Fun fact, Friday Pizza nights have been a thing in our home since before Ryan and I were even married – yeah so this tradition is pretty much ancient in our home. I realize now while the kids think it is so fun I personally like it because it is EASY and I don’t have to think about what dinner will be.
Now there are weeks we order out and in the past we also would pop a frozen pizza in the oven some weeks too. That was until I realized how simple it is to make homemade pizza crust, seriously like, so easy to make pizza crust. We absolutely still order out sometimes but when we do pizza at home we all crave homemade crust and the togetherness of making the pizzas together.
I love that we can also make any holiday a bit more special just by shaping the crust differently. Valentine’s = Heart, St Patricks Day = Shamrock, Easter = Egg (you cannot get easier, lol) I could keep going but you get the idea. I love adding in that extra magic with this easy homemade pizza crust recipe for the kids. You can easily make this with a mixer, we love this economically priced one from ByDash or hand kneading works too.
To make the pizza even easier I have a few tools that help me while I prep the ingredients – This cheese shredder has been my absolute go to, shreds a whole block of cheese in second. If you are making the holidays with a bit of magic these tiny cookie cutters cut the pepperoni into the cutest shapes.
This easy homemade pizza crust is also great to allow everyone their own favorite toppings – everyone in our home likes something a tad different and since we can make personal sized pizzas everyone is happy!
Alright so while this is a very easy homemade pizza crust recipe you do need to plan ahead so generally, I make extra each time. This recipe will give you 2, 9×13 pan traditional crusts and you can stretch it a tad more for a bit thinner of a crust. That all said I will make two recipes and I will freeze two of the crusts prior to the second rise so we always have some on hand. Alright, I got ahead of myself lets get into this recipe….
Ingredients:
1.5 cups of warm water
1 tbs sugar
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (or one packet)
1.5 tsp salt
4.5 cups of flour
Directions:
- Take your warm water and thoroughly stir in your sugar and yeast until well combined – it will be a murky color. You will set that aside for about 10-15 minutes in a warm area.
- While that is fermenting you will measure your 4.5 cups of flour (do not just dip the cup in, but actually fill each cupful with a spoon) and mix it with your salt
- Once your yeast mixture is ready you will add in your flour and salt and mix until it becomes a shaggy dough and then you can either add to your stand mixer with a dough attachment and let it do its thing for about 7-10 minutes or you can hand knead it on a flour surface for about 10 minutes
- Once your rough is kneaded and in the circular form (it will be slightly sticky to the touch) you will rub a bit of olive oil on it and then put a bit of olive oil onto the sides and bottoms of a large bowl (I use my stand mixer bowl for everything).
- Place your oiled up dough into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and then put a towel over the top and let it rise in a warm place for 1-3 hours.
- Once it has at least double in size punch it down, separate it into two (or if you are making personalize pizzas split into four). Now if you are wanting to freeze, this is the time. Wrap tightly and place in a large. Freezer bag.
- Round the dough back into balls and place on the cling wrap and place towel back over it for 30 minutes – 1 hour and let rise again.
- Take your dough and stretch into your pizza shape, add your toppings and then back at 425 for about 10-15 minutes.
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