Pizza Dough

Pizza is freakin’ awesome. Pretty much everyone loves the melted layers of cheese, toppings, and sauce. In order to get a good pizza you have to start with a solid foundation – the crust. A great crust needs to be chewy but crisp, firm but flexible, flavorful but not over powering. I’ve ordered some pretty horrible pizzas before, and the horribleness always boils down to the crust.

SO! In order to get that perfect pizza crust, I played around with a few pizza dough recipes and came up with one that my family really enjoys. It can be rolled thin for crispy crispy pizzas or kept a little plumper for a more bready dough. Either way the pizza turned out delicious. While munching on a slice, my dad gave that silent nod of approval that dad’s tend to do….if that’s not a sign of great recipe, I dunno what is!

1 package yeast

1 ½ cups warm water (≈110 degrees Fahrenheit)

¾ teaspoon sugar

3 ¼ cups flour

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

In a large bowl put the warm water. Stir in the sugar and yeast. Allow to sit for 10 minutes for the yeast to prep (it will become “bubbly” and smell like yeast).

Add the oil, salt, and garlic powder to the yeast. Slowly add around 2 cups of the flour to the yeast. Mix until the dough comes together a little bit, then dump it out onto a well floured surface. Knead and slowly add more flour until the dough is no longer sticky (about 10 minutes of kneading).

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise until double in bulk in a warm place. I let it rise for a minimum of 2 hours, but it’s usually good after 1 ½.

Cut the dough in half for two thin crust pizzas or keep it all together for a giant pizza! Enjoy!

**When cooking, add dough into an oven that has been preheated to at least 425 degree Fahrenheit. It will take around 18-20 minutes to cook**