Turns out when you’re an adult you can eat pizza as much as you want. And how could pizza be any better than by making your own chewy garlic & herb pizza dough to form the perfect chewy and flavorful crust of your dreams?
I think that of all foods you should be able to make and enjoy making at home, pizza has to be top on the list. Making your own pizza dough is SO EASY- seriously, anyone can do it. And getting to choose all the toppings you like the best, you get to create your own masterpiece. And then leftovers for breakfast the next day? Yes please.
I have a KitchenAid stand mixer (honestly my top recommended kitchen appliance) that I use my dough hook attachment for this dough. However, if you don’t have a stand mixer, a bowl, a wooden spoon, and some elbow grease will get the job done for you.
Any instant yeast will work for this recipe. The yeast and the water need to sit for only 5-10 minutes before you can mix in your flour, spices, and olive oil, and then you mix it all together to form the dough. After 30 minutes to let the dough rise, you’re good to prebake the crust.
By baking the crust alone, you are then able to create a stable slice of pizza that can handle the weight of toppings all piled high. Pre-bake for 10 minutes, top with sauce, cheese, loads of meat, and/or veggies, and bake for just another 15 minutes. You can also brush the visible dough with melted butter to help create that golden glowing crust.
I prefer to bake my pizzas in a cast iron skillet, but you can use any pizza pan or baking sheet you’ve got available. I recommend flouring, spraying, or using parchment paper on any of these surfaces to make sure your hard worked chewy garlic & herb pizza dough doesn’t stick to the bottom of it.
Chewy Garlic & Herb Pizza Dough
Equipment
- stand mixer with dough hook or large mixing bowl and wooden spoon
- 12 in cast iron skillet or pizza pan
Ingredients
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 3/4 c warm water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 c flour plus extra to work with
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp basil
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp melted butter to brush edge of crust- optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine warm water and instant yeast. Let this sit and bubble for 5-10 minutes
- In the stand mixer bowl, or in a separate large bowl, mix flour, salt, basil, oregano, and thyme. Stir olive oil into the yeast and water mixture. Slowly add the liquid to the flour mixture, and work until the dough has formed a ball. If the dough is still very wet and sticky, sprinkle in a little flour until it is able to be formed
- Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel for 30 minutes, and preheat the oven to 350. If using a cast-iron skillet*, preheat the skillet in the oven
- Once the dough has had time to rise, it should be light and fluffy. Using more flour as needed, work the dough into the cast-iron skillet or onto a pizza pan of choice. Be careful if you are working with a skillet right out of the oven!
- Bake the dough alone for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and top with sauce and toppings of choice. Brush the crust with melted butter if desired, and bake for another 15 minutes
Notes
If you don’t want cold pizza for breakfast, try my ultimate breakfast pizza!
