Perfect Pizza Dough

I have been searching for years for the Perfect Pizza Dough.  I finally found it!  The funny thing is, that my dear friend, whom I got the recipe from, had been searching herself for this recipe.  So glad that she shared it!  She's an amazing blogger. Check out her blog... Recipes From the Pickle Boat. You'll love it. 

Tomorrow I will have an insanely delicious recipe using this dough and one of your favorite recipes from here. You won't want to miss it!

The thing I love about this dough is that it's not way hard, like a cracker, and not super fluffy like a loaf of bread.  It's nice and chewy like pizza dough should be.  I also loved that she shared the idea of grilling your pizza so that you don't have to heat up your house!  It was awesome!  The only down fall was that our grill wasn't totally scraped clean so the bottom had a nice charcoal flavor.  I think next time, I might put a thick piece of foil down so that the bottom doesn't get chard.

Also, when you are mixing this dough, follow the instructions!  I got a big head and decided to just throw it all in my bosch.  Nope!  There's a reason why you do this one by hand.  The dough is too thick to be tossed into a mixer it just slides it around and doesn't knead it at all. So learn from my mistake, just do it by hand.

It will also be very thick. Don't think you did it wrong. That's why you knead it for so long. It'll all mix in together don't worry.  And be sure to make two batches.  You can freeze half of it for a rainy day. You'll be glad you did!

 Perfect Pizza Dough

1 1/2 cups 110 degree water
2 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal
pizza sauce - of your choice, shredded cheese - of your choice, toppings - of your choice

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and salt in water.

Add oil and flour to bowl and stir with heavy spoon for 1 minute.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press into a circle.
Sprinkle yeast evenly over dough and knead for 12 minutes.
Divide dough into 2 equal-sized portions

Place dough balls in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours in a warm location(don't be surprised when it doesn't rise much...you didn't put much yeast in it! it's not supposed to rise a lot).
Place a dough ball on a lightly floured surface and sprinkle a light coating of flour on top.
Working from the edges to the center, press dough into a 12" circle.
Preheat a pizza stone in a 500 degree oven for 1 hour.(this is what gives it the restaurant taste!)
Coat a large board with cornmeal and place the dough onto the cornmeal.
Spread sauce over crust and top with cheese and desired toppings.

Bake in a 500 degree oven for 15-25 minutes, until crust is golden.

Notes: Before allowing the dough to rise, you may place it in a plastic zipper bag and freeze. When ready to use, thaw at room temperature, then proceed with instructions.

If you would like to grill it instead of heating up your house this summer, just toss it on to a preheated grill for about 5-15 minutes.

Tip: don't prepare it on a cookie sheet with sides.  Learn from my mistakes!  It's hard to transfer that way!