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Golden homemade pizza dough recipe baked into a basil margherita pizza on a metal pizza peel

Easy Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe for a Chewy, Golden Crust

A hand-kneaded bread flour dough that bakes into two 12-inch crusts with a chewy, golden rim and a crisp bottom. Bake it the same day or chill it for up to 3 days.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 8
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Calories: 238
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Dough:
  • 3 3/4 cups 450 g bread flour
  • 1 1/4 cups 295 g warm water, 105 to 110°F
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons one 1/4-ounce packet active dry yeast or instant yeast
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon 9 g Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt)
For shaping and baking:
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons bread flour for dusting
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil for the bowl
  • 2 tablespoons fine cornmeal or semolina for the peel
Toppings, per pizza (not included in nutrition):
  • 1/3 cup pizza sauce
  • 1 to 1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella

Equipment

  • Digital kitchen scale
  • Instant-read thermometer
  • Pizza stone or pizza steel, 14 to 16 inches
  • Pizza Peel
  • Bench scraper
  • Large mixing bowl, 4 quarts or bigger

Method
 

  1. Stir the sugar and yeast into the warm water. Wait 5 to 10 minutes, until creamy foam covers the top.
  2. Add the flour, salt, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir 1 to 2 minutes, until no dry flour remains and the dough looks shaggy.
  3. Knead on a floured counter 8 to 10 minutes (or 5 to 6 minutes on speed 2 with a dough hook), until smooth, slightly tacky, and slowly springing back when pressed.
  4. Place in a bowl coated with 1 teaspoon oil, cover, and rise at about 75°F for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled.
  5. When 15 minutes of rising remain, preheat the oven to 500°F with the stone on the lower middle rack for at least 45 minutes.
  6. Halve the dough, shape 2 tight balls, cover, and rest 30 minutes, until puffy and relaxed.
  7. Press one ball out from the center, leaving a 1/2-inch rim, and stretch to 12 inches, until the center lets light through.
  8. Move to the cornmeal-dusted peel and top with 1/3 cup sauce and 1 to 1 1/4 cups mozzarella. Shake the peel to confirm it slides freely.
  9. Bake on the stone at 500°F for 8 to 10 minutes (10 to 12 minutes on a preheated upside-down baking sheet), until the rim is deep golden with dark spots and the cheese bubbles in the center.
  10. Reheat the stone 5 minutes and bake the second pizza the same way, until the underside is browned and firm.
  11. Rest each pizza 2 minutes, then cut into 8 slices once the cheese stops sliding.

Notes

Storage: raw dough balls keep up to 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer; baked pizza keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge or 1 to 2 months in the freezer.
If using Morton kosher salt, use 1 3/4 teaspoons instead of 1 tablespoon.
For deeper flavor, refrigerate the kneaded dough 24 to 72 hours, then rest the shaped balls on the counter 2 hours before stretching.