Quick & Versatile Homemade Pizza Dough
We love pizza in our household and this Quick & Versatile Homemade Pizza Dough is so easy to pull together for many meal options!
How to Make the Dough
Even if you only have an hour before you need to be eating, this dough can be prepped and baked, carrying all your favorite toppings just in time!
First you’ll want to bloom your yeast. This just means letting it get active and foamy in warm water before adding it to the rest of your ingredients.
I don’t like to dirty too many bowls so I just do this in the bottom of my stand mixer. You can totally make this without a stand mixer as well! Just mix by hand! I love a Danish Dough Whisk for hand mixing doughs. I’ve linked one HERE.
Start by adding 1 cup of warm (not hot) water to your mixing bowl. Sprinkle on 1 TBSP of dry active yeast and add 1 TBSP of honey. Mix these together a bit and allow to set and get bubble for 5 minutes.
Once your mixture is nice and foamy, add in 1 TBSP of olive oil (any oil would work here. I often use avocado oil), 2 1/2 Cups of all purpose flour and 1 tsp of salt. Mix this all up until there are no dry patches left. This is super quick in a stand mixer with the cookie paddle and it might take a couple minutes if mixing by hand.
The dough will still be sort of shaggy at this point, don’t worry! As long as its well combined its good! Now, cover and allow it to sit for 20-40 minutes in a warmish area.
Shaping your Quick and Versatile Homemade Pizza Dough
Once the dough has risen for 20-30 minutes, I like to sprinkle some flour on top (maybe a tablespoon) before I grab it out of the bowl. This just helps me to shape it without it sticking to my hands.
Sometimes I stretch it by hand by simply holding it up and rotating by hands around the outer edge. The weight of the dough will gently stretch it into shape if you keep your hands moving at a fairly quick pace. Once the dough is thin enough to my liking, I place it on a well greased sheet pan and do a little final shaping to get it the size I want it. It doesn’t have to be a perfect circle or square, just get it to your desired thickness and it’ll be perfect.
Stretching by hand tends to create a bit of a thicker crust style for me. If I’m wanting a bit of a thinner crust or wanting to stretch my dough to create a bigger pizza, I’ll use a rolling pin to spread the dough out. Be sure to flour your work surface and your rolling pin if you go this route. Roll it out on your counter top, then hang the dough over your rolling pin to help move your crust to the pan.
I like to use a rimmed pan so that I can press the dough all the way to the edges to get a nice uniform crust. But like I mentioned before, any shape is delicious!
Toppings and Baking
I like to parbake my crust for a few minutes before adding my toppings. This just helps the crust get nice and cooked through without getting soggy if you’re a heavy topper!
Stick your crust in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 4-5 minutes. This will barely start to brown the top of the dough. Now, you’re welcome to add as many toppings as you’d like!
Spread on your favorite sauce, toppings and cheese! We enjoy a crispy pepperoni in our house, so I like to put the pepperoni on top of the cheese. Sometimes I even sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top of them so they get a delicious crispy texture once baked.
We generally go with a simple pepperoni pizza and maybe add some onions and green peppers for Dads section. I LOVE a buffalo chicken pizza, so sometimes i’ll add buffalo sauce and ranch for the sauce and top with chopped rotisserie chicken and mozzarella. BBQ chicken is also delicious with a little red onion sprinkled on top!
Whatever your favorite toppings happen to be, load them on!
Bake this for another 10-15 minutes at 425 and enjoy! I like to melt a couple TBSP of butter with 1/2 tsp of garlic salt mixed in and brush this on the crust as soon as it comes out of the oven. DELISH!
How else can this dough be used?
Stuffed Stix - Divide the dough into about 6 equal sections. Spread one dough ball out into a rectangle roughly 8 inches by 4 inches. Add your favorite toppings inside the dough and wrap it up pinching the edges closed. I like to keep the pizza sauce on the outside of these. It gets a little too soggy if I put it inside the stix. I serve with a little cup of sauce instead.
Place the stix seam side down on a parchment lined baking sheet and slice a couple steam holes in the top. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Once they’re nice and golden brown, pull them out of the oven and brush with garlic butter!
Calzones - Much the same as stuffed stix only spread the dough out into a circular shape. Put toppings on one half of the dough and wrap the other half over and seal the edges for that classic half moon shape we love in a calzone! Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Be sure to cut some vent holes in this one too and brush with garlic butter if desired!
Breadsticks - This is soooo easy! Just plop your dough onto a greased baking pan and spread it out a bit. I like to pat mine into a oval or rectangle about a half inch to an inch thick. Next, take a pizza cutter and slice width wise into 8-10 strips. You don’t need to separate them at this point, the lines will still be there when baked and they’ll pull apart beautifully. Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes. Once they’re just golden brown, pull them out and brush them liberally with garlic butter. Then sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top as well. Pull them apart and serve with your favorite pizza sauce or extra garlic butter for dipping!
Quick Dinner Rolls - If you needed a quick dinner roll, this dough would totally work! Just separate the dough into 12ish dough balls. Shape them into a nice smooth roll by pinching the dough at the bottom and place them pinched side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place them an inch or so apart, cover them, and allow them to rise for a bit before baking. This will help achieve that fluffier texture you’d want in a roll. After they’ve risen for 15 minutes or so, bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Once the tops just start to brown they should be done! Brush them with melted butter and enjoy!
