Basic Pizza Dough

As I was about to post a second pizza recipe within a relatively short amount of time, I realized that you might appreciate a good recipe for quick, painless, delicious pizza dough first. Luckily, I have a recipe on hand that I have been using a lot lately and has become my standard go-to pizza dough.

Unless you live on the East Coast right now, where you can most likely cook a pizza on the sidewalk, I suggest you crank up your oven and try this out (perhaps with this!) knowing that a delicious pizza recipe is coming your way shortly!

Basic Pizza Dough


Makes enough for one 12 to 14-inch pizza.


1-3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon yeast*
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

*I use instant yeast (Fleischmann's RapidRise yeast), but active dry yeast works as well.

Combine all of the ingredients, including the yeast, in a large bowl. When it begins to come together into a ball, dump everything out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until you've worked out your day's frustrations, or until you've got a nice ball of dough, whichever comes first.

Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough inside, turning to coat all sides. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and set aside for an hour or two to let the dough double in size.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out. Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake on a baking sheet or pizza stone sprinkled with cornmeal in an oven preheated to at least 500 degrees F. The pizza should be done in about 10 to 12 minutes.