Signature Pizza Crust from All Recipes

I like AllRecipes.com - I find good things there sometimes.  This is an instance where I found something awesome on AllRecipes.com.  I am always on the hunt for an awesome pizza dough recipe.  I love the recipes I make, but I always love to try new ones.  It's just like how I love to go to different pizza restaurants to try different pizzas.

My first hint that this was going to make for some awesome pizza was that over 2000 people rated this recipe.  Seriously.  That's a lot in my book.  Over 37,000 people favorited this recipe.  That's pretty awe-inspiring.  Given that I have a stand mixer, this recipe was very easy to put together, but even if you don't have a stand mixer, you should be able to accomplish this recipe using a big bowl and a strong wooden spoon (and the necessary elbow grease to go with it).

My second hint was how amazing the house smelled while the dough rose.  I love the smell of yeasty bread doughs.  There's something so homey about that smell.  It just makes you feel good.  This dough was no exception - the only problem was that it smelled even better while it was baking.  So good that when it came out and I put it on the table, I burned my mouth a little, so excited to try it.  It was worth the pain.  Really.  I will definitely make this pizza crust again.  Soon.

Signature Pizza Crust from All Recipes
Printer-friendly recipe

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 envelope)
1 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (~110 degrees)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl (preferably your mixing bowl for your stand mixer), dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the warm water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in the flour using the dough hook attachment for your stand mixer.
3. Turn the dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour (if needed) until the dough is no longer sticky.  Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth.  Let the dough rise until doubled - this will take at least one hour, sometimes more depending on how humid and warm your kitchen is.  Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball with the dough.  Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out.  Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately.  If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.  Personally, I split my pizza dough in half and rolled it out, then gently placed it into two 9-inch cake pans that I doused with olive oil.  Make sure to place your baking pans on the lowest shelf in your oven to ensure that the crust fully bakes.  This recipe makes an awesome pan pizza crust.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust and cheese are fully browned.

Pizza Americana

I really enjoyed reading Peter Reinhart's "American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza" - I love pizza, and have began to learn how to prepare it pretty darn well. Mr. Reinhart is best known, I think, for his amazing breadmaking book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread, which I keep meaning to pick up at the library. The book is split into three distinct sections, the first being "The Hunt,"where he travels to discover what makes for great pizza. I skipped right over that, and went straight to part two, the Recipes. I finally got a chance to try one of those recipes out recently, and I was pretty pleased.

I didn't realize that the dough is somewhat slow-rising, so I was awfully concerned about it turning out right, but it sure did taste good. He calls this dough a strong dough that can withstand heavy toppings, with a breadlike crust that's filling and tasty in its own right.

Pizza Americana Dough

makes four 10-ounce dough balls

5 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour

3 tbsp sugar or honey

2 tsp table salt or 3 1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp instant yeast

1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil or solid vegetable shortening

1 cup whole or low-fat milk

3/4 cup room-temperature water (70 degrees)

1. With a large metal spoon, stir together all the ingredients in a 4-qt bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer until combined. If mixing with an electric mixer, fit it with the dough hook and mix on low speed for about 4 minutes, or until all the flour gathers to form a coarse ball. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then mix again on medium-low speed for an additional 2 minutes or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and sticks just a little to the bottom. If the dough is too soft and sticky to hold its shape, mix in more flour by the tablespoonful; if it is too stiff or dry, mix in more water by the tablespoonful; it if is too stiff or dry, mix in more water by the tablespoonful. The dough should pass the windowpane test. If mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the spoon into room-temperature water and use it much like a dough hook, working the dough vigorously into a coarse ball as you rotate the bowl with your other hand. As all the flour is incorporated into the ball, about 4 minutes, the dough will begin to strengthen; when this occurs, let the dough rest for 5 minutes and then resume mixing for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until the dough is slightly sticky, soft and supple. If the dough is too soft and sticky to hold its shape, mix in more flour by the tablespoonful; if it is too stiff or dry, mix in more water by the tablespoonful. The dough should pass the windowpane test.

2. Immediately divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Round each piece into a ball and brush or rub each ball with olive or vegetable oil. Place each ball inside its own zippered freezer bag. Let the balls sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, then put them in the fridge overnight or freeze any pieces you will not be using the next day. (Or, if you are making the pizzas on the same day, let the dough balls sit at room temperature in the bags for 1 hour, then remove them from the bags, punch them down, reshape them into balls, reutrn them to the bags, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.)

