Grandma Marie’s pizza adventure begins with her special homemade pizza dough. Discover the secrets to crafting your own pizza dough from scratch with this easy guide!
Unlock the magic of homemade pizza dough using my Grandma Marie’s tried-and-true recipe! With just 6 simple ingredients, you can create dough that forms the perfect base for your pizza.
In this guide, I spill all of Grandma’s secrets for achieving flawless pizza dough, along with insider tips on freezing it for later and ideas for sensational pizza toppings.
Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
**Pizza Dough**
- 2.5 cups warm water about 110ºF
- 1 package dry active yeast 2 1/4 teaspoons
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 5 – 5.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- ½ cup olive oil
**Pizza Toppings**
- 3 cups pizza sauce
- 3-4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese plus extra for topping
- 1 lb. ground Italian sausage uncooked and broken into small pieces
- 1 medium yellow onion finely diced
- 2 medium green bell peppers finely diced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- Red pepper flakes to taste
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine water, yeast, sugar, and 1 cup of flour. Whisk until blended.
- Add 4 more cups of flour, salt, and olive oil. Mix with a wooden spoon. If dough is sticky, add remaining ½ cup of flour.
- Transfer dough to a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, then shape into a ball.
- Grease a large bowl with olive oil. Place dough inside, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm, dark place for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Grease two baking sheets with olive oil.
- After proofing, punch dough down and divide in half. Roll out each half to fit a baking sheet.
- Transfer rolled dough to baking sheets. Cover and let rise again for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Decide on crust thickness. For thicker crust, skip second punch-down.
- Spread sauce on dough, leaving a 1-inch crust. Add cheeses, toppings, and seasoning.
- Bake at 450ºF for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375ºF and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.
- Cool for 5 minutes, then slice. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and extra parmesan.
Notes
- Recipe makes 2 sheet pan-sized pizzas.
- Proof dough in a warm oven if climate is cold.
- Freeze extra dough for later use.
- Let dough rise twice for best results.
- Monitor pizza while baking, as oven temperatures vary.
- Customize toppings to your taste preferences.