A simple recipe for extra cheese pizza on top of the best homemade pizza dough.
Baking with Yeast Guide
Reference this Baking with Yeast Guide whenever you work with baker’s yeast. I include practical answers to all of your common yeast questions.
Homemade pizza crust may sound difficult to you. Why waste the time when you can just buy frozen pizza dough? Frozen pizza dough is definitely more convenient, but homemade pizza crust has a delicious flavor and texture that only comes from YOU!
Pizza Dough Ingredients
Here’s my recipe for homemade pizza dough. And this is the breakdown of ingredients you need. There’s only 6, plus some water.
- Yeast: Instant yeast makes the job quicker. You need 1 standard packet.
- Water: Use warm water to cut down on rise time, about 105ºF – 115ºF. Anything over 130ºF is too hot.
- Flour: Use unbleached all-purpose white flour in the pizza crust. Bleaching the flour strips away some of the protein, which will affect how much water the flour absorbs.
- Oil: Extra virgin olive oil adds wonderful flavor to the dough. Don’t forget to brush the dough with olive oil before adding the toppings, which prevents the crust from tasting soggy.
- Salt: Adds flavor.
- Sugar: A little sugar increases the yeast’s activity and tenderizes the pizza dough.
- Cornmeal: Use cornmeal to dust the pizza pan; it gives the pizza crust a little extra flavor and crisp.
Homemade Pizza Dough Video Tutorial
Homemade Pizza Baking Equipment
There’s only 3 crucial tools you need.
- Stand Mixer: An electric stand mixer is preferred for making homemade pizza crust, but you don’t *NEED* it. You can simply mix and knead the dough by hand.
- Pizza Pan: Some pizza enthusiasts own pizza stones, baking stones, and pizza peels. If you have them– awesome. If you don’t, just use a regular pizza pan or a baking sheet.
- Pizza Cutter: This OXO pizza cutter because it’s sharp, comfortable, and easy.
Pizza Night Ideas!
Turn your homemade crust into something social by hosting a pizza night. Have friends over, make a batch of the dough, roll into smaller circles (5-6 inches each), and serve with different toppings. Everyone can assemble their own individual pizzas. There are NO rules when it comes to pizza toppings! However, don’t go too heavy or your crust will become soggy and weighed down. My pizza recipe below is for regular extra cheese pizza, but feel free to pile your favorite veggies or meat on top.
Pizza Topping Suggestions:
- Hawaiian Pizza
- Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Veggie Pizza: 1/2 cup pizza sauce, 1 small roasted and thinly sliced eggplant, 3/4 cup thinly sliced mushrooms, 1 thinly sliced red onion, 1/2 thinly sliced red pepper, drizzle of olive oil, pepper/ground basil to taste
- Supreme Pizza: 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, pepperoni/sausage, 1 thinly sliced green pepper, sliced olives, 1/2 chopped onion, ground basil to taste
- 4 Cheese Pizza: 1/2 cup pizza sauce, 6 ounces each: shredded parmesan cheese, shredded Monterey Jack, shredded Asiago
And not only that, little bakers can lend a hand making dinner AND have fun in the process. Let them help you press down the dough and shape into a circle. They can add their cheeses and make pepperoni faces on top of the pie. Common, who doesn’t love a smiley pizza? 🙂
If you’re looking for a slightly heartier option, you’ll love my whole wheat pizza dough as another pizza night option!
Homemade Extra Cheese Pizza Recipe
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes (includes dough rising)
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes
- Yield: one 12-inch pizza
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
My pizza dough recipe yields about 2 pounds of dough, which is enough for two 12-inch pizzas. Toppings listed below are enough for one 12-inch extra cheese pizza. Freeze the rest of the pizza dough for another time, or make two pizzas by doubling the topping ingredients. Feel free to use 1 lb. store-bought pizza dough instead of homemade.
Ingredients
- 1/2 recipe homemade pizza dough (or 1 lb. store-bought pizza dough)
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) olive oil, divided
- 1 Tablespoon (8g) cornmeal
- 1/2–3/4 cup (127-190g) pizza sauce, depending how much you like (homemade or store-bought)
- 8 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
- 1 and 1/2 cups (6oz or 168g) shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2–3 Tablespoons (10-15g) grated parmesan cheese
- dried basil or Italian seasoning, to taste
Instructions
- Dough: Prepare pizza dough through step 3. If using store-bought frozen pizza dough, make sure it’s thawed.
- Preheat oven to 475°F (246°C). Allow it to heat for at least 15–20 minutes as you shape the pizza in the next step. If using a pizza stone, place it in the oven to preheat as well. Lightly grease a large baking sheet or pizza pan with 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal, which gives the crust extra crunch and flavor.
- Shape the dough: When the homemade dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half and freeze half the dough for another time—see freezing instructions in the pizza dough recipe. On a lightly floured work surface using lightly floured hands or rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into a disc. Place on prepared pan and, using lightly floured hands, stretch and flatten the disc into a 12-inch circle, about 1/2-inch thick. If the dough keeps shrinking back as you try to stretch it, stop what you’re doing, cover it lightly and let it rest for 5–10 minutes, then try again. Once shaped into a 12-inch circle, lift the edge of the dough up to create a lip around the edges. I simply pinch the edges up to create the rim. If using a pizza stone, place the dough directly on a baker’s peel dusted with cornmeal. Cover dough lightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for a few minutes as you gather the pizza toppings.
