Posts in Category: Pizza

Thin Crust Pizza Dough

Timeline: 1:15

Once I figured out how to spread out a thin crust pizza dough, The Thin Crust Pizza Silver Bullet, I worked on finding a dough recipe I liked. This recipe is for thin crust. Yes it does involve kneading but the amount of dough is small so it is not hard to do with your hands. This way also you  can feel the dough and when it is ready.

This recipe is for enough to make two 12″ pizzas. I place the extra dough in a plastic bag in the fridge. You can use it the next day or freeze for longer storage. Just permit to thaw before using it.

Dressing the pizza is another topic. I’ll do a post on that soon.


Thin Crust Pizza Dough
 
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A kneaded thin crust pizza dough. You can control how thick it rises by how long you let the rolled out dough rise before removing the parchment and dressing.
Author:
Recipe type: Thin Crust Pizza Dough
Serves: 2x12" pizza crusts
Ingredients
2x12” pizzas
  • ¾ cup (175 g) Water - Lukewarm
  • 1½ tsp (5 g) Yeast
  • 2 cup (250 g) All Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • ¾ tsp Sea Salt
  • 3 TBSP (35 g) Olive Oil
  • 2 pieces about 15x15” - Parchment paper
  • For parchment paper - Non-stick spray or vegetable oil
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl whisk warm water and yeast until the yeast dissolves. I find adding a touch of honey or sugar helps.
  2. In a medium bowl whisk dry ingredients.
  3. Add the olive oil to the yeast mixture.
  4. Add the flour mixture to the water/yeast mixture, mixing with a large wooden spoon.
  5. The dough should be slightly sticky. If too sticky, add some flour.
  6. Lightly flour your counter and knead the dough for 5 minutes.
  7. Place in a large greased bowl such as the bowl the flour was measured in.
  8. Cling wrap.
  9. Ferment: Let doough rise for 30 minutes.
  10. Part way through rise, heat oven to 450°F/230°C/Gas 8 - Hot with a pizza stone or steel cookie sheet on the bottom rack. A stone or sheet is not required but does help. The oven should heat up for about 30 minutes.
  11. Punch down dough and divide into 2 equal parts. You can make 2 pizzas or place one in a plastic bag and refrigerate.
  12. Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of greased parchment paper.
  13. Optional Proof: If you want a thicker crust, let the dough rise for up to 10 minutes. You can have dough from cracker thin with no proof to about ¼" (1/2 cm) with a full proof.
  14. Remove the top parchment sheet. It peels off easily.
  15. Dress the dough with your favourite sauce and toppings.
  16. Leaving the pizza on the parchment paper, bake for 10-12 minutes.
  17. Remove from oven, slide off the paper and serve

 

The Thin Crust Pizza Silver Bullet

I love pizza, especially thin crust, but have struggled to find a dough recipe I like. One of the biggest challenges was spreading out the dough. Then I read an article on using parchment paper to make thin crust. Parchment paper is cellulose-based paper that has been treated to make it non-stick in baking use. For this technique, we use two sheets of parchment paper.

  1. Lightly grease with a cooking spray each sheet and place the dough between the greased sides of the sheets. Roll out the dough. As the dough is not touching the rolling pin, there are no sticking issues.
  2. How thin do you like your crust? To thicken up the crust, let the dough site between the parchment sheets for up to 10 minutes. For the thinnest crust, go immediately to the next step and do not let dough rise.
  3. Remove the top sheet. It peels off easily.
  4. Roll the edge of the dough up to give the pizza a rounder shape and create a thicker edge
  5. Dress the dough with your favourite sauce and toppings.
  6. Place the pizza in the oven. Leave it on the parchment paper. The pizza should sit on a hot well pre-heated steel sheet or pizza stone. Bake for the appropriate time.
  7. Remove from the oven. The paper is not hot to the touch so can be used to drag the pizza.
  8. Lift the corner of the paper and slide the pizza off. It will not stick at all.
  9. Slice and serve.

Looking for a good dough? Thin Crust Pizza Dough Recipe

I love that my pizza is not perfectly round. My wife and I pre-divide up our sides so that we can add toppings appropriately.

Enjoy.