Basic Pizza Crust

As you know, Chris and I are pizza lovers and I finally found a crust recipe from Smitten Kitchen that takes less than an hour to make.  To make it, I  use my dough hook on my standing mixture, but you can also do this by hand.  If you want to make the recipe a little healthier, you can  use a mixture of all-purpose flour and wheat flour (My recommendation - do not use over 3/4 cup wheat flour).

Recipe
1 1/4 Tsp active  yeast
1/2 cup hot water - temperature 105 -115 F
1 1/2 cup flour
1 Tsp salt

Put hot water in your mixing bowl and sprinkle yeast on top. Let stand for five minutes. Add flour and salt to mixing bowl. Beat on medium-high for 30 - 60 seconds or just until most of the dough has started mixing. Turn to the mixer to low and mix for 5 minutes. The dough at this point should be smoothing and formed into a ball.

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 30 minutes. * For the dough to rise it should be >70 degrees Fahrenheit. In the summer this is not an issue, but in the winter a great tip is to preheat your oven to 200 F. Once you turn your mixer on low, turn the over off. Place the bowl with dough in the warmed oven to rise.

After the dough has risen roll out to desired size. I usually cook the crust for five to ten minutes prior to putting on toppings to make sure the crust is fully cooked. Put on desired toppings and bake your favorite pizza.  **Recently, I grilled the crust/pizza and it turned out delicious and crispy - give it a try

Don't forget some of our favorite recipes: Bacon and Kale Pizza and Barbecue Chicken Pizza.