Oh Pizza. It should just be a food group all on its own!

Whenever someone thinks about pizza, one of the first things they think about is the dough/crust. You got deep dish, thin crust, gluten-free dough, whole wheat, Sicilian, stuffed crust, crispy crust, chewy crust and on and on and on.

This pizza dough recipe is for more than just your average pizza. You can use this dough to make calzones or stuffed bread as well! In addition to this, this recipe is just for the dough so you can dress it up however you’d like, with whatever sauces and toppings tickle your fancy.

Now, what you’ve actually been waiting for…. the dough!

Ingredients

This yields 2 lbs of pizza dough, which will make two medium-sized round pizzas, or 4-6 calzones (depending on how large you like them)

• 4 1/2 c bread flour
• 2 1/4 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 c of warm water

If you would like to make just 1 lb of dough then use….

• 2 c + 2 tbsp bread flour
• 1 1/8 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 c warm water

Directions

*I recommend using a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, if possible, or a food processor, for the mixing process. It is possible to make the dough without it, but it will just be a little harder.

1. Mix flour, yeast and salt. If using a mixer, run at lowest speed for about 45 seconds. If using a food processor, do 5 pulses.
2. While the mixer, or processor, is running add in the olive oil and then water. Continues mixing until a roughly shaped ball starts to form.
3. Let the dough sit for 2 minutes.
4. Mix the dough for another 45 seconds and then transfer it to a lightly floured counter.
   • Note that the dough should not be sticky/clinging to the walls of the bowl. If this is happening, add more flour.
5. Knead the dough for about a minute and shape it into a tight ball.
6. Lightly oil a large bowl and place the ball in it.
7. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm area until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
   • If you would like, you could set the cover bowl into the refrigerator for up to 16 hours. Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before using.

And that’s all there is to it! Like I said, this pizza dough is great for more than just pizza.

If you do use this dough, bake it at 500°F. The baking time will vary depending on what sauce/topping you use and how thin/thick you choose to make the crust.

Test Kitchen: Opinion and Changes

This was technically a “Test Kitchen” recipe, but it is no longer in the testing phase (nor has it been for a while) because it is the dough that I would recommend 100% of the time. I did not make any modifications to the original recipe itself; I follow it straight from the book. If you would like to see the original recipe, it is on page 331 of The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen. I believe that you are not able to access recipes from America’s Test Kitchen online unless you have a paid subscription, and unless you have this book, you would have never found this recipe either.

I am happy to be able to share this dough recipe with you all and I hope you give it a try! If you do test it out, send me pictures of how it came out to goodsbygabi@gmail.com and comment what you thought about the recipe!

UPDATED: Hello my fellow bakers. I would like to apologize for the lack of a photo on this post. I took pictures of the dough when it was complete, but I was in the process of linking my photos to iCloud Photo Library and when I went in the photos still weren’t on my laptop so I disconnected and it deleted all my pictures! I am very annoyed by this and will add a photo the next time I make the dough! (If anyone knows how to fix the issues with my images feel free to email me how I can go about fixing it)

Happy Baking!