First and foremost, I have to give 100% credit for the Best Pizza Dough recipe to America's Test Kitchen. Probably 8 or 9 years ago, I watched the episode on PBS, I scribbled down the recipe and I've been hooked ever since.
Over the years, I think I've changed it very little. The original recipe was for a deep dish style pizza. I've stretched it out and used it for normal style crust, too.
My husband swears to me that his favorite pizza in the world, in his whole life, that he has ever eaten anywhere is the one using this dough. So...here you go, the secret to how I keep this man married to me....
Best Pizza Dough Recipe. Possibly Ever.
I can remember pizza dough disasters in my lifetime. Remember those little box kits that you made when you were a kid? Yeah, those totally sucked.
And of course, I've made little pizzas on biscuit dough. Meh. There is always the store bought variety. They are so-so to moderately good.
If you aren't familiar with break making or dough making, this recipe can seem a little intimidating at first. Trust me, it isn't. There are a lot of steps, but just take it one step at a time. Print it out, read it before you start.
It is super easy, and once you get the hang of it, you will have a bad-a** recipe in your arsenal that will impress everyone. Best Pizza Dough Ever, promise.
This recipe makes enough dough for two pizzas. (Either two 9 inch deep dish, or two 12 inch traditional style crust.)
Adjust your oven rack to the very bottom, and turn the oven on to 200 degrees. Once it reaches 200, turn the oven off. This is where the pizza dough will rise.
Grease a large bowl with some olive oil or cooking spray. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt.
In a glass measuring cup, warm milk to about 110 degrees. What is 110 degrees? Like really warm bathwater. Don't over think it, just zap the milk for 15 seconds, stir, zap again, stir, until it feels like bathwater.
Dissolve sugar in the warm milk and stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Pour the milk mixture slowly into the flour mixture. With a wooden spoon, stir the flour and milk together and keep stirring until the dry and wet ingredients are combined.
(Yes, you can totally use a KitchenAid stand mixer and dough hook for this best pizza dough recipe. It really doesn't take that long to do it by hand. If your arm gets tired, hand off to a kid or hubby.)
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Keep working the wooden spoon around and around in the dough, stirring the thick dough until it becomes smooth. This takes about 5-10 minutes if doing it by hand. Trust me, it will happen.
Shape the dough into one large ball, and place it in the greased bowl. Flip it over. Cover the bowl with a slightly damp warm towel, and place it inside the warm oven.
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Leave it until it doubles in size, or about 30 minutes. Once it doubles, divide the dough in half.
For deep dish pizzas : Get two 9 inch cake pans. Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of a each pan. Shape each dough ball with your hands or a rolling pin into pan sized circles. Carefully place the dough on top of the oil. Be careful to not let the oil seep over the dough.
Cover each pan with foil or plastic wrap, and set in a warm area for 20 minutes. The dough will puff up.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Leave rack in bottom. Top each crust with ½ cup of your favorite sauce (may we recommend ours?), cheese and your favorite toppings. Bake for 18 minutes and serve!
The olive oil in the bottom of the pan "fries" the crust, so you get that perfect crisp with a chewy soft center. So good.
For traditional crust pizzas: With your hands or a rolling pin, shape and stretch the dough into 12 inch circles. Lightly grease two pizza pans (or prepare your pizza stone). Carefully place the dough onto the pans and let rise for 15 or 20 minutes.
Top with your favorite sauce, cheese, and toppings, and bake for about 15 minutes, or until crust is browned and cheese is melted.
Best Pizza Dough Ever
Ingredients
- 2 â…“ cups all purpose flour plus extra
- 1 package instant fast rising yeast
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk plus 2 tablespoons
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil divided
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to the bottom position. Preheat to 200 degrees, then turn oven off.
- Grease a large glass bowl with a little olive oil or non stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast and salt together.
- In a glass measuring cup, heat milk to approximately 110 degrees in the microwave in 15-30 second increments. Stir between heating.
- Add sugar to the milk, and stir to dissolve. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
- Slowly pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon. Incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon for 5 - 10 minutes, until the dough forms a smooth ball. (You can also use a dough hook mixing attachment.)
