Heather B’s Pizza Dough
By: Heather Buechel
Ingredients
□ ¾-1 C Room temp water
□ 1-2 tsp Honey (I just scoop it out of the jar!)
□ 1 Packet dry active yeast or about 2 teaspoons
(modification for sourdough starter at the end)
□ 1 C All purpose flour
□ 1 C 00 Flour
□ 1 Heaping tsp salt
□ Seasonings you like – I like a couple shakes of
onion powder and smoked paprika. Basil and dill
are good too!
□ 2 tsp Olive oil
Directions
Step 1
Dissolve the honey into the room temp water and add the dry active yeast. Give it a stir and set aside for the yeast to start eating the honey. In about 5 minutes you should see foamy bubbles on the surface of the water.
Step 2
Combine the flours, salt and seasonings of your choice.
Step 3
Once the water, yeast and honey are active, pour into the dry ingredients.
The dough will come together and be slightly sticky.
Step 4
Dust with flour and give it a few pull and folds. This recipe does NOT need excessive kneading, just a little incorporation. The dough will likely still be sticky. Shape into a ball coat with olive oil and cover.
Step 5
Leave the dough sit covered at room temperature for at least 2 hours. Longer is better!
Step 6
When you are ready to make your pizza, preheat your oven to 425°. I have a cast iron griddle that is perfect for pizza. I put that in my oven and allow it to heat as the oven is coming to temperature.
Step 7
Stretch the dough on a pizza peel (I use a regular aluminum pizza pan) with plenty of semolina flour on the bottom to prevent sticking. If the pizza dough is very elastic, let it rest after a few stretches.
Step 8
Add your toppings of choice and when the oven is at 425°, slide the pizza from your pan onto the hot griddle and bake for 12 minutes. The hot cast iron helps give the pizza dough a nice crispy bottom, but if you don’t have one, you can just bake on your aluminum pan. Increase your bake time to 14-15 minutes to account for the cold pan heating time. Enjoy!
***If you are a sourdough person, you can substitute the dry active yeast in this recipe for about a half cup of active sourdough starter. Add the starter to the water and honey. And allow it to sit for 10-15 minutes before incorporating into your dry ingredients.
When I make the sourdough version, I add the 2 tsp oil to my dough when mixing (rather than using it only to coat the dough). The dough will be sticky. Allow the dough to bulk ferment at room temperature for a day, then punch it down shape into a ball and refrigerate for at least 1 day (2 is better in my opinion!). Allow the dough to come to room temperature before stretching and baking.
Dough can be frozen for a few weeks. I wrap in plastic wrap and put that in a Ziploc for freezing. Pull it out of the freezer in the morning on the day you want to use it. Remove from the plastic wrap and allow it to sit on the counter covered in a bowl until dinnertime.