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Mama’s Best Pizza Dough

October 2, 2013 by Marie 61 Comments

Mamas Best Pizza Dough - 5 ingredients and 1 hour start to finish!

ONE DOUGH – FIVE INGREDIENTS – ENDLESS USES

How many of you have ever made your own bread? I know a lot of you out there don’t do it. I was one of you up until about 6 years ago.  I was just plain scared of it.  It always seemed so daunting. I didn’t think I had the time, patience, or ability to actually make it come out the way it was supposed to.  Guess what!  I was wrong, and so are you if that’s the way you feel about making your own dough from scratch.  I just might change your world today. Our Mama’s Best Pizza Dough recipe is the most versatile recipe I think I have ever come across. It is the quickest and best dough because it rises as it bakes, and there’s only 5, count ’em, 5 ingredients! I make this dough for all things bread. Believe me, it won’t stop with just pizza.

Print
Mama’s Best Pizza Dough AKA One Dough To Rule Them All

Ingredients

  • 3 c. “warm water” (see tip below)
  • 2 Tbs. yeast
  • 2 Tbs. sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 6 – 7 c. flour

Instructions

  1. MEASURE THE “WARM WATER” INTO YOUR MIXER. TIP: THE YEAST NEEDS “WARM WATER” TO ACTIVATE. IF THE WATER IS TOO HOT, IT WILL KILL THE YEAST, AND IF IT IS TOO COOL, IT WON’T ALLOW THE YEAST TO GROW. SO LET’S DEFINE “WARM WATER”. MY MOM DIDN’T BREAK OUT A THERMOMETER EVERY TIME SHE MADE BREAD, NOR DID SHE TEACH ME THE OPTIMAL TEMPERATURE NEEDED TO ACTIVATE YEAST (IT HAPPENS TO BE BETWEEN 105 AND 110 F IF YOU WANTED TO KNOW). SHE TOLD ME IN PLAIN AND SIMPLE TERMS. ALL YOU DO IS RUN YOUR FINGER UNDER THE TAP. ADJUST THE TEMPERATURE SO THAT YOU ALMOST WANT TO TAKE YOUR FINGER OUT BECAUSE IT’S TOO HOT. ACTIVE DRY YEAST DOES NEED A BIT OF HEAT TO DISSOLVE AND GROW, BUT IF YOU CAN’T LEAVE YOUR FINGER UNDER THE WATER, IT’S TOO HOT FOR YOUR YEAST TOO. SO AS CONFUSING AS IT IS, WHEN A BREAD RECIPE CALLS FOR “WARM WATER” FOR YEAST, IT SHOULD REALLY SAY “ALMOST HOT WATER”. SOUNDS ARCHAIC, I KNOW, BUT IT’S ALWAYS WORKED FOR ME.
  2. ADD THE YEAST TO THE WATER AND LET IT DISSOLVE FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES. It should form a froth on the surface.
  3. NEXT, ADD THE SUGAR, SALT AND ABOUT 2 – 3 CUPS OF THE FLOUR AND WHISK TOGETHER. If you’re using a mixer, put it to no more than about speed 2. At this point your mixture will be smooth and resemble somewhat of a batter more than a dough.
  4. STIR IN THE REMAINING FLOUR. Change your whisk out for a large wooden spoon or the kneading attachment on your mixer. Start up your mixer or start up your muscles and mix. Continue to add flour to the dough “cleans” itself away from the side of the bowl. This is usually somewhere between 6 – 7 cups.
  5. KNEAD THE DOUGH UNTIL SMOOTH AND ELASTIC. (ABOUT 6 MINUTES). You want a soft dough, but not sticky. If it sticks to your hand and stays there, add a bit more flour in small increments. If it sticks to your hand, but comes off clean, you’re good to go.
  6. LET THE DOUGH REST FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES. This allows the dough to relax and become malleable again to roll out for your pizza. Once you have rolled out your pizza, no need to wait for it to rise. Top it, and bake it. 400 for 16 -20 minutes depending on the thickness of your dough.
3.1
http://www.themamasgirls.com/mamas-best-pizza-dough/

 

There you have it. It really is easy! What have you got to lose? Give it a try.  If you want a fun twist on making pizza at home, check out our Pizza on the Grill. Want to see what else you can do with this dough? Check out our One Dough to Rule Them All recipe roundup.

 

Want to know what we use when we make our pizza? Here are some of our can’t do without products:

 

                            

Pizza Pan – I personally like aluminum pans. They are a little thicker and seem to cook more evenly.  This particular pan comes in multiple sizes so they’re sure to have what you need.