- Place the dough ball into the greased bowl, and flip over. Cover the bowl with a warm damp towel and place in the warm oven. Let double in size, about 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and divide the dough into two pieces. Shape into circles according to pan size.
- For deep dish pizzas, put 3 tablespoons of olive oil into each pan. Carefully place dough on top of oil, and do not allow the oil to seep on top of the dough. For traditional style crust, place in prepared pizza pans or pizza stone and let rise.
- Cover and let sit in a warm area for 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Top with your favorite sauce, cheese and pizza toppings. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly.
Aubrey B.
I've made this crust before and I am about to make it a second time tonight! Love this recipe because it's easy and delicious. I used to work in a pizza parlor and I remember the dough taking literally FOREVER and I don't have that kind of time at home. I usually use my kitchen aid with the dough attachment and it just makes the process that much easier!
Teri
Such a great recipe! My husband absolutely loves it. That nice crispy crust on the bottom and then the inside is perfect. Thank you for stopping by. 🙂
Sue
I printed this and was getting ready to make the dough but don't see any amounts for ingredients.
Teri
Whooops, sorry about that. I've updated it with the ingredients. (Sorry I was doing some updating on posts last night and changed the recipe card style. All should be good now.)
Melissa
This looks Amazing, is there a vegan milk you recommend to replace dairy? My daughter is Vegan so it would be nice to only make one type of dough.
Thank you 🙂
Teri
I have never used vegan milk, but it is worth trying. Let me know if you try it and your results. I imagine it would work just fine because there is a fairly small amount.
Wayne
Still no sugar amount listed
Teri
The struggle is real with me. Sorry about that. Got it on there now. 2 teaspoons.
mike
ok so maybe im reading this wrong but i see "½ cup extra virgin olive oil divided" in the ingredients list.. but then in the instructions section number 5 is stated "... Stir in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil."
so where does the divided 1/2 cup of olive oil enter the picture?
Teri
In Step 9. Use 3 tablespoons in each pan.
Beverly Steffen
I've made this twice now. Although it's delicious, my dough didn't rise either time. This is the first dough recipe I've made though where you don't add the yeast to the liquid and sugar first.
Teri
That is so bizarre. I've made it literally dozens of times and it rises every time. It certainly won't hurt to add the yeast to the milk and sugar if you want to try that. Are you using fast acting yeast? Is your yeast in date? Keeping it warm enough? (Not questioning you, just trying to think of what may have gone wrong??)
Michael Lynch
Recipe works quite nicely. I'm going to try adding more salt and oil. I find the site very difficult to use. The JUMP TO RECIPE did not work. It's hard to scroll through. The numerous advertizements are very very distracting and difficult to negotiate.
Teri
Thank you for your feedback, glad you enjoyed the recipe. Also thank you for letting me know about the site. The Jump To Recipe button is working on mobile, but I' working with the plug in developer to find why it isn't working on desktop. Also, sorry about the ads, I will consider hanging those (however, it is how I make a living...but surely I an find a happy medium that makes the site more user friendly.) Have a great day!
Sherri Caughey
First time I made this dough. thought it was great. Good chew and light texture. Will add to my top pizza crusts.
Teri
Thanks so much! My husband loves it and is always trying to sweet talk me into making pizza with it.
Geri Juen
Can I use regular yeast?
Teri
I don't think the regular yeast will rise quickly enough for the times provided. You may have to let it rest / proof longer than what is listed if you use regular yeast. Let me know if you try it.
Bruce E RICE
Is the nutritional guide of 1 g at 134 kCal correct? Yikes!
Teri
Lol, nope. I wasn't sure the best way to divvy this one up based on slices of pizza. Ended up with 16 slices (8 per pizza since this makes a double batch). So 1/8th would be 134 calories. 🙂
Mike
What is oven temp for baking, and for how long?
Teri
Sorry, I had it in the body but skipped over that in the bottom recipe card. I have updated it. When you are ready to bake, the oven should be at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, with the oven rack to the bottom position. Bake for abotu 18 minutes (give or take) until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.
Sue
I'm Italian and make homemade dough all the time and this recipe did not work for us at all. Dough needs a day to sit, shortcuts don't work.
Teri
So sorry it didn't work out for you. We make this all the time and it turns out great.