- Top & bake the pizza: Using your fingers, push dents into the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Brush remaining olive oil all over the dough. Top the dough with the pizza sauce, then the sliced mozzarella, the shredded mozzarella, and grated parmesan. Sprinkle lightly with basil or Italian seasoning.
- Bake for 14–15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven.
- Slice hot pizza and serve immediately. Cover leftover pizza tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Freezing and reheating instructions below.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: See homemade pizza dough recipe for how to freeze the pizza dough. You can freeze the baked and cooled pizza or pizza slices. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place wrapped slices in a freezer container or bag. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- Reheating Instructions: Reheat leftover cold pizza in the microwave or cover with aluminum foil and bake on a lined baking sheet/pizza pan in a 350°F (204°C) oven until warmed. (About 10 minutes for slices, 15–20 minutes for whole pizza.)
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Pizza Pan | Pastry Brush | Pizza Cutter
- Whole Wheat Pizza Dough: Feel free to use my whole wheat pizza dough recipe instead. You only need half of the dough to make 1 pizza, so freeze the extra dough according to those directions or make 2 pizzas.
This pizza dough is amazing, my mother uses it all the time to make her pizzas and they and out amazing. My mum adds mozzarella and Colby cheese in the crust to add a cheesy flavouring in the crust. Overall this recipe is a 5 star. Thank you Sally for allowing my mum to make pizzas on an entirely new level.
Bermanfaat sekali. Thanks.
i love this pizza thanks for your good recipe .
OH MY GOODNESS!! The first time I made my own pizza dough! Your instructions were on point! It came out absolutely delicious! I came across you looking for a pizza dough recipe. I am so glad I found you. I don’t have to look any further. Thank you so much! I did use all of the dough to make a 16’ inch pizza. Was that ok to do? God bless and stay safe
I love this pizza dough recipe! The cornmeal and a good olive oil is a must! I topped my pizza with fresh Italian sausage, mozzarella, sharp cheddar & Monterey Jack cheeses, black olives, red onion and a jar of spaghetti sauce! The dough came out perfect! Definitely worth the time! Plus, I saved a good $30 dollars! That’s what our favorite pizza establishment charges for a medium pizza with the same toppings!
After so many years of failed homemade pizza crusts…. finally this gem. Thank you Sally.
Sally
Do you have a recipe for pizza sauce ? Or a store brand you like ?
Hi Traci, If you like a chunkier sauce I love the sauce that I use on my Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza!
This is BY FAR the best pizza! We have homemade pizza weekly and my family prefers this crust. I’ve started baking it in my cast iron skillet (used your idea from the deep dish pizza!) and we love it that way. I have a question, though. Can I make the dough the night before and just keep it in the fridge until I bake it the following night? (I don’t want to freeze it as I feel it loses a little something something when it’s been frozen.)
Hi Sally, do you use fresh mozzarella to make this or just block mozzarella? I would like to use fresh but worry it might be a little watery? Let me know! P.S. I met you at your Pittsburgh meet-up about a year ago!
Hey Ashley! I used fresh– and it’s not too watery at all. 🙂 That book signing was SO fun!
I made this and absolutely loved it. It was a dream to work with compared to other doughs I’ve made before. However, the half of the dough that I froze never while baking, and I’m not sure why. I really want to make this dough again as it’s the best I’ve made yet, but after putting all that work into it, I wanted to try to figure out why it didn’t rise. I took the dough out of the freezer and let it thaw in a bowl covered with saran wrap in the fridge for about 11 hours, and then I let it sit out on the counter for about 45 minutes before shaping the pizza.
This recipe was delicious! I had this pizza along with your inside out chocolate chip cookies, and it was definitely a hit with my family. Thanks so much for sharing these recipes!
Hey Sally! I have made this pizza dough numerous times and it is definitely the BEST recipe I have tried to-date. But, I’m wondering if you can help me figure out why my dough failed miserably today!? I made it the same as I always do, even down to the same brands of ingredients, and my dough didn’t rise 🙁 It was very elastic and smooth, but weirdly so, almost like elastic play-dough (I know…I know!). I should mention I also made your strawberry cupcakes on Easter, with the same bag of flour I used for the pizza dough, and the cupcakes were extremely dense and almost wet. The taste was amazing, but they never got fluffy. I very recently moved to the deep south and it is extremely humid here, and the only thing I can think of is that once my bag of flour was open and sat for a few weeks it may have accumulated moisture, which effected the outcome of my baked goods. I am a seasoned baker and I have never had this many duds, especially with any of your recipes. Thank you in advance for your time and sorry for the long-winded comment!
Humidity has everything to do with it, Andrea! It’s a yeast dough nightmare. I fear moisture got into the flour. I would try again with fresh flour that is covered very tightly.