Basic Pizza Dough

Dressed up as a Mushroom, Sage, Fontina, and Parmesan Pizza.

The search for a great pizza dough recipe is very similar to the one I just discussed regarding the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. There always seem to be new recipes making the Internet circuit before fading out when another one comes along. Last year I tried a recipe that was all the rage; it was from Allrecipes.com, and I had blogged about it, but that post has mysteriously gone missing. No matter, I wasn’t much of a fan – I found it to be much too doughy. I then moved on to Cooking Light’s Thin and Crispy Pizza Crust, which, while not doughy, seemed to err too much in the other direction. Likely because it is a “light” recipe, the crust was paper thin. Tonight, I think I hit the jackpot. Yet another winner from my Baking Illustrated cookbook from Cook’s Illustrated magazine. This crust is the perfect combination of a wonderfully crisp outer crust and chewy interior.

What’s behind the perfect pizza crust and recipes after the break…

Thin n’ Crispy Pizza Crust

Let’s face it. There are two types of people in this world – those that love a thick chewy pizza crust, and those that love a thin and crispy pizza crust. I happen to fall into the latter category and until recently I have been unable to unearth a homemade pizza dough recipe that was the thin crispiness that I yearn for. I finally found it in a holiday edition of Cooking Light and this is definitely my favorite pizza dough recipe to date. The dough comes together easily (no electrics required!) and rolls out better than any pizza dough I have attempted before. If you’re looking for more of a thick and chewy pizza crust recipe, check out this post, which is also where you can find my recipe for pizza sauce, which I think I have finally perfected.