You don't want to know how I sometimes cheat on making my pizza. LOL (I'll get lashed with a wet ramen noodle)
Please help the poor kitchen challenged with a great pizza dough recipe.

Sara

Being an Italian from New York, I have tried many recipes to duplicate the pizzeria taste. Here are a few things I learned about pizza making. It is very hard to duplicate the same taste and texture for the following reason. The oven temperature. Most pizzarias cook pizza for a short time at a very high heat. A heat our home ovens can't duplicate. I suggest a pizza stone to get a good crust texture. If you don't have one try baking the crust a few minutes and flipping it over and cook the other side. That will aid a crispy crust. When rolling out your dough, use a floured surface and use a roll/flip/roll method. Your crust will get to the proper texture and it will roll out thin enough. You want a thin crust. Looks can be deceiving - even if the crust looks thin it will rise during cooking - so don't be afraid to roll it out very thin. A cooked marinara is the best choice for pizza. If you just spoon on a tomato puree or canned sauce it will not give it the edge in taste. The following is a great pizza and the honey and wheat give it a little something extra. Don't let the wheat and honey throw you off - the end result will not taste as though you are on some restricted diet. I have made this recipe using just white flour and that works as well. You can also substitute the honey for sugar and wheat for white to get a "regular" pizza flavor.

Honey Wheat Pizza Dough

1 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
3/4 Cup Warm Water
1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
3 TBS Honey
1 1/2 TBS Olive Oil
1 1/4 tsp Salt

1. Place warm water in a small bowl.
2. Disolve honey in water.
3. Sprinkle yeast on top of water and cover with dish towel - set aside for 10 min. - mixture should slightly "bubble".*
4. Meanwhile, place dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a "well" in the middle.
5. When yeast mixture in ready, add to the "well" in large bowl along with the olive oil.
6. Knead dough for several minutes until smooth and elastic.
7. Place dough in a well greased bowl and cover with a dish towel for for 2 hours in a warm draft-free place - until dough has doubled. This is a good time to begin the pizza sauce.
8. When risen, roll dough out on a floured service.

Sauce:
1 Can of Tomato Sauce
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Basil
1/4 tsp Thyme
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder ( or 1 glove fresh crushed)
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
1 Bay Leaf
Dash Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Lemon Juice

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour covered.

Ciao :puck:

I too have been on a quest for a good pizza crust recipe. So far I am happy with this one. For the reasons stated above it does need to be baked some before the toppings go on.

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
3 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1) In a large bowl, disolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, let set for 10 minutes.
2) Stir in the salt and oil. Mix in 2 1/2 cups flour.
3) Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough in a well oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double (about 1 hour). Punch down the dough and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out.
4) Preheat oven to 425. If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan and let the dough rise for 15 - 20 minutes before topping and baking.

I have a very simple pizza crust recipe:

1 cup warm water
1 package or 1 Tablespoon yeast
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 Egg
3 1/2 cups Flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water; add sugar and stir until dissolved; add salt; Add egg and stir well. Add flour a little at a time mixing the last of it in by hand. Let raise 1/2 hour. Punch down and divide in two. Spread on pizza pans and top with your favorite toppings. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

yolo

This is for a 1 1/2 pound loaf:

1 cup water
4 tsp olive oil or cooking oil
3 cups bread flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast or bread machine yeast

Add all ingredients to the machine according to the manufacturer's directions. Select the dough cycle. When the cycle is complete, remove dough from machine. Punch down. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Makes either 2 thin crust pizzas, or 1 thick crust pizza.

Enjoy! :chef:

Here's the recipe I make. It's from Marnie's Kitchen Shortcuts by Marnie Swedberg................

1 T. yeast
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup warm water
2 T. oil


Mix the dry ingredients together with a fork; add the water and oil all at once, stirring until dough forms. A bit of flour may remain in the bowl. Let rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Roll out on a pizza stone (if using a pizza pan you need to grease it first) and top with pizza sauce and desired toppings. Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Thanks everyone. This is great. :D I don't know which one to try first.

Sara

Here's one I've been searching for, sauce too!