Farberware Classic Wood Rolling Pin – You know you are truly domesticated when you own a rolling pin. I like the good old fashioned wood ones.  They are made to last forever.

OXO Good Grips Pizza Wheel – Good Grips is a great brand.  Everything they make feels so comfortable in your hand.  You won’t just use this for pizza either.  Maybe they should rename this the  brownie/homemade noodle/pizza cutter. 🙂

 

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Filed Under: Breads & Rolls, Dinner, Tutorials Tagged With: beginner, Best pizza dough, dough, easy, easy pizza dough, fast, Mama's Best Pizza Dough, pizza

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Comments

  1. Danette says

    October 17, 2013 at 7:18 am

    Thank you so much for the information on “warm water” for when making bread. i have tried and always failed every time i have made any kind of homemade bread. the yeast never seems to activate properly. And I was just to cheap to go buy a thermometer. I am going to try again today using your tips. Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Marie says

      October 17, 2013 at 9:32 am

      I’m so glad it was helpful! Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

      Reply
    • dana says

      March 30, 2014 at 12:26 pm

      Thank you so much for this tip, also. I had used a bread machine for about a year, and I, too, never used a thermometer. I could never figure out why it turned out perfect sometimes and awful others. You are a life saver!!! PS, I’ve used this recipe many, many times and I love it. Thank you!!!

      Reply
      • Marie says

        March 30, 2014 at 9:10 pm

        You’re so welcome! Thanks for reading!

        Reply
    • Sarah Bonora says

      July 4, 2017 at 9:31 am

      This is the best pizza dough I have ever made!!! I use a pizza stone the old fashioned way and I have to cut the dough in half but what’s so wonderful is that I can make two pies with different toppings to please everyone, thank you so very much.

      Reply
  2. mickie says

    October 27, 2013 at 8:31 am

    This was great, it turned out perfect

    Reply
    • Marie says

      October 28, 2013 at 10:38 pm

      I’m so glad! Come back soon!

      Reply
      • Pirra says

        July 4, 2014 at 7:08 am

        I really would like to try this but am not sure how much 3 c of water is and 6-7 c of flour, could you please translate in metric. Thank you

        Reply
        • Mary says

          September 12, 2018 at 1:05 am

          The C is cups

          Reply
  3. Amanda says

    October 27, 2013 at 5:39 pm

    Can this recipe be frozen? Great recipe! Thanks 🙂

    Reply
    • Marie says

      October 28, 2013 at 10:54 pm

      I haven’t ever tried, but I don’t see why not. I do know that typically when you freeze dough, you should let it rise once, punch it down and then wrap and freeze. This way, it rises the second time as it thaws. This recipe only needs to rise once, but I’m sure another wouldn’t hurt. I’ll try to remember reserve some dough to experiment with next time I make this. If anybody has tried to freeze this recipe, please share your results! Thanks for your question!

      Reply
  4. justin says

    October 31, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    This sounds awesome. Do you ever use a pizza stone with this recipe? I am just wondering what oven temp and how long to cook it for on a stone? Im new to the whole stone cooked pizza and any help would be great.

    Reply
    • Marie says

      October 31, 2013 at 11:03 pm

      The short answer is yes. The long answer is that pizza stones are AWESOME…after a bit of a learning curve. Make sure you place a cold pizza stone in the oven first to pre-heat it to the desired temperature. Meanwhile prepare your dough by rolling it out about one cm thick. Once your stone has pre-heated, carefully take it out, remember, it is hot! Dust the stone surface with cornmeal and place the dough over the top. Add sauce, cheese and toppings. Here’s where the learning curve comes in. The more toppings, the longer baking time and the risk of burning the bottom. The less, the quicker it can all melt. Always plan on baking it about the same amount of time as a conventional method, but make sure to check it early just to be safe. It is a game of trial and error, but once you find a groove you won’t often make pizza without it. Good luck. Let us know how it goes!

      Reply
      • Stacey says

        August 7, 2014 at 6:03 pm

        Hello,

        I have made this recipe a few times and lets just say, we won’t eat any other pizza now. I make the full recipe and freeze half for another meal. It does really when after being frozen. All I do is take it out in the morning and let it thaw at room temperature until ready to roll and bake.

        Reply
  5. Victoria Erwin says

    November 30, 2013 at 12:16 pm

    Can you use instant dry yeast instead of active dry yeast?

    Reply
    • Marie says

      November 30, 2013 at 5:51 pm

      I have only used active dry yeast and rapid rise yeast in this particular recipe, but I don’t see why you couldn’t use instant. Here is a link to a conversion chart for different types of yeasts if you’ve never substituted before. http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2008/01/12/let-us-now-praise-instant-yeast/#yeast-conversions If you try substituting let me know how it goes. Thanks for stopping by, and good luck with the dough!

