Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

Maria Baradell

This is the best pizza dough recipe! It's quick, easy and uses simple ingredients for delicious homemade pizza baked in a home oven.

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Prep Time 1

Cook Time 16

Resting Time 2

Yield 4 12" pizzas

600 grams (5 cups) flour, all-purpose or 00 spooned in the cup and leveled with a knife
14 grams (2 ½ teaspoons) fine sea salt
7 grams (2 ¼ teaspoons) instant yeast
390 milliliters (1½ cups + 2 tablespoons water) warm water 100–110°F (38–43°C)
15 milliliters (1 tablespoon) olive oil extra virgin + more for oiling the containers
7 grams (1 teaspoon) honey
semolina flour for dusting the counter and pizza peel

240–320 grams (1–1⅓ cups) tomato sauce or any other sauce you would like
340–460 grams (12-16 ounces) low-moisture mozzarella or any other cheese you would like if using fresh mozzarella, pat dry 30 minutes before assembling
any other toppings you might like

In a large bowl, whisk flour, salt, and instant yeast.
In a second bowl, stir warm water, olive oil, and honey.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix with a dough whisk, and then your hand, until no dry spots remain. The dough should look almost smooth, not shaggy.
Cover with a damp towel or bowl cover and rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
After 15 minutes perform a set of stretch and folds:
With a damp hand, pull one edge of the dough up and fold it down and over the rest of the dough.
Rotate the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat on all four sides.
Cover with a damp towel or bowl cover and rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
After 15 minutes have passed, perform a second set of stretch and folds.
Cover with a damp towel or bowl cover and rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
After 15 minutes, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 4 pieces, about 258 grams each.
Gently shape each piece into tight balls by tucking edges underneath without degassing.

Lightly oil four 2-cup containers. Place one dough ball in each, cover, and rest at room temperature for about 1.5-2 hours, until puffy and nearly doubled.
If your kitchen is cooler than 72°F (22°C), plan on closer to 2 hours. If it is warmer than 72°F (22°C), aim for about 1 to 1.5 hours.

Move an oven rack to the highest position and place a baking steel (or stone) on it. Then set the next rack just below and place a baking sheet on that rack.
Preheat the oven to 550°F (290°C) or as hot as your oven allows for the full hour before baking. Switch to broil for the last 10 minutes of preheat.

If you are using fresh mozzarella, slice or tear it, then lay it on a plate lined with paper towels so it can drain while the oven heats.
Have your sauce and any other toppings prepped and within reach.
Prepare a plate with a layer of fine semolina so you can coat each dough ball before shaping, and can lightly flour the counter and pizza peel.

Tip one dough ball onto the plate with semolina and coat both sides.
Move to a lightly floured counter.
Using fingertips, press from the center out, stopping about ½ inch from the rim to keep the edge airy.
Lift by the rim and let gravity stretch as you rotate, passing the edge from hand to hand. If you hold it to the light, the center should look slightly translucent. Be careful not to cause a tear.
Set on a semolina-dusted peel or parchment paper.

Spread about ⅓ cup tomato sauce in a thin, even layer, leaving the rim bare.
Top with roughly chopped low-moisture mozzarella and any other toppings you like.
Launch the pizza onto the hot steel.
Bake for 2 minutes, until the rim is spotty brown.
Remove the pizza from the baking steel and place it on the baking sheet underneath.
Switch oven mode back to regular bake at 550°F (290°C) or as hot as your oven allows.
Bake 2-3 minutes more.
Remove from oven and cool on a rack 1 to 2 minutes so steam escapes.
Slice with pizza scissors or a wheel.
Repeat with remaining dough balls.
Switch oven back to the broil setting for at least 10 minutes before launching a new pizza.

Spread about ⅓ cup tomato sauce in a thin, even layer, leaving the rim bare.
Launch the pizza onto the hot steel.
Bake for 2 minutes, until the rim is spotty brown.
Remove from oven and top with roughly chopped low-moisture mozzarella and any other toppings you like.
Place the pizza back in the oven, on the baking sheet underneath the baking steel.
Switch oven mode back to regular bake at 550°F (290°C) or as hot as your oven allows.
Bake 2-3 minutes more.
Remove from oven and cool on a rack 1 to 2 minutes so steam escapes.
Slice with pizza scissors or a wheel.
Repeat with remaining dough balls.
Switch oven back to the broil setting for at least 10 minutes before launching a new pizza.

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