Pizza Dough Using Kitchenaid

 

Makes 2-12 inch pizzas or approximately 1 lb. of dough.

1 cup warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

2 1/2-3 1/2 cups bread flour {depending on the heat & humidity}

In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix. Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn’t stick to your hands. Once you reach this stage, turn the mixer on high to knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean.

To Freeze: This is the point when you could freeze your dough. Divide into portions, place into freezer bags, seal removing all air and freeze. I usually divide the dough ball two-1 pizza portions and put each in a quart plastic bag, then place the two bags of dough balls into a gallon freezer bag.

To Use Fresh: Lightly grease the bowl and the dough so it doesn’t dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. Now you can use this for Pizza (see below), Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks or you can freeze it to use later.

From Freezer: To use, remove from freezer the morning you want to use it, let sit out to get to room temperature and double in size; 6-8 hours. Then use as you'd like.

For Pizza, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Then unwrap the pizza dough balls, roll out the dough, top with pizza sauce, cheese, and selected toppings and bake 12 to 14 minutes.