Easy Peasy Pizza Dough

In our family, Friday is Pizza night. We've been doing this for a couple of years now and we love it. I've made pizza dough so many times that I don't need a recipe. I just sort of do it and it goes fast. So this is my attempt to put the "recipe" down on paper. I'm sure there are superior ways to make and cook pizza dough, but this is what works for me.

I don't use anything fancy to cook my pizzas. Just a regular old cookie sheet. I have found that if I use a light colored cookie sheet that I need to pre-bake my crust for 7 minutes or so before adding the toppings and finish cooking it. But I have two, rather old, cookie sheets that were once light, but have been quite "seasoned" and are pretty dark now. With these I don't have to pre-bake my crust, which makes it go quicker.

I also don't roll out my pizza dough. The dough is soft enough to just press and stretch into the pan. (see below)

For our pizzas I almost always just use jarred pasta sauce and then grate a block of mozzarella cheese. I've found grating my own is so much better than the shredded stuff in the bag. But of course, pizza is so versatile that you could pretty much put anything imaginable on it and it would be delicious (well, almost anything).

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Easy Peasy Pizza Dough
Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 15 min.
Servings: 8 slices

Notes: The amount of flour you will need will vary depending on the humidity in your house, etc. The key is to start small and add flour small amounts at a time until you reach a desired consistency. Putting too much flour in will result in a thicker, denser dough. Also, I've done this recipe with whole wheat flour and half wheat/ half white. Both turned out great. Just know that with wheat flour, you may not need as much flour because it absorbs more water. 

1 TB Yeast
1 TB honey or white sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
2-3 cups all purpose flour

- Preheat oven to 400F
- In stand mixer with dough hook attachment, put in yeast, honey (or sugar), salt and water. Slightly mix together and let sit for a minute.
- Once the yeast looks like it's starting to bubble, start adding flour. Start with 2 cups, mixing on low-medium speed and gradually increase to high speed. Start adding flour in 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup at a time until the dough comes together and pulls away from the bowl, cleaning the edges of the bowl as it mixes.
- Knead the dough with the mixer for 3-4 minutes until its nice and smooth.
- Let dough rest for 10 minutes in bowl (I grate my cheese and prep my other toppings while it rests)
- Grease a large cookie sheet with cooking spray
- Press dough into pan, using flour on your hands if it's a bit sticky
- Top dough with desired toppings
- Bake pizza for about 15 min or until the cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.