KD’s Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 teaspoons Salt
• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 1 teaspoons Instant yeast
• 1 3/4 cups Water ice cold
• 5 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (see note)
• Herbs chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Mix salt, oil, yeast, water, and 1/2 of the flour in a mixing bowl or breadmaker until mixture is smooth with no lumps.
2. Allow to stand for 2 minutes to allow flour to absorb all the ingredients.
3. Stir in remaining flour until absorbed.
4. Add herbs (optional.)
5. Continue kneading for 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, but not tacky. Add a touch of flour or water to obtain the desired effect.
7. Transfer dough to a countertop sprinkled with olive oil and cut into desired number of pieces then mold each into a ball.
8. Rub each ball with olive oil and transfer into plastic sandwich bags. Refrigerate overnight. Dough will keep in refrigerator up to 3 days.
9. When ready to make pizza (anytime in the next few days), remove dough from refrigerator and shape. (If dough was frozen, remove from freezer ahead of time and let thaw).
10. Dust countertop, hands, and dough with flour (use generous amount of flour) then gently press into a round disk (or square depending on the shape of the pizza stone) wide enough that you can bring it up onto your knucles to thin out. If dough wants to spring back allow it to rest for another 15-20 minutes. When dough is pulled-out to the desired radius, brush bottom side with olive oil (optional) and place on pizza peel dusted with cornmeal so dough will slide easily onto pizza stone when ready. Roll up edges to form a rim. Brush olive oil on top side and cover with Saran wrap if not ready to bake.
11. Thirty minutes prior to baking pizza, preheat oven and baking stone to 550(F) degrees (adjust temperature hotter or colder for individual oven–normally as hot as the oven will go.) Place stone 1/3 of the way from bottom of oven. If you do not have a baking stone (they are cheap and work really well), use a sheet pan, but do not preheat pan.
12. Add toppings and transfer dough from pizza peel to preheated pizza stone in oven. Try not to allow too much heat to escape.
13. Bake until crust is crisp and nicely colored. If crust finishes prior to topping, next time position pizza higher in the oven. If toppings finish prior to crust you can place aluminum foil on top of pizza to gain a couple of minutes for crust to finish baking.
14. An eight quart stand mixer will hold up to double the ingredients. Required an additional 1/2 cup flower when making a double batch.