It makes me incredibly happy to share my pizza dough recipe with you! Pizza is my absolute favorite food. Being from New York, I was a bit picky about the pizza here in Oregon. Over the years, I have found my favorite spots, but I’ve also figured out how to make some darn good pizza in my own oven.
Pizza is our tradition
Now, as I said, I’m from New York and when we decided to move to Oregon we moved far from an of our family. Being this far leaves a hole in traditions. We can’t gather with family for every holiday, birthday, or celebration the way we did when I was a kid. No more Sunday afternoon roast chickens at Grandma’s house.
Out of necessity, we need to create our own traditions. And pizza + movie night is pretty much our tradition in Oregon. Sometimes the specific night of the week shifts, but we try hard to have pizza and watch a movie at home every week. The kids love it and one day I hope it will keep them coming home for dinner. It’s also a fun tradition to share when we have family visit. We recently had some visitors from Texas and everyone got in on the action!
You can make pizza dough too
I have one more thing to say before the recipe. This recipe looks complicated with all of the steps. I promise you, it is not complicated. I have all of these steps and pictures to help you through the process. While it’s simple, it is a process. And I know that many many people are a bit scared to use yeast to make their own dough for pizza or bread. I hope being this detailed doesn’t scare you, but helps you give it a whirl!
And don’t forget to make the pizza sauce while you’re waiting for the dough to rise!
Pizza Dough
This is my go-to pizza dough made with half whole wheat flour. It takes only minutes to put together when you let the mixer do the kneading.
This recipe is easily made with two key pieces of equipment: an electric mixer and a kitchen scale.
To cook the pizza a few more items are needed including a pizza stone and pizza peel.
Ingredients
- 10 ounces white whole wheat flour
- 10 ounces all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
- 12 ounces warm water warm water from the tap is just fine
- 1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Instructions
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Place the bowl of the electric on a kitchen scale and tare (zero) the scale.
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Measure 10 ounces of whole wheat flour into the bowl.
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Measure 10 ounces of all-purpose flour into the bowl. The total on the scale should be 20 ounces OR 1 pound 4 ounces.
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Add the salt, olive oil and sugar (or honey) to the flour.
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Tare (or zero) the scale. Then add the warm water to the flour mixture until the scale reads 12 ounces. Warm water from the tap will do.
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Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and let it start to dissolve. When you can no longer see the individual granules of yeast, you're ready to go.
If using an electric mixer:
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Using a dough hook, turn the mixer to low speed until the dough begins to come together. This means that there is minimal dry flour in the bowl and the ingredients are barely sticking to the sides of the bowl. It should take 1-2 minutes.
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Turn the mixer speed up to medium and let it go for 8-10 minutes. It should look smooth and springs back when presswed with your thumb.
If kneading by hand:
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Use a mixing spoon or spatula to mix the ingredients in the bowl until they begin to come together.
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Turn out the dough onto a floured counter top or silicone pastry mat.
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Knead dough for at least 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and springs back when pressed with your thumb.
Both methods:
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Place kneaded dough back into the original bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a draft-free spot until it doubles in size or about an hour. If it's a hot day, it will take less time.
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Once risen, take the dough out of the bowl and cut in half (1 half for each pizza). Knead each half 5-6 times and form into a ball. You'll hear/feel some air bubbles release. Let rise on the counter, covered by a damp cloth for 20-30 minutes.
Baking:
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Set a baking stone on your oven rack and set your oven to 550 degrees.
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Sprinkle flour onto a pizza peel.
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When the oven is almost at 550 degrees, start carefully stretching the dough into a 12" circle. This takes a little getting use to, some practice, and patience. It does not need to be perfect.
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Once stretched out, place onto floured pizza peel. Be sure to shake the peel a little to make sure the dough moves easily. If it doesn't shimmy around, then you need to sprinkle some more flour on the peel before putting the dough down.
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Add your toppings: sauce, cheese, veggies, bacon, etc.
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Slide the pizza into the oven from the peel. Again, be patient with this move. It takes practice to get comfortable with the motion.
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Bake for about 5 to 8 minutes. Start checking at 5 minutes. At 550 degrees, the pizza cooks quickly.
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Use the peel to take the pizza out and put onto a cutting surface or cooking rack. Let sit for 5 minutes before cutting.
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Enjoy!
In my latest meal plan, you’ll see we had pizza night on Sunday. It was followed up with Smurfs 3!
Happy eating!
Sandy
Welcome to 5 Ingredient Friday! Here you'll find a recipe with 5 ingredients or less (shhh... water, oil, salt, pepper don't count). Recipes don't need a lot of ingredients to be yummy. Fewer ingredients means simpler prep. It also means you'll have them memorized in no time. 5 Ingredient recipes are the backbone of my everyday cooking. I hope you find a place for this recipe in your kitchen.
Recipe Hardware + Recommendations
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This simple scale gets the job done. I’ve had mine for years and it works great every time!
A rectangular pizza stone will provide the most surface area. It leaves you open to baking multiple small pizzas at one time if you would like. Don’t worry about having a place to store it. You can keep it in your oven at all times as it helps regulate the temperature!
This is the same peel I have, only a different color. It’s very light and thin. I’ve had the peel for years and the material seems indestructible. It will be around for years for come!
Hands down, this is the best pizza cutter. I’ve had others that have fallen apart or were difficult to clean. This one is easy to use, durable, and comes apart for easy cleaning in the dishwasher.
Thank you for an explanation of a Pizza Peel at the end. Never heard of it and happy you were one step ahead of me!
You’re welcome! Glad you learned something new!
Awesome Recipe! I love it!
Great to hear it, Dave!