Fail-Proof Pizza Dough and Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks {just like in restaurants!}
Are you all addicted to pizza as much as I am? I’m addicted to a lot of things, but pizza would be close to the top of my list. It’s just so addicting! I can’t help myself.
If you can learn to make it perfectly at home, it’s not only cheaper, it’s healthier!
Well, it CAN be healthier if you put in the effort….which I did not do this time around…oops.
The hardest part in pizza making is the crust. I’ve been making my own crust for years but I could never get it just right. It was never chewy and/or crispy enough. And yeast doughs can be finicky. Stupid yeast. But guess what! I recently perfected my crust, getting it up to par with the pizza restaurants. Forreals. I did lots of research and lots of testing and here is the ultimate recipe.
Here are the details of my pizza dough recipe that you are going to want to know: {1} I use warm water-not hot, not cold. Pleasantly warm. Yeast likes warmth. And I don’t ever use a thermometer because thermometers are annoying for this kind of stuff. Don’t over think this step. If it feels nice and warm like baby bath water, then you’re good. {2} I use honey- I seem to get better results with honey. I don’t know why. You can use sugar if you prefer. {3}Bread flour- you must must must use bread flour. Bread flour means more gluten. More gluten means chewy crust. Chewy crust = good. The end. {4} Knead, knead, knead. Kneading means gluten! And we all know what gluten means. Knead your dough for 6 minutes pretty please. {5}Use a pizza stone if you have one. Put it in your cold oven, and then crank that baby up to the hottest temperature it will go to. For me, it was 500 degrees. That will really give you a crispy bottom, like you get at the restaurants. {If you don’t have a pizza stone, look for my trick below!}
That’s pretty much it.
Incase you got lost in that last paragraph, there are some easy to follow step by step instructions below. I promise it’s not as daunting as it may seem!
I turned my pizza dough into delicious Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks. Buttery, salty, cheesy, garlicky goodness. 9 minutes in a hot oven and these bubbly bites come out ready to be eaten. And made our kitchen smell divine. Give them a whirl this weekend!
TGIF! 
In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix.
Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn’t stick to your hands.
Once you reach this stage, turn the mixer on high to knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. It should look something like this when it’s done!
{Recipe Update: If you’re leery of turning your mixer on high for kneading, simply turn it down to level 3 or 4 and knead for the 6 minutes. Should still do the trick without walking off your counter.}
The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean!
Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn’t dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That’s it!
Now you can turn this dough into anything your little heart desires.
How about some Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks?
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside. {If you don’t have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet…a tip I got from Natalie!}
Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}
Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired. {That step is totally optional!}
Bake 9-10 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Remove from oven and cool 1-2 minutes before cutting. Serve hot, with marinara.
Fail-Proof Pizza Dough and Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks
You will never need another pizza dough recipe after this one!
Yield: 2-12 inch pizza crusts; about 1 lb. of dough
Ingredients:
for the pizza dough-
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
3 cups bread flour {give or take 1/2 cup...depending on the heat & humidity}
for the cheesy garlic bread sticks-
1/2 recipe Fail-Proof Pizza Dough from above
2 tablespoons softened salted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese {use the real stuff!}
1/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese
{salt & pepper, if desired}
Directions:
For the pizza dough--In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix. Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn't stick to your hands. Once you reach this stage, knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. It should look something like this when it's done! The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean! Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn't dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That's it! Use as desired.
For the Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks- Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside. {If you don't have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet...a tip I got from Natalie!}
Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}
Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired. {That step is totally optional!}
Lauren's Latest original recipe.
Question, I have never heard of grated mozzarella cheese. I found shaved and shredded, but not grated….
And what exactly do you mean by “get the real stuff” when it comes to grated parmesan?
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Lauren — January 18th, 2012 @ 7:23 pm
Grated is the same as shredded. In this case, I want you to buy a block of mozzarella and grate or shred it yourself. Real parmesan cheese is called Parmigiano Reggiano and it will say so on the rind.
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Hi! This sounds really great. Do I really HAVE to use the bread flour?
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Lauren — January 18th, 2012 @ 7:21 pm
If you don’t use bread flour, you won’t get the same result. If you’re going to use all purpose flour, knead the dough an extra minute.
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Candace — January 18th, 2012 @ 7:48 pm
Thanks! I’m going to make the garlic cheesy bread, looks sooo yummy!
Julie — January 18th, 2012 @ 11:06 pm
Candace I used regular flour and it was still awesome!!!
This is now my daughters favorite “dinner”. Gotta luv finicky klids lol. atleast tonight when I said we need a vegetable with dinner she said “ok I’ll have corn with my cheesy bread” lolol
thanks bunches, and super easy!
