We have a family tradition on Friday nights, it’s pizza and movie night at our home. And now that I have two teenagers, I am desperately trying to hold onto for as long as I can! Because I know it won’t be long and they will be gone. Some weekends they are still gone, but at least once a month we have been able to keep the tradition alive.
Some Friday nights we buy pizza, but my favorite Fridays are the ones where we make homemade pizzas in the oven. Sometimes we make individual pizzas and sometimes we make two giant ones on a cookie sheet and dig into those.
But this pizza crust recipe is the standard of all standards for pizza crusts in our house. I used to make it with all-purpose flour but then I read somewhere (I wish I could give the source!) that using bread flour makes the dough even better! I wish I’d thought of that—because it holds true for rolls too. So, now I always make this recipe with bread flour, it just gives a little crisp crunch to the outside of the pizza and is delicious.
You can find the full recipe we use below.
Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups bread flour (can substitute all-purpose flour)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons of instant dry yeast (I like SAF brand)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups hot water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Place water, yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl and stir. Let set until mixture begins to bubble and foam.
- Pour above mixture into a mixer and add flour one cup at a time. Add salt.
- Slowly add the olive oil until mixture forms a dough ball around the mixer.
- Scrape dough out of mixer and place in an oiled bowl for about 15 mins to rest.
- Gently turn out dough and knead for about 2-3 minutes.
- Then form into pizza shape, add toppings and cook at 400 degrees until pizza crust is brown on the bottom and all toppings are cooked. Enjoy!
And happy pizza making this weekend!