      Reply
  6. Cheri says

    December 1, 2013 at 11:02 am

    This recipe calls for an extreme amount of water.. (3 cups). Any recipe I have ever used calls for 1 cup of water per 3 cups of flour.. there is an extra 1 cup of water in this.. is this an error???

    Reply
    • Marie says

      December 1, 2013 at 5:58 pm

      No error. It is a lot of water, but not in relation to the amount of flour. This recipe calls for 6 – 7 cups of flour and makes two large pizza crusts. You can cut the recipe in half if you only want to make one. That would make the the amount of water about what you’re used to with other recipes. Thanks for reading and for your question.

      Reply
  7. I_Fortuna says

    January 11, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    Since using the “no knead” method, I simply don’t want to bake any other way. I let the bread rise overnight and throughout the day and it is ready to bake at dinner time. It can be used for pizza or made as an artisan bread or rolls. I only need to use 1/4 tsp. of active dry yeast or bread machine yeast. Rising times, however, can be 2 to 24 hours. It can rise in the fridge, on the counter, in a cold oven or warm room. The longer the proof time, the better the flavor. Longer gives it a rather sourdough flavor. It is delcious and simple to make on almost any schedule. Very forgiving and easy to make this way. Time kneads the bread.

    Reply
    • Marie says

      January 20, 2014 at 10:18 am

      Cool! I’ve never done that but will definitely give it a go. Thanks for the tip!

      Reply
  8. Heidi says

    January 26, 2014 at 10:32 am

    Can you freeze the dough until ready to use?

    Reply
    • Marie says

      January 26, 2014 at 12:37 pm

      You bet. Here is a great post about freezing pizza dough if you’ve never done it. http://creativesavingsblog.com/from_my_kitchen/freezer-cooking/how-to-freeze-pizza-dough/

      Reply
  9. vinny says

    February 3, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    What kind of flour do you recommend in “Mama’s Best Pizza Dough” recipe?

    Reply
    • Marie says

      February 4, 2014 at 10:36 am

      I have always used all-purpose flour for this particular recipe.

      Reply
  10. vinny says

    February 3, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    What kind of yeast?

    Reply
    • Marie says

      February 4, 2014 at 10:35 am

      You can use either regular active dry yeast or rapid rise dry yeast. I have used both. If you do use rapid, just be prepared to work a little faster. Regular should rise completely in about a half hour. Rapid takes about 20 minutes.

      Reply
  11. Leah says

    February 4, 2014 at 6:48 am

    This turned out great! The info on the water temp was so helpful. I never get that part right! Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Marie says

      February 4, 2014 at 10:31 am

      You bet! Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  12. Bianca says

    February 4, 2014 at 12:50 pm

    Any tips I should know before I refrigerate it for a couple days? Should I let it rise first and then pound it?

    Reply
    • Marie says

      February 5, 2014 at 10:09 pm

      I’ve never actually tried refrigerating it for days. If you want to make ahead of time, especially days ahead, I would make it and freeze it. I have been told that usually freezing dough requires more yeast than usual. Luckily this particular recipe has quite a bit of yeast. Freezing has always worked fine for me. See previous comments. There is a great link for freezing homemade pizza dough. 🙂 Thanks for dropping by!

      Reply
  13. Michelle says

    February 18, 2014 at 9:11 am

    Hi There

    Thanks for sharing the water tip. I love making homemade pizzas, so u can have better control over ingredients, but my attempts never turn out right. Now I know why, all this time I have been using warm water instead of the right temp. I will be trying it this week. Can’t wait to see how it turns out! 😉

    Reply
    • Marie says

      February 18, 2014 at 10:52 am

      You bet! Thanks for reading. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!

      Reply
  14. Kate says

    February 20, 2014 at 4:37 pm

    This dough is awesome! I did a review of it on my site. This is going on my go to recipes.
    http://mommywithavision.blogspot.com/2014/02/tried-and-true-chapter-2-pizza-dough.html

    Reply
  15. Melissa says

    February 21, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    I made this tonight and rubbed some garlic, basil, and oregano on top. It came out very good! It rose a lot while baking and was very fluffy. What could I do to flatten it a little and make it spread easier on the pan? It really wanted to stay in a ball. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  16. KristiN says

    March 17, 2014 at 1:55 pm

    Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what kind of flour did you use?

    Reply
    • Marie says

      March 17, 2014 at 7:45 pm

      Just regular old All Purposes Flour.