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Do you let your dough rise in a particular way? Under heat, in frig, etc. Thanks for the fantastic recipie!
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Lauren — January 20th, 2012 @ 5:02 am
I just set mine on the counter. Nothing fancy!
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Dear Lauren
I have been wanting to find a pizza dough recipe that was easy for a very very long time! Thank You so much for being so generous with your gift!!! I will def be making this soon!! Rita
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This looks like the kind of thing that would make my husband SUPER happy
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I found this through Pinterest & can’t wait to try it. I have gluten to add to my regular flour — so I’ll have to experiment with it a little. I want to try it for our Friday pizza night – but doubt I’ll be able to get out to store today for bread flour. We’ve been experimenting with pizza doughs & decided to get the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten to add to our regular flour for pizza dough making (hubby did all the research on is smart phone while we were shopping a few months back).
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This is the EXACT recipe I use except I use all purpose gluten free flour blend from Dakota Prairie to make it gluten free and safe for us to eat! Best recipe ever…. THANKS!
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I made this the other night and did one sausage and olive pizza and one garlic cheesy bread. The only thing I changed was to use half King Arthur bread flour and half freshly ground hard white wheat. My family loved both and said the cheesy bread tasted like it came from a restaurant. Thanks!
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Thank you SO much for this recipe. I spotted it on pinterest. This was the first from scratch pizza dough I have made and it did indeed turn out perfect. Really easy and the crust was lovely! I made the garlic cheese bread and the whole family loved it. One question/tip? What is your technique for stretching out the dough, do you do it by hand? A rolling pin? I tried on parchment paper but the paper moved all over the place and was super thin in the middle, super thick on the edges… so I ended up kind of stretching it between two fists and letting gravity help, then put it in the pan and stretched it further from there. Thank you so much!!
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Lauren — January 22nd, 2012 @ 12:10 am
I try to stretch it and make the dough bigger just with my hands in the air, sort of like the people at the pizza parlors, except I don’t look as cool. Then once it’s a little bigger, I put it on my pizza pan and punch it out to even out the dough. Then the last thing I do is press it out with my fingers. I’ve never used a rolling pin…just my hands! Hope that helps!
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Jenn S — April 19th, 2012 @ 12:16 am
Thank you for the help… I too don’t look as “cool” stretching it out either lol.
Hey there. Thanks so much for recipes. I will surely try them. We have movie night each FRI with our kids and we normally make our own. Like you, we like our crust, but it’s never “just” right. I am excited to try yours.
I wanted to ask a question….What type of sauce do you use for regular pepperoni pizzas? We usually buy marinara (I can’t stand jarred pizza sauce).
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Lauren — January 22nd, 2012 @ 12:07 am
I use Prego. Just the plain original or traditional kind.
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M — February 28th, 2012 @ 2:55 am
I also hate jarred pizza sauce but found that Hy-Vee brand pizza sauce in a can is very, very good. And only 99 cents! If you don’t have hy-vee, I would suggest any other canned pizza sauces. It’s trial and error.
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I have never ever dared to do anything with yeast before. Got this link from a friend and dared to try it out. Amazing. This dough is amazing. Thanks so much for sharing.
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So delish! Easy to make and work with. The garlic bread… the best I’ve ever had! Thanks for sharing!
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I dont have a kitchen aide mixer but I do have a bread maker! Do you think I could make the dough in it?
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Lauren — January 23rd, 2012 @ 4:07 am
Yes, it should work!
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Do you start the timer when it goes in the oven or when the oven reaches 500 degrees?
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Lauren — January 27th, 2012 @ 5:26 am
You put the cheesy bread into the 500 degree oven. Once it’s in there, start the timer.
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This was my first attempt at making homemade dough and it was so easy. I only used about 2cups of flour total and it turned out great. Very easy to work with after the dough had time to rise for 2 hours. Will no longer be buying the dry pizza crust mix. Thanks so much for sharing.
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So, I ran across your page and gave this a try. It was a stretch getting the dough to “take” 2 cups of flour, let alone 3 (we must be pretty dry around here today!). I did replace some bread flour with whole wheat (1/2- 3/4), and added a pinch of water to help it become incorporated fully. This dough is SO forgivable! I forgot about it for several hours, then by the time I remembered it was too late to cook…so I just tossed it in the fridge overnight. The next day, it baked up beautifully for some of the most magical cheese sticks.
Thanks so much for the amazing recipe!!
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Lauren — January 30th, 2012 @ 5:01 am
Whole wheat flour sucks up liquids much faster than regular bread or all purpose flour…that’s why you used less flour. Glad everything still worked out!!
