Pizza Dough

We made a really easy, delicious pizza dough at youtube star Helen Rennie’s, Helen’s Kitchen. This flavorful dough makes for chewy, crispy thin crust pizzas cooked either in the oven or on the grill.

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Pizza Dough

Author: Helen Rennie

Recipe type: Pizza

Cuisine: Italian

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 4

We made a really easy, delicious pizza dough at youtube star Helen Rennie's, Helen's Kitchen. This flavorful dough makes for chewy, crispy thin crust pizzas cooked either in the oven or on the grill.

Ingredients

Dough:
113 grams unbleached all-purpose flour (3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp)
½ tsp SAF instant yeast
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp table salt (or 1 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher salt)
79 grams water at 70-90F (1/3 liquid cup)
14 grams olive oil (about 1 Tbsp)

Instructions

Make the dough
-24 hours before serving (or 2 hour before serving for impromptu pizza bakers)
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the water. Stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon just until the flour is moistened and the dough begins to form. Do not over-mix! The dough will be very sticky and rough looking, not silky smooth. Pour the oil into a 2-cup glass measuring cup. With oiled fingers or oiled spatula, place the dough in the cup with oil and turn it to coat on all sides. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap. If making the dough at least 8 hours in advance, let the dough rise for 30 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate it until ready to use. If making the dough 2 hours in advance, let rise about 2 hours at room temperature and proceed to shaping. The dough should be roughly doubled in size before shaping.
for pizza in the oven:
Preheat the oven and shape the dough (45-60 minutes before serving)
Set a rack in the lowest level of the oven. Place a pizza/bread stone on it. Preheat the oven to 500F for at least 30 minutes before baking. Get the dough out of the fridge as soon as you start to preheat the oven (if refrigerated).
Line a rimless cookie sheet with parchment paper. Get the dough out of the cup with an oiled hand. With the other hand, pour the oil remaining in the cup onto the parchment lined cookie sheet. Spread it around with your free hand in a large circle (10 inches in diameter). Place the dough on the oiled parchment paper and press it down gently with your hands to deflate it and form it into a disk 5 inches in diameter.
With oiled palms of your hands, gently stretch the pizza dough into a circle 10-11 inches in diameter. It should be very thin, but be careful not to rip it. If it does rip, however, don't panic. Just smoosh it back together where it rips. If not ready to bake yet, loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap. If dough resists stretching, cover with plastic, let rest 15 minutes and stretch again.
Top and bake the pizza
When dressing the pizza remember that less is more. Spread a very thin coating of sauce over the dough (it usually only takes about ½ cup of tomato sauce or caramelized onions or ¼ cup of pesto) leaving a thin border around the edges. Sprinkle with toppings of your choice. To prevent the corners of parchment from burning, trim them with scissors leaving 2-3 inch border around the pizza.
Slide the parchment paper with the pizza onto the stone. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the crust is nicely browned around the edges and underneath (lift an edge with tongs or spatula to check). Slide the pizza and parchment back onto a cookie sheet to get the pizza out of the oven. Move to a cutting board to slice and serve immediately.
for pizza in the grill:
Preheat the grill to high heat
Get the dough out of the fridge as soon as you start to preheat the oven (if refrigerated).
Get the dough out of the cup with an oiled hand. With the other hand, pour the oil remaining in the cup onto aluminum foil. Spread it around with your free hand in a large circle (10 inches in diameter). Place the dough on the oiled aluminum foil and press it down gently with your hands to deflate it and form it into a disk 5 inches in diameter.
With oiled palms of your hands, gently stretch the pizza dough into a circle 10-11 inches in diameter. It should be very thin, but be careful not to rip it. If it does rip, however, don't panic. Just smoosh it back together where it rips. If not ready to bake yet, loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap. If dough resists stretching, cover with plastic, let rest 15 minutes and stretch again.
Put aluminum foil with dough on the hot grill and cover for one minute, check and make sure there is slight browning underneath. Flip the dough over so dough is directly on the grates (aluminum foil facing up) and grill another minute. Take dough out of the hot grill and peel the grilled dough apart from the aluminum foil to avoid sticking. Put the grilled dough right back on the aluminum foil and prepare to top the pizza.
Top and bake the pizza
When dressing the pizza remember that less is more. Spread a very thin coating of sauce over the dough (it usually only takes about ½ cup of tomato sauce or caramelized onions or ¼ cup of pesto) leaving a thin border around the edges. Sprinkle with toppings of your choice. Slide the aluminum foil with the pizza onto the hot grill. Cover and lower the heat to low and bake about 2-5 minutes until the crust is nicely browned around the edges and underneath (lift an edge with tongs or spatula to check). Slide the pizza and aluminum foil back onto a cookie sheet to get the pizza out of the grill. Move to a cutting board to slice and serve immediately.