Making pizza can is fun and tasty. And especially if you make your own dough, it’s cheap. My go-to dough recipe is by Anna Maria Volpi and I recommend her helpful step-by-step photos for beginners. The dough is easy to handle and I use it to make three thin pizzas. My abbreviated version is below.
Also, my number 1 tip for making CHEAP pizza dough is to buy yeast in bulk. I did the math and the little 3-portion packets in the baking aisle at the supermarket are – wait for it – 20 times more expensive than the $4.39 2 pound package I bought at Sam’s Club.
Recipe: Pizza Dough
Summary: Adapted from Anna Maria Volpi’s Recipe to use a stand mixer.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups 110 degree water
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- pinch of salt
- healthy shake of garlic powder (optional)
Instructions
- Measure the warm water in a measuring cup, sprinkle the yeast on top, stir, and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Sift the flour and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer (like a Kitchen Aid). Stir in the garlic powder.
- Make an indentation in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the olive oil and yeast/water mixture.
- Mix with the beater blade until all the ingredients are combined, then switch to the dough hook and allow the mixer to knead slowly for 3 minutes or so. The dough should hold together nicely and not stick to the bowl. The proportions are usually perfect for me, but you could sprinkle in a bit more flour or water if it’s too wet or dry.
- By now the mixer bowl is basically clean, so I remove the dough, rub the inside of the bowl with olive oil, return the dough, flip it over to coat it all with olive oil, and make a cross in the top with a knife.
- Cover the bowl with a damp, clean kitchen towel and allow it to sit until doubled, about an hour and a half. I usually put my oven on the lowest setting (170) for a couple of minutes, turn it off, and then put the bowl in the slightly warmed oven to rise.