Quick Homemade Cheese Pizza
Pizza night at home is such a beautiful tradition (according to me) and this recipe is going to help you make that happen. This pizza dough recipe is something I’ve tested for almost 4 years now. It is a quick pizza dough recipe that needs 2-3 hours of proofing time only with easily available ingredients. What really helped this recipe were some pizza dough tricks I learned from my trip to Rome. Adding honey to yeast makes the dough so airy and also helps reduce the proofing time. This pizza dough recipe is the best recipe for beginners, and you don’t need a stand mixer for this recipe. This dough is perfect for making cheese pizzas, you’ve got a crunch and softness with air pockets! Baking it with cornmeal makes it crispy but you also get a flop like a New York style pizza. Lathered with tomato sauce and cheese over it you can add your favorite toppings and make this a great pizza. Plus if you have a pizza oven you will get such amazing air pockets but for this video, I’ve used a traditional conventional oven. I can’t wait to hear how much you love this pizza dough recipe after you try it!
Happy Cooking!
Servings: Four 8-inch thin crust pizzas or Two 12-inch thicker crust pizzas
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
Dough:
1 1/3 cup (310g) warm water around 100F
3 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
3 1/3 cups (437g) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp extra virgin Olive oil
1.5-2 tsp salt
Toppings & for Baking:
About 2-3 tbsp yellow Cornmeal
2.5-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
About 2-2.5 cups of Pizza sauce
1/2-1 lb Mozzarella cheese (fresh) crumbled or sliced- check notes
3-4 cups Mozzarella cheese shredded
Veggie toppings as you want like onions, peppers, corn
Fresh basil leaves
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl add the lukewarm water. To it, add the yeast, sugar, and honey and whisk it together till combined. Let it stand for 10 minutes till it is foamy.
Once it’s foamy, add flour, and then add olive oil, and then salt. Use a spatula and combine till the liquid is mixed in.
Empty the bowl onto a work surface and start kneading it into a dough. Knead for about 5-7 mins. After kneading, the dough should feel a little soft and moist. Check if it is done by poking it with your finger – if it slowly bounces back, you are done kneading. If not and it bounces back fast, knead it for another 1-2 mins and check again. You can knead it in a stand mixer if you want. Keep the speed on low and always scrape the edges of the bowl. If it gets too heavy for the stand mixer give it a knead by hand for a few minutes to bring it together.
Lightly grease the bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it. Place the dough in the bowl, and gently grease the sides and top of the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise for 2 hours. If it is a warm humid day, you can let the dough rise at room temperature. If it is a cool day, heat the oven to 100F and turn the oven off. Once it’s off place the dough in the oven and let it rise in the oven. The dough should double in size.
Preheat the oven to 425F. Start shaping the pizzas when the oven preheats so the oven is at 425F for 15 mins before you put it in. This helps it bake better.
Prepare a baking tray or pizza pan by lightly dusting it with cornmeal. Cornmeal helps make it crusty and not stick to the pan. You want a little cornmeal, not too much otherwise it will give a grainy bottom of the crust.
When the dough is ready and has doubled in size, punch it to release the air bubbles. Divide the dough into 2 or 4 depending on the thickness and size of the pizza you want. Keep the other divisions covered with a damp towel when working on one division. You can even freeze the dough and keep it for future- check notes.
Shape a division into a circle and place it on a lightly floured surface.
Using a lightly floured rolling pin, flatten and roll the disc into a circular pizza base. I like to keep it 1/4 inch thick for a thin crust pizza and 1/2 inch for a thicker crust. While rolling if the dough keeps shrinking back or resisting, stop rolling and cover it lightly for 5-10 minutes. Then start rolling it after resting it.
Use a lightly floured rolling pin roll the dough over the pin and transfer it onto the prepared pan. Gently move the tray forward and back to see that the pizza dough moves. If any part doesn’t move, sprinkle some cornmeal under it.
Cover the rolled dough with plastic wrap for 5-10 mins to let it rest.
Once rested, brush olive oil on the dough. Press around the edge to form the edge of the crust. Press down in places on the crust to prevent air bubbles.
Spread pizza sauce over the pizza leaving 1/2-1 inch around the edge.
Crumble fresh mozzarella cheese over the sauce and sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over it.
Top your favorite toppings over the cheese.
Bake at 425F till the pizza has baked and cooked through and the crust is golden brown. For an 8-inch thin crust pizza bake for 11-13 mins. For a 12-inch thicker crust bake for 13-16 mins.
Once out of the oven top with basil leaves.
Slice the pizza and serve immediately! You can even enjoy this pizza cold.
Notes/Tips:
If you are rising the dough in the oven, make sure it is off before placing the dough in it.
Do not add salt directly to the yeast, it will kill the yeast. You want to add the flour first then salt.
To freeze the dough- (at step 7) lightly grease the division you want to freeze. Place the divisions into individual bags and squeeze out all the air from the bag and seal tightly. You can freeze the dough for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the frozen pizza dough in the bag in the refrigerator for about 8 hours till it is thawed. Take it out of the fridge and thaw it at room temperature for 30-40 mins. Start shaping the dough after it has rested.
If you want to make the dough and let it rest overnight, let it rise overnight in the fridge instead of for two hours at room temperature. Make sure the dough is greased and in a covered bowl.
If you use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast use 2 tsp of yeast.
Fresh Mozzarella cheese- crumble or slice mozzarella cheese and place it on a paper towel. Press down using another paper towel and let it soak up the water for 10 mins to soak up the excess water. This prevents water release while the pizza is baking which makes it soggy.
If the yeast doesn’t foam up after step 1, your yeast may be inactive and you need to get new yeast.
You can make homemade pizza sauce or use store-bought. I always recommend homemade unless you have a favorite! Click here for a homemade recipe, I add a little water to make it more liquid.
Use the best qualtiy extra virgin olive oil, it makes a difference.
