How To Make Pizza Dough

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We’ve created our best homemade pizza dough recipe after years of research and trips to Italy. Here’s how to make pizza dough at home!

As you may know, we’re a bit pizza obsessed around here. Making artisan pizza at home is a tradition that Alex and I have done for our entire marriage. We’ve spent years researching the best way to make artisan pizza at home, including several trips to Italy. So it’s with great pleasure that we unveil our new, latest greatest Best Homemade Pizza Dough recipe! We’ve made some adjustments to our base recipe to make it even better than before. And you don’t need any special equipment at all! Keep reading for how to make pizza dough and more homemade pizza tips.
Related: Homemade Pizza Recipes

Best flour for making pizza dough First tip for making the best homemade pizza dough: over the years, we’ve found that if you want to make really great pizza dough, you’ll have to use the flour that professional pizzerias use! It’s called Tipo 00 and it’s a special Italian style of finely ground flour. We order ours online and use it only for our pizza dough. Order it! Tipo 00 flour $15

How to make pizza dough Making homemade pizza dough is a fairly simple process: the only “hard” part about it is the timing. Here are some things to consider about how to make pizza dough:

For best flavor, refrigerate the pizza dough 2 to 3 days prior to baking (optional). Alex and I have interviewed some top rate pizzeria chefs in America, and their opinion was the same. For the best homemade pizza dough, “ferment” the dough in the fridge for 2 to 3 days before baking. Letting the dough sit in the refrigerator helps it to naturally ferment and brings a nutty, complex flavor. If you think of it, it’s helpful to make this best homemade pizza dough recipe 2 to 3 days in advance. However, this is a totally optional step. You can make the dough the day of!

You can hand knead the dough, or use a stand mixer. How to make pizza dough? Use your hands! You don’t need any special equipment at all: you can knead it by hand. Alex and I love kneading our pizza dough by hand, to feel totally invested in the process. However, if you do have a KitchenAid or stand mixer, it does a fantastic job and it’s totally hands off. The kneading time in both cases is 8 minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can also use our food processor pizza dough recipe.

The dough requires a 45 minute rise, so plan ahead. Kneading the dough takes only 8 minutes: most of the time required for making pizza dough is letting it rise. This recipe requires a 45 minute rise time, so start making it about 1 hour before you’d like to eat your pizza.

Stretching the dough takes a bit of practice. The only other part of how to make pizza dough that requires a little bit of finesse is shaping the dough. The key here is to pat the dough into a circle, then drape it on your knuckles to stretch it. If the dough ever becomes transparent, stop immediately so that it doesn’t tear. If at any time the dough resists stretching, set it down and let it rest for a minute. Once you pick it up again, the gluten will have relaxed and it will be possible to stretch.
Even kids can help! Video: stretching the pizza dough Here’s a video instruction that shows how to stretch the pizza dough. Fast forward to 1:45 minutes to watch the stretching process!
Pizza dough doubled in size after the 45 minute proof And that’s it! How to make pizza dough at home That’s it! Follow the recipe below to make the best homemade pizza dough, and let us know what you think!
This pizza dough makes the BEST margherita pizza Looking for pizza recipes & resources? Here are our best pizza resources and recipes on A Couple Cooks:
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Print How to Make Pizza Dough (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Author: Sonja Prep Time: 1 hour Cook Time: 0 minutes Total Time: 1 hour Yield: 3 medium pizzas (about 11 inches in diameter) Print Recipe Pin Recipe Description We’ve created our best homemade pizza dough recipe after years of research and trips to Italy. Here’s how to make pizza dough at home!
Ingredients 500 grams* Tipo 00 or all-purpose flour (3 1/3 cups)8 grams active yeast (2 teaspoons)7 grams kosher salt (1 teaspoon)338 grams warm water (1 1/4 cups + 3 tablespoons)13 grams olive oil (1 tablespoon) Instructions Combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir to combine. Add the water and olive oil and stir until a raggy dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.Knead the dough by pushing with the base of your palm, then reforming it into a ball. Continue kneading for 8 minutes until the dough feels pillowy and has a smooth, stretchy exterior. If the dough is very sticky, add a small amount of flour while kneading. Alternatively: attach the dough hook to a stand mixer and start the mixer on medium-low speed, then allow the mixer to knead for 8 minutes.After the kneading is finished, divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Using floured hands, gently shape each half into a boule (ball shape) by folding the dough under itself. Set each boule on a floured surface and dab the dough with a bit of olive oil to keep it moist. Cover all boules with a damp towel and allow them to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.The dough can be used immediately. However for the BEST flavor, transfer the dough to separate sealed containers, large enough for the dough to double in size again, and store in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. (Alex and I don’t always do this, but we try when possible because it makes for a noticeably nutty, unique flavor that truly is the best homemade pizza dough you’ve ever had.)To stretch the dough, place it on a lightly floured surface and gently press it into a circle, flipping several times and adding a pinch of flour if it is too sticky. Once you have about an 8-inch circle, pick up the dough and gently drape it over the knuckles on both of your hands. Slowly rotate it around, allowing gravity to stretch it into a circle about 11 inches in diameter. Do not overwork or fold the dough. If the dough starts to resist stretching, put it down and allow it to rest for a few minutes, at which point it will stretch more easily.We bake our pizzas at 500F and use a pizza peel to transfer it to a preheated pizza stone in the oven: the bake time is around 5 to 7 minutes. See our pizza recipe posts for baking instructions. Notes *Using a food scale will ensure you have consistent results every time! We use this one.
Category: Essential RecipesMethod: BakedCuisine: Italian Keywords: How to make pizza dough, Best homemade pizza dough, Best pizza dough recipe, Making pizza dough
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