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I set out on a quest for the “best” Neapolitan pizza dough several years ago. I probably went through about 20 different recipes. Along the way, I learned that I can’t quite achieve the same result as my favorite pizzeria, Pupatella, without my own pizza oven that can reach 800 plus degrees. That being said, I can still make a pretty mean homemade pizza. This pizza dough recipe is adapted from the River Cottage Cookbook. I seem to have settled on it as my go-to because it’s easy, it doesn’t require 24 hours, and it produces great results consistently. The author named the dough “Magic Bread Dough” because you can apparently make many different breads with it (e.g., pizza, flatbreads, pita, breadsticks, rolls, etc.). I can only vouch for the pizza currently but I plan to try flatbreads soon!
Need a pizza sauce? Try my simple Neopolitan-style pizza sauce.
Thin Crust Pizza Dough
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 3 pizzas 1x
Description
This is an easy dough recipe that will yield 3 medium size pizzas. I like to make it with my stand mixer but you can make it by hand too. The dough needs about an hour and a half to rise before baking. You can also make it a day in advance. Leftover dough can be frozen.
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour
- 2 cups all purpose flour, plus additional for working with dough
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus additional for garnish
- 11/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 11/3 cup warm water
Instructions
I use my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment to make this dough. You can also mix by hand.
- Combine the flour, olive oil, and salt in a large mixing bowl (stand mixing bowl if using)
- Sprinkle the yeast into the warm water, let sit for 8 – 10 minutes.
- Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture.
- If using a stand mixer, attach dough hook and place mixing bowl on stand. Run mixer on low speed to stir. Once a ball begins to form increase the speed to medium-low and mix for 5 to 8 minutes. If mixing dough by hand, stir dough mixture to combined. Flour hands and tip dough onto clean work surface. Knead dough for 5 to 10 minutes. It will become less sticky as you kneed it.
- When you are done kneading the dough, shape it into a ball and rub it with olive oil.
- Set the dough ball in a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Leave it to rise in a warm place for 1.5 to 2 hours. It should double in size.
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down and leave it to rest for several minutes. Then divide the dough into 3 roughly equally sized balls.
- To make a pizza, roll out one of the dough balls as thinly as you can on a floured surface. I like to use a rolling pin. Transfer the rolled out dough to a lightly floured pizza peel (if you have one and are using a pizza stone). If you aren’t using a pizza stone, you can put the dough on lightly floured baking sheet. Add sauce and toppings. Bake pizza at highest temperature your oven can reach (usually 500 or 550 degrees F) for 10 to 12 minutes.
Notes
To get a good thin crust pizza result, you should bake your pizzas at the highest temperature your oven can reach. I’d also recommend using a pizza stone though I’ve acheived pretty good results using regular baking sheets too.
If making a day in advance, refrigerate dough once you’ve shaped it into ball. I usually store it in a gallon zip lock bag. It will keep in the fridge for 2 or 3 days. Remove it from the fridge 3 to 4 hours before you plan to bake it.