Pizza Hut Pan Pizza

Source/Sender : Nutzworld
Archived At : http://www.cdkitchen.com

1 1/3 cups Warm water (105F)
1/4 cup Non-fat dry milk
1/2 teas. Salt
4 cups Flour
1 Tbls. Sugar
1 pk. Dry yeast
2 Tbls. Vegetable oil (for dough)
9 Oz. Vegetable oil (3 oz. per pan)
Butter flavored Pam

Put yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in a large (2 qt.) bowl. Add
water and stir to mix well. Allow to sit for two minutes. Add oil
and stir again. Add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is
absorbed. Turn out on to a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes.

Divide dough into three balls. In three 9" cake pans, put 3 Oz. of
oil in each making sure it is spread evenly. Using a rolling pin,
roll out each dough ball to about a 9" circle. Place in cake pans.
Spray the outter edge of dough with Pam. Cover with a plate. Place
in warm area and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Sauce:
1 8 Ounce Can Tomato Sauce
1 Teaspoon Dry Oregano
1/2 Teaspoon Marjoram
1/2 Teaspoon Dry Basil
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic salt

Combine and let sit for 1 hour.

For Each Nine Inch Pizza:

1. Preheat oven to 475F
2. Spoon 1/3 cup sauce on dough and spread to within 1" of edge.
3. Distribute 1 1/2 Oz. shredded mozzarella cheese on sauce.
4. Place toppings of your choice in this order:
Pepperoni or Ham
Vegetables
Meats (cooked ground sausage or beef)
5. Top with 3 Oz. mozzarella cheese
6. Cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown.
7. Cut in six slices.

Found it here: http://www.gourmetspot.com/ "Restraunt Recipes", then CDKitchen.com

Ok, ladies. I could only choose one to start off with and I chose Kahana's recipe first.
My dough is currently rising and I will post my results later. hehe
I did add some garlic seasoning to the dough and used olive oil.
It will be my first time using my pizza stone too. :D

Sara

this is so strange!!! i was just getting on her to post a really easy pizza dough recipe i just found today! i usually use a bag mix (i know, a no-no!;) ). well, we didn't have any so i went online to find an easy recipe. this is what i found and it turned out very good!! no need to let rise, no need to bake before adding toppings!!
here goes:

Pizza Crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25oz) pkg. dry yeast
2 tbsp. veg. oil
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1 cup warm water

*combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in large bowl
*mix in oil and warm water
*spread in large pan (i used reg. sized round pizza pan)
*top with favorite toppings
*bake at 375* for 20-25 min. (i baked for 27 min.)

very easy and turned out really good! it makes like a thick crust.
*hope this helps you too! good luck!!:D

Pizza was a hit here. The dough made just enough to perfectly fit my pizza stone. I think next time I will double the recipe though because I really rolled it thin.
This is a decent recipe. It is an easy recipe and a good practical and handy one to have to make pizza on a regular basis.
Next time, I'd like to add some parmesan cheese to the dough.
I definitely give it a thumbs up! :) Gabe loved it and ate 3/4. LOL

Sara

WooHoo! :dancing: There are some really great recipes in that cookbook - check it out if you haven't already.

:bump:

I read that the best pizza doughs don't contain any oil. Here's two recipes without oil.

2 1/2 t. Yeast
1/4 t. sugar
3/4 c. warm water
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 t. salt

Activate yeast with sugar and warm water. Set for 10 minutes. Add flour a little at a time, knead and let rise 1 hour. Makes enough dough for 1 fourteen inch pizza.

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)

1. Drop the yeast and sugar in the cup of water and stir to dissolve. Let stand about 5 minutes.

2. In a big bowl combine all the dry ingredients except the salt, then add the water/yeast mixture, slowly mixing well with a fork. If it's too dry, add a few more drops of water.

3. Knead the dough with your hands for about 10 minutes and then shape into a ball, put it in the bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel.

4. Let it stand in a warm place for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in bulk.

5. Deflate it and knead again (about 5 quarter turns) and place in the bowl again for a second rise, about 1 hour again, until the dough has doubled in bulk.

Deflate again and divide in two balls. Shape your pizza and put your preferred toppings.

Bake in a preheated oven (500/550 degrees) for 10 minutes. If you have a pizza stone, that's the best.