Test your baking skills with a simple recipe for Homemade Pizza Dough

Top Homemade Pizza Crust however you prefer. It is the perfect canvas for fresh-from-the-garden produce or a favorite pizza sauce and toppings.

If you know anything about me, you know I am not a baker.

Cooking I like, but baking is too precise — too fiddly, sometimes too elaborate, not my thing at all. At Christmastime I bake cookies and occasionally a cake or muffins, but that’s about it.

For that reason, I have never tried to make a yeast dough from scratch until I got a bread machine.

This is baking I can do. All you do is measure and dump the ingredients into the pan and turn the machine on. It does the work, mixing, kneading and baking. Mine also has a feature that just mixes and kneads the dough. It then lets you shape it and bake it off however preferred.

I followed the directions that came with my bread machine for today’s recipe, but I am giving the directions that came with the dough recipe — and it calls for the use of a stand mixer to prepare the dough.

My co-worker, Jeff Corcino of the famed Fair Food Reviews, was talking about making homemade pizza dough one day. He inspired me to give it a try.

This recipe for pizza dough is not complicated and the list of ingredients are simple things I have on hand in my pantry. No reason not to test it out.

I did not make traditional pizza with this dough, although you certainly can. It would be great topped with sauce, mozzarella and whatever toppings are desired.

However, I had some tomatoes that needed using up and some cloves of garlic, so my recipe became one of necessity using them up before they went bad.

Homemade Pizza Dough

In the mixing bowl of the stand mixer that has been fitted with the dough hook, whisk together the warm water, yeast and granulated sugar.

Cover the bowl and allow it to rest for five minutes. If you don’t have a mixing bowl, simply use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon.

Add the olive oil, salt and flour. Beat on low speed for two minutes. Turn the dough out onto a floured board. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for five minutes. After kneading, the dough should feel slightly soft and it should no longer be sticky. If the dough bounces back after it is poked with a finger, it is ready to rise, if not keep kneading.

Lightly grease the mixing bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it over coating the dough with oil. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allow it to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes until the dough doubles in size.

When you are ready to bake, Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Lightly grease two pizza pans or stones with additional olive oil and sprinkle lightly with cornmeal. If you don’t want to make two pizzas, you can freeze the other half of the dough.

Punch the dough down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. Place it on the prepared pans and with lightly floured hands, stretch the dough into a 12-inch circle that is about a 1/2 inch thick. Cover the dough again with the kitchen towel or wrap and allow it to stand while you prepare the pizza toppings.

In my case, it was one tomato, thinly sliced; two cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed with a 1/4 teaspoon salt until the mixture was a paste; a couple fresh basil leaves, rolled up and cut chiffonade-style or torn into tiny pieces; a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes; and shredded Parmesan cheese.

I spread the paste evenly over the prepared pizza crust and topped it with the tomato slices. I sprinkled the basil and the crushed red pepper flakes evenly over the tomatoes and topped it with cheese.

Bake the pizza for 12-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly and crust is browned. Brush the edges of the baked crust with additional olive oil, if desired.

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