Crusty Pizza Dough Recipe

Homemade crusty pizza dough is actually possible. With a few helpful techniques, you can possibly achieve something that looks like it came from Pizza Hut without a pizza stone. 

How this recipe was created?

My mother combined things from different pizza recipes and came to this recipe. You don’t even need a baking stone to achieve this kind of crust instead invest in a deep dish pan, use a generous amount of cornmeal and lots of oil.

Greasing the sides of the pizza and sprinkling parmesan cheese along with garlic powder, creates a beautiful brown pizza edge. My father-in-law has even asked if this was store-bought. If you follow these techniques you can possibly end up with a pizza that looks like it’s from a pizza place.

Don’t want to make two pizzas?

Since this recipe makes two round pizzas I sometimes opt to use the other half of the dough to make breadsticks.     

Ingredients for Crusty Pizza Dough Recipe:

DOUGH:

• 2 cups warm water
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 5 cups all-purpose flour

CRUST:

• olive oil
• 1 tbsp pre-grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

PIZZA:

• 1/2 cup any jarred sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (great value brand)
• 1 cup velveeta shreds (mozzarella flavor)
• toppings of your choice
• 8 tbsp olive oil (for greasing pan)

Directions to make Crusty Pizza:

1. Combine the warm water, yeast and 1 tsp of sugar; allow to sit 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, garlic powder, baking powder and 3 TBSP of sugar. Add 6 tbsp of olive oil and the yeast mixture. Stir until dough comes together then slightly knead and allow to rise for 1 hour.

3. Grease each pizza pan with 8 TBSP of olive oil.

4. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions and mold into balls. Dredge the bottom of each ball of dough well into the cornmeal then transfer dough to pizza pan; spread dough out to a 12″ circle.

5. Place sauce and 1 cup of cheese in the center of the circle and using your hands spread out dough even more (this helps dough spread out easier since the dough slides back due to the tackiness of the dough and amount of oil.)

6. Once you spread out the dough to about a 14-15″ circle; top with remaining cheese and toppings of your choice. Brush edges of the pizza with olive oil and sprinkle with 1 tbsp of parmesan cheese and 1/2 tsp of garlic powder for each pizza.

7. Heat oven to 380 degrees F and bake pizza on the bottom rack of the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Other favorite Pizza Dough Recipes:

• Pizza Dough Recipe
• Deep-Dish Pizza Recipe (Supreme)