you are a pizza, the answer is yes, I can live without you.
Bill Murray.

This versatile dough can easily be made without a stand mixer – simply mix the ingredients as described and knead, knead, knead. And I’m not saying that this recipe is the only reason to buy one – but it’s a really good excuse to finally take the plunge and get yourself the best mixer out there: a KitchenAid Stand Mixer (affiliate link).

Sadly, I don’t have this red one. I have a plain-jane white one – and I’ve had it for about 25 years – so choose carefully on the color. These last. They’re the tortoises of small kitchen appliances.

Grilled Pizza Dough might be the best way to cook it –

The grill (affiliate link) gets screaming hot, so it cooks the dough fast, the way a pizzeria would. thekitchn.com has a great tutorial for the best grilling method.

A Pizza Peel (affiliate link) is a really, really nice addition to the repertoire when grilling (or baking actually.) It has a nice long handle for easy removal from the grill.

Noted Erieland delicacy Pepperoni Balls are fabulous with this dough too

They are literally balls of dough stuffed with pepperoni (and occasionally cheese) then allowed to rise a second time before baking. YUMMO!

Baking in a really hot oven works too~

Sheet pan pizza, calzones, and focaccia are all baked. Make your own focaccia with this pizza dough by spreading it in a sheet pan, drizzling with olive oil and herbs before cooking at 475 – 500 degrees until golden brown.

Let’s get to the Pizza Dough!

Mix the yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a regular mixing bowl if you’re going old school) with very warm water. Then let it set. It starts out like this.

Yeast rising in a mixingbowl for Pizza Dough

After about 10 minutes, if it looks like this, your yeast is proofed, and you can add the rest of the dough ingredients.

Yeast proofing ina mixing bowl for Pizza Dough

Add the olive oil, salt and any additional flavorings (I often add Italian seasoning or crushed red peppers) and mix well. The salt is very important – it inhibits the yeast production so it doesn’t go hog wild. Definitely use it all. Don’t decrease it. Then add about a cup of flour at a time.

I leave on the paddle for the first few cups to speed up the mixing process. Then I change out to the dough hook. Once the pizza dough pulls away from the sides, you’ve added enough flour, and can knead it.

Let the mixer do it’s thing for 5-7 minutes, until the dough is pretty smooth and flexible. Put the dough in an oiled mixing bowl (affiliate link), and cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap.

We let the dough rise in our over-the-stove microwave. I leave on the light over the stove and it makes the microwave nice and warm without pre-baking the pizza dough. You can also rise in the oven – in the winter I set the oven to “warm” for a few minutes, then turn it off before putting the pizza dough in and letting it rise.

After about an hour (perfect time for a glass of wine) the pizza dough looks like this:

And it’s ready to punch down and use in a myriad of ways!

Sheet Pan Pizza made with homemade pizza dough — Sheet Pan Meat Lovers

Pizza on peel — Fancy Arugula Topped Pizza

Calzone ready to roll on pizza dough — Veggie Calzone – Precooking

Cooked Calzone cut on chopping board — Cooked Calzone ready to chow

The possibilities for this Pizza Dough are endless.

Pizza Dough

Course: Appetizer, Breakfast, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Servings: recipe

No Fail Pizza Dough is the most versatile recipe ever for an easy homemade yeast dough. Baked, Grilled, Fried – this one does it all.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups Very Warm Water (105 – 110 degrees F)
1 packet Regular Yeast
2 tbsp White Sugar
1-1/2 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Olive Oil
4 to 4-1/2 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour

Instructions

Combine yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and add in water. Mix until well combined.
Let yeast mixture sit for 10 minutes to proof. The mixture should be bubbly and expansive when it is proofed.
Add salt, olive oil and additional seasonings if desired.
Add flour, a cup at a time, using paddle attachment for first few additions and switching to dough hook after that.
Dough has enough flour when it pulls away from sides of bowl – if it sticks, add more flour a few tablespoons at a time until it pulls away.
Once all flour is added, knead dough for 5 – 7 minutes until smooth.
Put dough in oiled mixing bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft free place until it doubles in volume, about an hour.
Dough is ready to use!