My Favorite Thin-Crust Pizza Dough
This dough is quick, easy, and delicious. The crust is crisp on the bottom and soft inside. A thin-crust lover’s dream!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (6 ounces) warm water
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees – or as hot as it will go – allowing a good 30 minutes to pre-heat.
To Mix by Hand
- Combine the water and yeast in a mixing bowl.
- Stir to combine.
- Add the flour and salt.
- Stir until you can no longer incorporate any more flour. (The dough will be a bit shaggy.)
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured board and knead to incorporate the remaining flour.
- Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes). The dough should be soft (not stiff), moist, and slightly sticky. If it sticks to your hands or the work surface, add flour – one tablespoon at a time – just until it no longer sticks and is smooth.
- At this point, you can let the dough rise until it doubles in bulk – (about an hour), place in an oiled zip top bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days – or, let the dough rest, covered, until you are ready to assemble the pizzas.
- To make the pizzas, divide the dough in half.
- Working one piece at a time, form the dough - using your hands – into a disk.
- Place the dough onto a floured surface.
- Working from the center of the dough and using your hands, gently stretch and press the dough until it is about ¼ inch thick, dusting with flour as needed.
- Transfer the dough to the pan or peel by lifting gently or folding the dough in quarters and place on a pizza pan (or pizza peel if you will be cooking on a stone) Make sure that the pan or peel has been generously dusted with cornmeal.
- Unfold the crust and top as desired.
- Bake the pizza for about 5 minutes.
- Turn/rotate and bake another 3-5 minutes or until the crust is golden-brown and the cheese is bubbly and browned to your liking.
To Mix With a Stand Mixer, Using a Dough Hook
- If you are using a stand mixer with a dough hook, place all of the ingredients into the bowl of the mixer.
- Mix on low speed to combine. When the ingredients are incorporated, turn to medium speed and let the dough hook knead the dough for 4-5 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead a few times to ensure texture and follow the instructions above.
Notes
Because of the thinness of the crust, let the cooked pizza rest 4-5 minutes before slicing and eating. ..
This dough can be rolled , but as with all pizza crust, using your hands to shape the dough will give more texture and yield a more artisan type crust.
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