The Best Yeast Pizza Dough

March 1, 2016

The BEST Yeast Pizza Dough from Scratch - Sarcastic Cooking

Welcome to pizza month! What? You don’t like pizza this much, you say? What are you a communist? Well too bad because “it’s my birthday and I’ll eat pizza all month long if I wanna, all month long if I wanna. You would eat ‘za too if you were turning 32.” (Sing that to the tune of It’s My Party by Leslie Gore).

#pizzamonth

I am not really crying about turning 32. It does sound way older than 31 for some reason. Instead of crying, I am having a whole month dedicated to my favorite food, PIZZAAAAA! It was either this or tacos. Ugh, it was a tough decision. But this year, pizza rules.

This week I am introducing you to three different crust options. Today, “the thin-crust-wait-for-the-yeast-to-rise” version. Tomorrow, gluten-free cauliflower crust (shhh don’t tell my husband). Then on Thursday, a no-knead whole wheat version for you people still scared of dealing with proofing yeast. I am kind of hoping that you scared-y cats will see how easy it is to deal with yeast from the following pictures and make this dough recipe instead.

After all, it is the best and it is my birthday month so you have to do what I say.

Alright so let’s get started. First you microwave the water for about 40 seconds. I don’t even use a thermometer anymore, but it should not be more than 110 degrees F. Add the honey to the bowl of an electric stand mixer or a mixing bowl if you are doing the brut strength approach and kneading by hand. Whisk the water and honey together.

Proofing the Yeast

Sprinkle the yeast on top of the honey water. Mix it all up so the yeast gets wet. FYI I used to be so scared of this step that I would just sprinkle the yeast on top and hope it worked. Like, me toughing the yeast would make it mad and then my recipe would fail. But fear not! It will still work. Wait about 5 minutes and the yeast will be super foamy.

Add in the flours, olive oil, salt, and beer. Attach the dough hook to the stand mixer and mix for about 3 minutes until a shaggy dough forms. Crank that speed up to medium/high and knead in for 5-7 minutes until a smooth, somewhat sticky dough ball is formed. Take the dough out of the bowl, coat lightly with olive oil, and then return the dough ball to the bowl. Turn it and toss it a few times to coat it in the olive oil. Cover with a towel and let rise for an hour and a half.

Kneading the Dough

Go do some laundry, clean some dishes, or get some toppings together. It really isn’t that long or hands on, so don’t complain.

After an hour and a half has passed, uncover the dough and punch it down. Form it into a ball. Cut the ball in half. Lucky for you, this makes 2, 12-inch thin crust pizzas. Oh the possibilities!

Cover those dough balls with a towel and let rise for an hour. Again, go live your life; this recipe takes care of itself.

Risen Pizza Dough

After an hour, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F. If you are using a pizza pan or baking sheet, place it in the oven while the oven preheats. This helps with that super crunchy crust we are looking for! Once preheated, lightly flour a work surface. Roll out the dough until approximately 12 inches. Remove the hot pan from the oven and transfer dough to pizza pan or baking sheet or pizza stone.

Second Pizza Dough Rise

I like to add a little sauce and bake the pizza for 5 minutes before adding more sauce and the rest of the toppings. Then finish up baking the pizza for 5 more minutes. I find that makes for a sturdier crust.

This is my go to, every Friday pizza dough recipe. The beer is the secret ingredient!! If for some reason the beer weirds you out, just add more water instead. It still works; it just doesn’t have the same flavor in my opinion.

I just made a simple Margherita pizza to show you the awesomeness of this crust. It’s just a little bit of jarred tomato sauce, fresh mozz, shredded mozz, and fresh tomatoes and basil. Boom! Perfection!

Please give this crust a shot. Don’t be scared of yeast. Yeast is your friend. Wait. That sounds weird…

The Best Yeast Pizza Dough

The best, low maintenance, yeast pizza crust. Super light and crispy plus a secret ingredient of beer in the crust makes for one delicious base!
Prep Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Servings 2 , 12 Inch Crusts

Ingredients

  • 1 Teaspoon Honey
  • 3/4 Cup Warm Water not over 110 degrees F
  • 2 1/4 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast or 1 packet
  • 2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/2 Cup Room Temperature Beer any will work
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt

Instructions

  1. Add honey to the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Mix in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the honey water. Mix until all the yeast is wet. Let sit for five minutes until foamy.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients.
  3. Attach the dough hook attachment to the mixer. Mix on low for about 5-7 minutes until combined into a shaggy dough. Knead on medium/high speed until a smooth and slightly stick ball is formed.
  4. Remove the dough and either add it to a large mixing bowl coated lightly in olive oil or lightly coat the mixing bowl with olive oil and return the dough to that bowl. Turn the dough a few times so it is coated in olive oil. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise for about an hour and a half.
  5. After an hour and a half, punch down the dough and form into a ball. Place the ball on a lightly floured surface and cut in half using a bench scraper. Form each half into a ball. Place each ball on a lightly floured cookie sheet or cutting board about 5 inches away from each other. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour.
  6. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F with the pizza stone or pizza pan in the oven.
  7. Roll out the dough on a floured surface until about 12 inches. Remove hot pan and carefully transfer the pizza dough to the pan. Bake for five minutes with/without sauce before adding toppings and then bake for 5 more minutes with toppings added.
  8. Recipe originally from this post

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  • Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
    March 3, 2016 at 10:31 am

    yayyy PIZZA MONTH! and omigosh this pizza dough looks so incredible! pinning!

    • Stefanie
      March 4, 2016 at 9:06 pm

      Yay! It is seriously my fave! So crispy.

  • No Knead Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
    March 3, 2016 at 7:01 am

    […] get to pizza making! I mean, come on already. I have now given you three different types of crusts (#1 & #2) to choose from after […]