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Ok, so I plan on making a large batch of the dough & then freezing. Has anyone tried this? I plan on quadrupling the recipe & then when dough is done divide it into 4 equal pieces & then freeze.
Bread dough freezes wonderfully! Then can take it out & put it in the greased bowl covered with plastic wrap. It can thaw & rise. It will just take longer like 3 -4 hours to thaw & rise.
Next month, I’m getting a Bosch mixer….I think I can do up to about 8 recipes at a time with it. Will try 4 at first. Eventually, I would like to try with wheat flour.
I would love to have a healthy pizza dough that is still convenient to use by just taking it out of the freezer. I have so many good recipes that call for pizza dough!
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Can you freeze easy pizza dough?
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So when u put th dough in the oven at 500 degrees do u go ahead and put the toppings on it first or cook the dough for a bit then put the toppings on? And do u turn the oven down at all?
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Lauren — January 31st, 2012 @ 9:33 pm
Make the entire pizza on the uncooked dough and put the whole thing into a preheated 500 degree oven. Don’t turn the oven down! Watch your pizza carefully–should be done around 8 minutes!
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I don’t have a large kitchen-Aid Mixer, so do you think that this would be a big undertaking by-hand? It looks so yummy! Thank you for posting! And how do you keep so small if you eat this once a week?
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Lauren — February 2nd, 2012 @ 3:06 pm
I’d say knead this by hand for an extra minute. It’s really not too bad! I’ve done it by hand before! And, I go to the gym…a lot!
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I was wondering if you can use a regular eletric hand held mixer to make this?
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I have searched and searched for the perfect dough recipe!! I’m so excited to say this is the BEST pizza dough I have ever made!! Thank you!!
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All your recipes are so easy and well worth the time to make from scratch! I’m looking for a thin pizza crust recipe to which I can add herbs – need less carbs but it still should be able to hold a few veggies and a little cheese. Any ideas? Thanks!
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Lauren — February 6th, 2012 @ 2:59 am
Google cauliflower pizza crust- it’s amazing!!
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I have a question- Can you make this by hand if you don’t have a kitchen aid mixer? I want to make it for Super Bowl snacks for my family (I’m 13). And if you don’t have bread flour will it turn out okay? Thank you so much.
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Lauren — February 6th, 2012 @ 2:58 am
This recipe will work just fine if you knead it by hand with all purpose flour.
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Hi-
This looks great and super easy! I’m wondering if I can freeze it? About to have baby two and looking for some easy frozen meals!
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Lauren — February 6th, 2012 @ 2:57 am
Yes, you can freeze it!
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Hi,
I made these today for our family SuperBowl party-yum! My youngest child could NOT stop eating them!
I’m linking to this page on my blog. Thanks!
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Have you tried freezing half of it for later? What is a good defrosting method?
I have a recipe to add to your pizza dough masterpiece. Sauce!
Here’s my favorite sauce recipe. It makes a lot so you can freeze it in 2 cup increments. 2 c sauce = 1 pizza. It takes two hours to simmer so I make it just start it before I start dinner. By the time I make dinner, serve it and clean it up, (I’ve been stirring it occassionally while in the kitchen) it’s time to take it off the heat and let it cool down a bit while I get the kids in bed. Then I put it into ziplocs for flat freezing.
Pizza Sauce
-saute 4 tsp. garlic and 4 tbsp olive oil for 2 min in pan. add:
4 28 oz cans diced tomatoes (112 oz total)
1 c. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
-simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally. Mash tomatoes with potato masher. Freeze in quart-size bags for pizza.
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Cheesy garlic bread
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I just made this recipe. Wow was it good. I did breadsticks and definately will use this dough recipe for pizza crust. So many posts hadn’t actually made the recipe so I wanted to add a post that compliments how incredible this actually is. I don’t use garlic cloves so we used garlic powder. To be safe I baked at 450 and the dough turned out crunchy and still soft. I used bread flour and kneaded about 10 minutes by hand. I pressed the full recipe of dough the full size of the pizza pan which was thinner breadsticks but still very very restaurant-like tasting good. I warmed a small amount of pizza sauce/marinara sauce mixed for my son to use as a dip. This dough recipe is going to be a weekly menu item. A real keeper!
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Totally dumb question, but do you put it in the oven to rise?
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Lauren — February 13th, 2012 @ 3:34 pm
No, leave it on the counter!
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Cat — February 15th, 2012 @ 2:21 am
Yes, I turn the oven to the lowest setting and let the oven warm up. After mixing the dough I turn off the oven, open the oven door, pull the rack out a bit. When the rack has cooled I put the bowl on the extended rack and cover the bowl to let the dough rise as the oven cools behind it. This works really well for me. I have twice made this recipe which turns out extremely delicious!