3. The next day (or later the same day if refrigerated for only 2 hours), remove the balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before you plan to roll them out to take off the chill and to relax the gluten. At this point, you can hold any balls you don't want to use right away in the refrigerator for another day or you can freeze them for up to 3 months.

4. Preheat your oven to 450 with a baking stone on the bottom shelf for at least 30 minutes. Roll out your pizza on a piece of parchment, and then add your sauce and toppings. Brush the crust with olive oil. Slide the parchment onto your pizza peel, and slide onto the baking stone. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or to desired doneness.

Simple Cheese Pizza

I feel like I've hit a cooking milestone - I used a baking stone for the first time! Can't believe it took me this long, especially with my love of pizza. I was really impressed with how this turned out - it was super easy to put together and tasted great, too. Perhaps not as awesome as my famous pan pizza, but still pretty darn good. Not only that, but Baby liked it. A lot! He ate almost two whole slices! Can't beat that!


Basic Pizza Dough
adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
Click here for printable recipe!

4 1/4 cups bread lfour, plus extra for the counter
1 envelope (or 2 1/4 teaspoons) instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups water, warm

1. Pulse 4 cups of the flour, yeast and salt in a food processor (fitted with a dough blade if possible) to combine. With the processor running, pour the oil, then the water through the feed tube and process until a rough ball forms, 30-40 seconds. Let the dough rest for 2 minutes, then process for 30 seconds longer.
2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about 4 minutes, adding the remaining 1/4 cup of flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Classic Cheese Pizza
Adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough
Flour for the counter
3 cups pizza sauce (I use Ragu's and I think it's pretty good)
12 ounces mozzarella, shredded (3 cups)
Olive oil

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position, place a baking stone on the rack, and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Let the baking stone heat for at least 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter, cut it into three even pieces, and cover with plastic wrap. Working with one piece of dough at a time, shape into a smooth, round ball, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20-30 minutes.
3. Uncover one ball of dough and stretch and shape the dough into a 12-inch round on a piece of parchment paper. Spread 1 cup of the pizza sauce over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch edge of dough uncovered. Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella all over. Lightly brush the edge of the dough with oil.
4. Slide the parchment paper and pizza and pizza onto a rimless (or inverted) baking sheet, then slide it onto the hot baking stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and the cheese is golden in spots, 8-13 minutes. Prepare the second pizza while the first bakes.
5. Transfer the pizza to a cutting board, discarding the parchment paper. Slice the pizza into 6-8 wedges and consume immediately!

Sheet Pan Pizza

I consider myself a bit of a pizza connoisseur. I'm a huge fan of pan pizza, it's my personal favorite, but I'm not fanatical about. I am fanatical about pizza, though. When I first made my very own pizza from scratch late last year, it was what really kicked me into high gear in terms of learning to cook better. I was like, "Wow, this pizza kicks Pizza Hut's ass." And I grew up on Pizza Hut. I took a business trip to Chicago while I was seven or eight months pregnant with Baby, and he sure loved the pan pizza at Gino's, as did Mommy. When I realized I could cook as well, if not better, than some of my favorite restaurants, I began reading cookbooks, scouring the Internet, you name it, in search of the best recipes. I've been really successful with a lot of them, as you all have seen. This particular recipe I'm going to file as a "dud." It was really not the best pizza. Not by a longshot. If you want the best pizza recipe, click here. Skip reading this one. But, for those of you, who like me, are learning more about cooking, feel free to read on.

I found this recipe on Cook's Country, which I really like a lot. Normally, I really enjoy their recipes, although I definitely reject some upon first glance if I don't care for the ingredients. This pizza seemed innocuous, just a larger version of my usual pizza with two major ingredient differences - more yeast in this pizza and it uses water instead of milk. I think what I really didn't care for about this pizza was the use of parmesan cheese on the pizza in addition to the mozzarella. I'm a mozzarella girl. That, and the parmesan goes on before the pizza sauce, which I found then didn't spread very well at all. So, if I ever bake this pizza again (and I might, if I have to feed a crowd), I would skip the parmesan. Oh well, at least I got to send my mother home with beaucoup leftovers, so I know she'll eat well for the next few days. She really liked it, by the way. She's a big parmesan fan - so I guess if you're a parmesan fan, copy this recipe down and give it a shot. In case you're interested in giving it a go, here is the recipe.

