Best Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe | How To Make Pizza Crust

(upbeat music) (grunts) – Hey, everybody.

It's Natasha of NatashasKitchen.

com, and with everybodybeing cooped up at home, it is a great time tomaster your pizza skills.

I'm sharing all of our secrets to our family's favorite pizza dough.

It takes just a few simple ingredients to make a restaurant-quality pizza dough that is chewy and crisp.

And, I'm hungry, so let's get started.

(hands tapping) (bell chimes) To make the pizza dough, you'll need one and a fourthcups of warm water, not hot.

Make sure it's between 105to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

Add half a tablespoon of fine sea salt and one teaspoon of honey, then stir those together to dissolve.

Sprinkle the top with half ateaspoon of active dry yeast, and set it aside to prooffor about five minutes.

Meanwhile, fill a large mixing bowl with three and one-thirdcups, or 420 grams, of all-purpose flour.

Create a well in the centerfor pouring in the liquids.

Give that yeast mixture a quick stir.

Then pour it over the flour.

(upbeat music) Use a firm spatula to stir until the wet and dryingredients are combined.

Next, knead the dough together by hand for about two minutes, or just until no streaks of flour remain, and the wet and dry ingredientsare really well-blended.

The dough will feel pretty sticky to the hand that's kneading, but when you touch it withclean and dry fingertips, it should barely stick.

Next, cover the doughtightly with plastic wrap to make sure a filmdoesn't form on the dough, and let it rise at room temperature for about four to five hours or until it has doubled in size.

It can rise a littlefaster in a warmer spot, but make sure it never goesabove 110 degrees Fahrenheit while proofing the dough, or you can deactivate and kill the yeast.

Once the dough has doubled in size, generously sprinkleyour worktop with flour and scrape the dough outonto the floured surface.

And I love using thisflexible food scraper, because it makes sure Iget every bit of dough out of the bowl.

And I will link to this andall of our favorite tools for making pizza dough in the notes.

Lightly flour and turn the dough so it's not sticking to your hands.

Then, divide it equally in half.

This recipe makes two 10-to 12-inch pizza crusts, so try to get them as even as you can.

Now we're going to fold eachpiece dough eight times.

Wrap your hands around the dough and fold the edges into the center.

Turn the dough and repeat until you've folded it eight times.

It's a little bit like closing a book.

And this is a gentle fold.

Make sure you're not squeezing the dough, and keep your hands lightly floured so the dough doesn't stick to your hands.

With the last fold, sealthe edges at the bottom and form a ball of dough.

Place that with the seam side down.

This is really easy, feels therapeutic, and I think you'll love it.

Also, it's important tomake the gluten threads in the dough stronger andto trap the carbon dioxide that's created by the yeast to create those beautiful bubbles that everyone loves in pizza dough.

Transfer each piece of doughto a lightly oiled bowl.

I'm just using a simplelight olive oil here.

It doesn't add any flavor.

The oil just helps the doughto release easier later.

Transfer the dough to thebowl with the seam side down, and you're gonna cover thattightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least24 hours and up to five days.

This is called the cold fomentation stage, and it's really important tocreate those beautiful bubbles, and it really developsthe flavor in the dough.

This is how fancy pizzaplaces make their dough.

It's so easy and trulya make-ahead recipe.

We have some dough here thathas been proofing overnight.

About an hour beforeyou're ready to use it, pull that out of the refrigerator so it can come to room temperature.

And, a few minutes beforeyou start making your pizza, you want to preheat your oven with the pizza stone inthe center of the oven to 550 degrees Fahrenheit.

You want to make sure theoven is fully preheated before you start forming your pizza.

Transfer that room-temperature dough onto a well-floured work surface, lightly dust the top, andstart forming your dough.

Start by gently pushing inthe center of your dough with your fingertips.

Now lift the dough and makesure there's enough flour on it so that it's not sticking to your hands.

To form the pizza crust, rollthe dough over your knuckles.

I've created two fists, and I'm just working around in a circle, leaving about a one-inch crust.

You want it thicker at the edges.

This will make a 10- to 12-inch pizza, and keep in mind, it'llshrink back slightly, so make it a little bitbigger than you think.

Place the dough on a floured pizza peel.

You'll notice the bigbubbles that have formed in the crust.

Make sure you don't pop them.

You want them there, and they will make yourpizza look professional.

Give the pizza dough a littleshake on the pizza peel to make sure it's not sticking.

You don't want it to stick to the peel while you're transferringit into the hot oven.

Our pizza crust is formed, and we're ready for some toppings.

If you love red pizza sauce, I have a recipe for the besthomemade red sauce on my blog, and I will link to it in the notes.

I also have a recipe for acreamy white Alfredo pizza sauce.

This is our kids' favorite and the one they request the most often.

I'll share links to both of these recipes.

They are so easy, delicious, and take just five minutes to make.

We're just gonna make a cheese pizza because that is the onemy kids love the most.

So sprinkle on a generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese.

And I would love to hear aboutyour favorite pizza toppings in the comments.

Just before the pizzagoes into the hot oven, I like to give it a quick shake to make sure it's not sticking.

Then, transfer it to the hot pizza stone and bake at 550 degrees Fahrenheitfor eight to 10 minutes.

When it's done, the edges willbe puffed and golden-brown and the cheese will be bubbling.

Transfer the pizza to a cutting board and let it cool slightly before serving.

If you don't already have one, a pizza making kit makesthis process so much easier, and I will link to ours in the notes.

Ho ho ho ho ho ho.

It is pizza time.

Oh, and look at that crust.

It is gorgeous.

Okay, we're gonna jump right into this, because the cheese ismelty, the crust is crisp, and I am so hungry.

(laughs) Also, the kids are probablygonna smell this soon, and then taste test is over.

So we're gonna jump right into this.

Oh, listen to this crunch.

(pizza crunches) Of course, the cheese pull.

(giggles) Okay, I'm excited.

Yum.

And this is the perfect crust.

It's a thin crust in the center, and then the outside rimjust puffs up so beautifully.

Look at that texture.

I'm telling you guys, it's so good.

Okay, here we go.

Mm.

Mm.

That homemade white pizzasauce is everything, too.

Make sure you try that recipe.

It is super easy.

Ah, you can really tastea little bit of garlic and Parmesan in the sauce.

Delicious.

Now I'm gonna get a bite of this crust, because look at the texture there.

Look at that.

That is amazing.

Mm.

This seriously tasteslike it just came out of a high-end pizza place.

It's so good.

It is crisp and chewy, andthen baked to perfection.

Cooking it on high heat like that crisps up the crust perfectly.

And I love that thisis a make-ahead recipe, so you can make ballsof dough in the fridge.

It just gets better with time.

It tastes better and better as it rests.

All right, the kids smelled the pizza, and they want in on this taste test.

I'm gonna cut some big pieces for you.

– Gimme, gimme.

– Who gets the big one? Okay, ooh, Mary gets the big one.

Okay.

What do you think? – Good! – Yeah?- The best.

– The best.

Who makes the best pizza? (laughs) I like it.

Oh, and I think Dad wantsone too, right, Dad? (laughs) Hold on.

Watch your fingers, watch your fingers.

– Having two.

– Hold on.

Move those fingers.

There.

That's your cheesy part.

I'll get the crust.

That's my favorite part.

– Look at my beard.

– It seriously tastes likea baguette, doesn't it? So good.

– Look at my beard.

– Mm.

– Look at my beard.

– All right.

That's a wrap.

I hope you guys love this.

I hope it becomes afamily favorite for you.

We'll see you in our next video.

Wave.

Wave bye.

– Bye bye.

– Oh, great.

.