Perfect Pizza Dough

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I know I've shared a pizza dough recipe with you before, and it's still a good one, but it turns out there's a trick to getting Perfect Pizza Dough, and I've found it. This is a pizza dough that is perfectly textured so that you can roll it and throw it in the air just like in the restaurants without having to worry about holes or lumps.

Seriously, this recipe is so easy, and creates such a delightful crust that we've been making pizza on the regular. So much so that I can't even convince Other Half to go out for pizza anymore because he prefers the homemade stuff.

Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, with this trick I'm never looking back.

So, what's the trick? Bread flour.

I always knew there were different flours for a reason, but I don't think I ever believed they truly made a difference in the long run. Well, foot meet mouth because oh... em... gee... bread flour.

I'm a convert. Try it out and you will be too, I'm sure of it.

For the simplest and best results it's best to use a stand mixer with dough hook attachment and a pizza stone. These two combined means you have about 3 minutes of active time with your dough before it's ready to be used (plus more for rising) and a great even temperature cooking surface.

Keep reading for the recipe!



Perfect Pizza Dough
courtesy of Bobby Flay

3 1/2  cups bread flour, plus more for rolling
1 tsp sugar
1 envelope instant dry yeast, or 2 1/4 tsp
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus 2 tsp, keep separate

Directions

1. Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment and combine. 
2. With the mixer running, add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and beat until the dough forms into a ball. The dough should be tacky to the touch but not super sticky.  If the dough is sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball. If the dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time. 
3. Place the dough onto a floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball.
4. Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm area to let it double in size, about 1 hour. 
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cover each with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes.
6. When you're ready to make your pizza roll out one portion of your dough to fully cover the surface of your pizza stone or pan and prepare the pizza as you normally would

NOTE: I generally bake my pizzas using this dough at 450F for approximately 17 minutes