Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 F)
• 1 tps granulated sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Makes 12 Servings (2 [12-inch] pizza crusts)

1. In a 2-cup measuring jug, combine the water and the sugar. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand unitl foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the oil
2. In a food processor, combine the flour and salt. With the machine running, scrape the yeast mixture through the feed tube; pulse until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. If necessary, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth and elastic.
3. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray; put the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
4. Punch down the dough, then cut in half. Refrigerate or freeze in a floured zip-close freezer bags at this point or use as directed in the recipe.

WW POINTS VALUE: 3 pts

 

Note: This recipe appears in the WW New Complete Cookbook. This was my first time making homemade pizza dough from scratch and it was delicious. This recipe makes enough dough for 2 pizzas. I highly recommend you cut the dough in half so you can freeze the dough for another time.  If you freeze pizza dough, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight or on the countertop for an hour and a half. Pizza dough only needs to rise once, unlike other bread doughs. After it rises, punch down the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes before rolling and stretching to the desired shape. You can also let the dough rise in a floured zip-locked bag in the fridge overnight. It will be very easy to roll our or stretch the dough the next day at room temperature, trust me.