Pizza Crust

We have discovered pizza crust greatness at the end of our first pizza week. Yes, week. And it was amazing! So without further ado, I will share with you the awesomeness that is our pizza crust.

I did make a couple different versions of a basic pizza crust but did eventually settle on one and made personal adjustments. I pulled out my handy-dandy, massive, thick Betty Crocker Cookbook, Bridal Edition and used the recipe I found there.

Pizza Crust Ingredients

2 1/2 - 3 cups of flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup very warm water (not boiling)

*I also grabbed Basil, Oregano, Thyme, and garlic powder.

Mix 2 cup of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast in large bowl. (Here I added the other dry ingredients: basil, oregano, Thyme, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese. I didn't really measure them out. But probably about 2 teaspoons of each. I like a lot of extra flavor in my dough.) Add 3 tablespoons of oil and the warm water. The cookbook called for an electric mixer for 3 minutes but I just stirred with a spoon for  minutes, scrapping the bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour until dough is soft and leaves sides of the bowl. I usually have to put a total of 3 1/2 cups of dough, including the initial 1 cup. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead for 5-8 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.


After resting, divide dough in half. For thin crust, preheat oven at 425 F. If desired, bake crust alone for 7-8 minutes before topping. For thick crust, preheat oven at 375 F. Be sure to roll out dough to appropriate thickness. If desired, after rolling out dough, cover loosely, and let rise in warm place 30-45 minutes.

I also made an extra batch to freeze for later. We loved this crust so much that it would be awesome to have some ready. 

To freeze, wrap in plastic wrap after kneading. Plastic wrap is easier to work with as you don't have to try to cut a ziploc bag. But I do also put the plastic wrapped dough into a freezer bag.

and  E  N  J  O  Y