Sheet Pan Pizza
adapted from Cook's Country
Printer-friendly recipe

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 3/4 cups water, heated to 110 degrees
1 tablespoon sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 envelopes instant or rapid-rise yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn off oven. Grease a large bowl. Evenly coat 18-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet with 1/4 cup oil.
2. Combine (warmed) water, sugar, and remaining oil in measuring cup. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook, mix flour, yeast and salt on low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium-low and slowly add the water mixture, until dough is uniform in texture, about 3 minutes. Transfer dough to prepared bowl, cover with plastic and place in warm oven. Let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. On lightly floured work surface, use rolling pin to roll rough into large rectangle. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet and stretch dough to cover pan, pressing dough into corners. Brush dough with a little bit of olive oil, and cover with plastic wrap again. Set in warm spot (not oven) until slightly risen, about 20 minutes.
4. Remove plastic wrap and, using fingers, make indentions all over dough. Springkle dough with 1 cup Parmesan and bake until cheese begins to melt, 7-10 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and spoon sauce over pizza, leaving a 1-inch border. Bake until sauce is deep red and steaming, 7-10 minutes.
5. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese and remaining Parmesan evenly over sauce and bake until cheese is golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.

I will say this: it sure is pretty...

Type A Mommy's Famous Pan Pizza

You've probably noticed on my Menu Plan Mondays that I like to make homemade pizza. I LOVE pizza, it was something I totally lived off of when I was in college. I especially love pan pizza, like Pizza Hut/Chicago-style. Over the years, I've made those little Boboli pizza crusts that you buy at the supermarket, but they're just okay. They're really nothing special. This pizza recipe is. You can add toppings at your discretion, but it's really perfect as is, with just cheese. The only thing that you have to have is a stand mixer - I mean, you can make this pizza without it, but I'm not a huge fan of kneading bread dough, and with the stand mixer, you get to skip that.

Type A Mommy's Famous Pan Pizza
Makes two 9-inch pizzas, serves 4-6 people (depending on how hungry you are and what else you serve)

Printer-friendly recipe

Dough
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup skim milk, plus 2 additional tablespoons, warmed to 110 degrees (but NOT hotter!)
2 tsp sugar
2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra to dust the counter with
1 package instant yeast
1/2 tsp table salt

Topping
3 cups shredded skim-milk mozzarella cheese
1 1/3 c pizza sauce

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Spray large bowl with cooking spray. Coat each of two 9-inch cake pans with 3 tablespoons oil.

2. Heat up milk. Mix warm milk, sugar, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in measuring cup. Mix flour, yeast, and salt in stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Turn the machine to low and slowly add the warm milk mixture. After dough comes together, increase speed to medium-low and mix about 5 minutes, until dough is shiny and smooth. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter, gently shape into ball, and place in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in warm oven until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

3. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter, divide in half, and lightly roll each half into ball. Working with 1 dough ball at a time, roll and shape dough into 9 1/2-inch round and lay in oiled pan. Cover each pan with plastic wrap and place in warm spot (not in oven) until puffy and slightly risen, about 20-30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 degrees

4. Remove plastic wrap from dough. Ladle 2/3 cup sauce (or as much/little as you like) on each pizza, leaving 1/4 - 1/2-inch border around edges. Sprinkle each with 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and pepperoni is browning around edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven; let pizzas rest in pans for 1 minute. Using spatula, transfer pizzas to cutting board and cut each into 8 wedges. Serve.

NOTE: If you don't have a stand mixer, in step 2, mix the flour, yeast, and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the flour, then pour the milk mixture into the well. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the dough becomes shaggy and difficult to stir. Turn out onto a heavily floured work surface and knead, incorporating any shaggy scraps. Knead until the dough is smooth, about 10 minutes. Shape into a ball and follow the rest of the recipe.

Here's the beautiful final product. Are you hungry yet??????



NOTE: Updated 11/4/09 with printer-friendly recipe link!