This cat…she’s a little bit of sweet and a lotta bit of evil.
She is the most curious darn thing you will ever meet. And it gets her into lots of trouble. Like getting closed in the pantry for who knows how long. That’s where I found her, quite ticked off might I add, when I went to get the flour to make this pizza.
Good thing for her I decided to go out of my comfort zone again to make homemade pizza crust. Because lately, I have actually enjoyed making breads of all sorts and it all started with these delicious hamburger buns.
Joel is usually the pizza maker around here but this time, I decided to try a new recipe and man was it amazing. I love the idea of preheating the pizza stone before baking. It made the bottom super crispy, in the best way possible.
But don’t worry, there was still a chewiness to the inside of the crust which we really enjoy. Although the dough takes awhile to rise, the pizza cooks up quickly. And the recipe makes enough for two pizzas and freezes well so you can have pizza even on a busy weeknight.
This is now my go-to recipe for like, ever. We made our first crust into a cheesesteak pizza and used the second to make a stromboli. Just imagine all the possibilities for this delicious crust!
- ½ cup warm water (about 110°)
- 1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast
- 1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl
- Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.
- Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.
- To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
- Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.
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