Perfect Pizza Crust
(from ileanaespinoza’s recipe box)
Source: http://naturallyella.com/2011/03/02/bbq-chicken-pineapple-pizza-with-perfect-crust/
Categories: crust, entree, pizza
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Warm Water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 1 1/2- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
Directions
-
In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, and honey- stir with a wooden spoon until yeast is dissolved. Let sit until yeast begins to activate, 5-10 minutes. Once yeast is ready, toss in oil, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Turn your mixer on low with the dough hook on and let mix, scrapping down the sides as needed. From here on out, add 2-4 tablespoons of flour at a time, letting the dough mix for a bit until adding more flour. When the dough starts to come together, continue to let the mixer run for 1-2 minutes and adding more flour until your dough has pulled away from the sides of the mixer. The goal is to have a soft dough that still sticks to the bottom of the mixer but pulls away from the side. Once your dough has reached that consistency, continue to mix for 2-3 minutes more. Once there, remove from the mixer and place in a warm spot. Brush with oil and let rise for 1-2 hours (depending on how fast your dough rises).
-
Once your dough has double in size, turn on your oven to 500˚ with a pizza stone placed in the lower third of your oven (this is the most important step). Return to your dough and punch it down. While the oven heats and the dough rises once more (but no more than 20 minutes.) During this time, prepare your ingredients.
-
Once your oven has almost reached 500˚, roll the dough out onto a surface covered in cornmeal (I used a large wood cutting board put some of you may have a pizza peel.) Roll it out to the size of your pizza stone (not any bigger- you will have problems) and cover in your toppings. Now, if you are talented enough, slide your pizza onto the stone while still in the oven. If you are a clutz like me, carefully remove the stone, slide the pizza on, and return to the oven rather quickly. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate (if your oven heats in the back like mine), and continue to cook until crust looks crisp and the cheese is browning (usually another 2-5 minutes.) Remove pizza by placing it back on the cutting board and let cool slightly before cutting.