Cheese Please!

Today we’re making cheeeeesy golden goodness from-scratch pizza. This is much easier to make than you might expect, and cheaper and better for you than most store-bought or delivery options. It’s not delivery, it’s home-made! Just kidding, you get the reference, right? Right? LOL jk

This pizza will disappear at your house — seriously. There may not be leftovers. Just warning ya.

Feel free to watch the video of how I made it below, or skip ahead to the detailed instructions.

Ingredients:

• 2-1/4 tsp yeast
• 1-1/2 cup warm water (about 110-120 degrees F)
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 cups flour — recommended: 3 cups all-purpose and 1 cup bread flour
• cornmeal
• Pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup – 1 cup cheese of choice (we like mozzarella and parmesan)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheight.
• Add yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand-mixer. Add warm water and allow yeast to proof for 10 minutes
• After yeast has proofed, add olive oil. Add salt to the flour and mix separately before adding to the yeast mixture. Salt kills yeast, so we have to “hide” it in the flour first before we add it to the yeast…
• Knead the dough in the stand-mixer using the dough hook for about 8 minutes.
• Transfer to a greased bowl and cover. Allow dough to rise for about 1 hour.
• After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and turn it out onto a clean surface.
• Cut the dough in half (unless you plan to make an extra-large pizza!) and reserve the other half for a second pizza crust. Feel free to save the dough wrapped in the fridge to use within the next day or so, or wrap well and freeze the dough for later use. (we’ve frozen this dough up to 3 months, and it worked just fine! Be sure to pull it out and let it thaw in the fridge for a day before you plan to use it).
• Sprinkle cornmeal on your pizza pan. Stretch your dough into the shape you want and spread it out on your pan.
• Brush with olive oil, and spread your pizza sauce of choice. Use as much sauce as your family likes to have on pizza.
• Sprinkle grated cheese on top. We enjoy mozzarella and parmesan on ours, but feel free to use the cheese your family enjoys best.
• Bake about 10 minutes at 400 degrees (with the pizza on the pan). Then, transfer the pizza directly to the oven rack and bake an additional 5 minutes.  Time may vary depending on your oven, but keep an eye on it and you’ll know when it’s done when it looks golden brown around the edges and the cheese is nice and bubbly.