      Reply
  17. Danae says

    April 7, 2014 at 2:18 pm

    I’m a little confused. Your recipe says to “let it rest for 10 min” nothing about letting it rise but in some of the comments you have responded to on here you talk about letting it rise. Do you need to let this dough rise? Help! I know regular bread dough and almost every other pizza dough recipe says to let it rise but it just doesn’t say to do it except in your comments. Thanks for hopefully clearing this up!

    Reply
    • Marie says

      April 7, 2014 at 7:28 pm

      You do NOT need to let it rise in the traditional way. It will rise a little as it rests for the 10 minutes, but then it does all the rising it needs to do as it bakes. It’s a great dough if you don’t have a lot of time.

      Reply
  18. Laura says

    June 23, 2014 at 4:34 pm

    Hey ice used this recipe numerous times and love it! Just wondering if can you use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose, using the same measurements?
    Thanks!

    Reply
  19. Patti says

    September 10, 2014 at 11:31 am

    I can’t thank you enough for this dough recipe! I’ve been craving zeppole (Italian doughnuts) for a few days now and haven’t had the heart to ask hubby to go to work to pick up a ball of dough on his days off! lol Now he won’t have to and my cravings will be satisfied! 😀

    Reply
  20. Heather says

    November 6, 2014 at 7:24 pm

    I made this pizza dough tonight after finding this recipe via Pinterest. It was very simple and turned out yummyliciously (I invented a new word for how yummy the crust of my home-made pizza was) ! I started mixing it using the plastic kneading blade of my food processor, but ran out of room so I finished the rest by hand. I had enough dough to make 2 large pizzas. I put one of the dough balls in my fridge and will try to make it again on the weekend. Next time I’ll half the recipe so I can make the whole thing in the food processor and speed up the preparation time. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply
    • Marie says

      November 7, 2014 at 9:47 am

      I’m so glad! Make sure to stop back by tonight! We have a round-up post going up about all the “yummylicious” things you can make with Mama’s Best Pizza Dough! Thanks for reading!!!

      Reply
  21. Holly says

    November 8, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    This looks great. Do you have any recipes for strawberry cake?

    Reply
    • Ali says

      November 9, 2014 at 11:33 pm

      We do actuallly. Here it is. It was a guest post from Anita at Livelikeyouarerich.com

      Reply
      • Ali says

        November 9, 2014 at 11:34 pm

        We have a family Strawberry Pop Cake that we will have to put up soon. Thanks for the idea~

        Reply
  22. Janet says

    December 5, 2014 at 5:26 pm

    I’ve been making bread for over 40 years. It is so fun to play in the kitchen with my new found bread dough from you. Just found your website about a month ago. Have made breadsticks, pizza twice and tonight we are having Smokies in a blanket and with the left over dough will make a few cinnamon rolls and then some cinnamon twists, can hardly wait. This dough is PERFECT for so many fun, fun things. Thank you for making my life a little easier.

    Reply
  23. jORDAN JACKSON says

    December 21, 2014 at 10:40 am

    I believe that your pizza recipe is the only recipe the world needs, Honestly its a never absolute fail pizza dough no matter how experience you are it will never fail you and ive been using your pie dough recipe since last year ever since our Culinary Arts Teacher (then i was in the 11th grade) and it made huge pieces of pizza which was great because we had a big class room. Im actually about to use it for a get together on Tuesday. And i just wanted to thankyou even on the warm water tip.

    Reply
  24. Manny says

    December 23, 2014 at 4:57 pm

    Excellent post! I actually use your recipe to make the pizza cake!

    Reply
  25. Donna says

    September 12, 2015 at 6:12 am

    I’ve always ordered pizza. I’ve made your recipe for the first time about a month ago..WOW. It is amazingly easy. I divided it in two and froze half,( thawed out just like I whipped it up fresh). I coupled it with a homemade sauce, etc… NEVER again will I waste $18 bucks on a pizza that who knows WHATS IN IT or HOW it’s made…I SINCERELY thank you! Passes my young adults pizza passion too. DELICIOUS!

    Reply
  26. Ronda Jones says

    January 19, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    Marie- Thank you. I finally made Marie breadsticks tonight since I have a new kitchen aid. they were a huge hit. Thank you again.

    Reply
  27. Pepper Dasnee says

    March 16, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    This is awesome! Thank you for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  28. Casey says

    October 15, 2017 at 3:54 pm

    Have you tried to grill the dough instead of bake?

    Reply
    • Ali says

      November 7, 2017 at 10:34 am

      Yes, it works great.

      Reply
  29. Angela Deutsch says

    November 6, 2018 at 7:51 pm

    Can I leave out the sugar? Or maybe sub honey?

    Reply
    • Ali says

      November 8, 2018 at 11:29 am

      Yes, honey, or molasses will to fine!

      Reply

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