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Make-Ahead Pizza Dough

By America's Test Kitchen

Published on June 29, 2009

Yield

Makes 1 pound dough; enough for 1 stromboli

Make-Ahead Pizza Dough

Ingredients

2 cups (11 ounces/312 grams) bread flour, plus extra for the work surface1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast ¾ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for the bowl1 cup warm water

Before You Begin

All-purpose unbleached flour can be used instead of the bread flour here, but the resulting crust will be a little less crisp and chewy.

Instructions

  1. Pulse the flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor (fitted with a dough blade if possible) to combine. With the food processor running, pour the oil, then the water, through the feed tube and process until a rough ball forms, 30 to 40 seconds. Let the dough rest in the bowl for 2 minutes, then process for 30 seconds longer.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about 5 minutes, adding additional flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
  3. Gently deflate the dough with your fist and turn it out onto an unfloured work surface. Gently reshape the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap lightly sprayed with vegetable oil spray. Let the dough rest 15 minutes, but no more than 30 minutes, before shaping as directed in the stromboli recipes (related).
Make-Ahead Pizza Dough

Make-Ahead Pizza Dough

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By America's Test Kitchen
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Yield

Makes 1 pound dough; enough for 1 stromboli

Ingredients

2 cups (11 ounces/312 grams) bread flour, plus extra for the work surface
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for the bowl
1 cup warm water

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

2 cups (11 ounces/312 grams) bread flour, plus extra for the work surface
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for the bowl
1 cup warm water

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

2 cups (11 ounces/312 grams) bread flour, plus extra for the work surface
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for the bowl
1 cup warm water

Test Kitchen Techniques

Why This Recipe Works

Pizza dough should be chewy and strong enough to be stretched, so high-gluten (high-protein) bread flour was a must for our pizza dough recipe. A bit of extra-virgin olive oil added flavor to the dough, but it also helped with browning and tenderized the otherwise tough dough. We tested dough kneaded in both a food processor and a stand mixer and found that the food processor produced nearly identical dough in a fraction of the time for our make-ahead pizza dough recipe.

Before You Begin

All-purpose unbleached flour can be used instead of the bread flour here, but the resulting crust will be a little less crisp and chewy.

Instructions

  1. Pulse the flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor (fitted with a dough blade if possible) to combine. With the food processor running, pour the oil, then the water, through the feed tube and process until a rough ball forms, 30 to 40 seconds. Let the dough rest in the bowl for 2 minutes, then process for 30 seconds longer.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, about 5 minutes, adding additional flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
  3. Gently deflate the dough with your fist and turn it out onto an unfloured work surface. Gently reshape the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap lightly sprayed with vegetable oil spray. Let the dough rest 15 minutes, but no more than 30 minutes, before shaping as directed in the stromboli recipes (related).

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