The Holy Grail of Home Baked Pizza!

You may have noticed that I have linked to lots of different pizza crust recipes on this blog.  It has been a small mission of mine to find THE PERFECT HOMEMADE PIZZA CRUST.  I find ones I like and some I really like but tonight - tonight I found one that I love and that my husband loves which is really what I was looking for.

Not only is this recipe easy and great, but the blog that I found it on has lots of good tips to make your pizza like a take out pizza.  I followed the tips exactly and it worked so well.  The link to the blog and all of her amazing tips can be found here.  I found that when I started making the dough I added too much water so I just doubled the recipe.  I used a stand mixer.  This gave me two pizza doughs.

ButterYum's Pizza Dough
makes one 12-inch pie

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoons dry active yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoons tepid water, if using a bread machine to make the dough (use 110-115F water if using a stand mixer)

To make dough in a bread machine:
Add the ingredients to your bread machine following your manufacture's instructions. Mine says to add the water first, then olive oil, half of the flour, sugar, salt, remaining flour, and finally the yeast. Set the machine for the Pizza Dough cycle (about an hour in my machine).

To make dough in a stand mixer:
Heat water to between 110-115F; add sugar, and yeast. Proof yeast mixture for 5 minutes. Put dry ingredient into mixer fitted with a dough hook; add yeast mixture and olive oil. Mix on low until ingredients are moistened. Increase to speed 2 and knead for 5 -10 minutes. 

To make dough in a food processor:
Add dry ingredients, yeast mixture, and olive oil to the work bowl fitted with either the dough blade or metal chopping blade. Mix until a ball forms, turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for 5 -10 minutes.

To make dough by hand:
Combine ingredients in a bowl until a ball forms, turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for 10-15 minutes.

To let dough rise: (this is a good time to preheat your oven to 475F) Place dough in a large oiled bowl and allow it to double in size; 30-60 minutes. Place risen dough onto parchment paper and press it into a 12-inch circle. Dock dough with fork. Prebake 7-10 minutes. Brush edges with oil; add toppings. Return to oven to bake an additional 7-10 minutes. Remove from oven and brush edges with oil again; sprinkle with garlic salt (lightly).

Notes:
You can substitute garlic oil/salt for olive oil/garlic salt.

My 2-pound bread machine can make a quadruple batch of dough. Alternately, my stand mixer can make consecutive double batches.

The unbaked dough will stick nicely to the parchment, but the prebaked dough might slide off, in which case you don't really need it anymore, so don't worry about it.

**Now, make sure you visit her site and follow all of her tips so your pizza will come out great!  I do suggest buying a pizza stone because it really does make a difference.  I bought a Pampered Chef one and have had it for a long time. 


Here is what I did differently.


1.  I used my pizza sauce recipe.
2.  I layered my pizza this way - sauce, layer of cheese, toppings (pepperoni and black olives), more cheese, sprinkling of oregano over the whole pizza.
-Otherwise I followed her instructions completely.

Seriously people, this pizza Works for Me! And thank you ButterYum for your fabulous tips!