A while back I wanted to be able to make pizza at home… and have the crust taste good. At the time my youngest couldn’t tolerate dairy… which meant he and I had to have dairy free pizza. And although there are a few shops around that sell it, the general consensus was those shops didn’t have as good “regular” pizza. So that made a “quick” dinner option require orders from two locations?! Defeating the point. Hence homemade pizza crusts & pies!
I tried a bunch of online recipes as well as some from a few tried and true cookbooks. I eventually settled on Bobby Flay’s, it takes bread flour, but since we were already making dairy free bread this was an ingredient we had on hand. I’m sure you can make the recipe with other flours, but the higher gluten makes a really nice crust. Second, this dough freezes well- I make several batches ahead, toss them in the freezer in balls that make 2 pies for us. On weeks when I know things are going to get busy I grab a dough ball and toss it in the fridge.. it stays good there for several days until we need it.
Here’s the recipe:
4 cups of bread flour
1tsp raw sugar
2 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast
2tsp salt
1 1/5 cups warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus an extra drizzle
One of the reasons I like this recipe is I don’t need to develop the yeast ahead (no waiting, no extra dished!).
- Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt in stand mixer bowl place on mixer with dough hook attachment. While mixer is running; add the warm water and the 2Tbsp olive oil. Dough ball should form on dough hook. Scrape off dough hook onto lightly floured counter. Use floured or wet finger tips to if dough is too wet/dry. Knead gently into a smooth firm dough ball.
- Drizzle olive oil inside walls of large clean bowl, add dough ball and cover (I use a clean tea towel) and set in a warm place to let rise for 1 hour.
- Once risen, turn out on lightly floured counter and divide in to 2 equal pieces. Cover with the towel and let rest for 10 minutes. **Note if Freezing** After 1 hour of rising, place in freezer safe container/bag and freeze. When defrosted, divide into 2 pieces and let rest under a tea towel for 10 minutes.
- Spread dough onto pre-heated pizza stone top with desired toppings and cook at 400F until desired doneness.
- Enjoy!