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This is a great dough, and I make a lot of pizza! I use your recipe and an Alex Guarnaschelli recipe for delish sausage pizza. Crumbled hot italian sausage, caramelized onions, mozz, parm and when it comes out, a ton of basil (we like ‘no sauce’ pizzas). So good. Thanks!
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Lauren — February 15th, 2012 @ 4:40 am
Oh YUM! Love Alex Guarnaschelli!!
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Any tips on how to get from parchment paper to stone without messing your pretty pizza up when you go to put it in oven?
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I’m going to try your pizza dough for your amazing stromboli recipe! Quick question: is active dry yeast the same as fast rise yeast?
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Lauren — February 17th, 2012 @ 3:21 pm
No, there is a difference. I’d use the fast acting if you have it–the dough will rise much faster!!
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I found this recipe via Pinterest and made it for a “make your own” pizza party for my family! It was so delicious and such a hit! I have a couple of questions… Can you freeze this dough? Also, can I make it ahead of time and leave it in the frig until I’m ready to use it? Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe!
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Can you make this earlier in the day and store it in the fridge, 100% done and ready to put in the oven? Also, I’m going to try cooking it on my Pizza Pizzazz this weekend! It makes re-heated pizza as good as the first time around!
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I would love to make this, but I do not have a mixer like yours. Can I still make this with a hand mixer?
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Lauren — February 17th, 2012 @ 10:40 pm
Only try to make this with your hand mixer if you have the special dough attachment!! Otherwise, just make it by hand!
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I don’t think I ever told you that we make this recipe like almost every week. We have pizza and movie night every Friday. We’ve made cheese garlic bread as well. Yum! Funny thing is I have to hold on to my Kitchen Aid for dear life every time I do the 6 minute mix, other wise it will ended up “jumping” off my counter. Haha! I don’t know if it’s because it’s old and the bottom doesn’t hold on as well. Anyway, it is totally fail proof!!
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Just wanted to thank you so much for this great pizza crust! I’ve made it twice this last week and it’s turned out great! Mine always used to be mediocre and I was a little discouraged.
I came up with a pretty delicious Three Cheese Ham Calizone recipe to use it with if you’re interested: http://kammyskorner.blogspot.com/2012/02/kammys-three-cheese-ham-calzone.html
Thanks again!!!
and I linked back to you!
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Love it! Love it! I made this tonight and was shock how great it was! Taste like the real deal and my hubby n friends could not believe i made it. Thanks for sharing!
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I LOVED your bread sticks recipe! Though mine did NOT end up looking like yours..it did taste just like the cheesy bread sticks I love from our local Godfather’s pizza. Yum!!! Thank you so much for sharing this!
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Just made this tonight. Following your directions EXACTLY. I have been making pizza dough for years and my recipe was virtually identical, but always came out kind of floppy and sad. Never with a crisp bottom and chewy inside. This recipe worked beautifully! It turned out fantastic and I want to THANK you!!! I do have a few questions. Can this recipe be doubled? Or am I better off to make it twice if I want to get 4 pizzas? Also, what if it rises a little more than 2 hours or a little less than 1 hour. Is the dough forgiving? Will that impact the results? And finally, my dough was so springy that it was hard to stretch/roll out. It kept wanting to snap back. Any tips? Oh, and one more thing
…. the dough/cheese bread got a ton of air bubbles in it. Is that typical? Do I need to poke it with a fork a few times before cooking? Thanks!
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This is my new pizza dough recipe. We love it! Wondering if you’ve tried freezing it?
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Lauren — March 4th, 2012 @ 12:35 am
I have frozen this pizza dough before–when you defrost it, make sure to add a little oil to the bowl so it doesn’t stick. It might be a little bit stickier once it’s all defrosted, so knead it with a little flour and it should be fine.
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Could you make the dough, and then freeze it and use it later?
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Hands down the best pizza dough I’ve made. It has a wonderful flavor and is so easy to make. I used it to make your Stromboli, which came out perfect. Thanks for the recipes!
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I just made (this) dough for the first time ever and it came out great. I added too much flour the 2nd time and added a little bit of water to dry it out. I don’t have a stand mixer and kneaded it for 6 minutes and it still came out perfect! Thanks a lot for the motivation!
don’t need to order papa johns cheesy breadsticks anymore!
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Loving this recipe! Wondering if I can make the dough a day in advance, keep in the fridge overnight and bake the next day? THANKS!
-Alex
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Lauren — March 7th, 2012 @ 4:37 am
You sure can!!
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do the measurements change in high altitude places?
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We made this tonight. It is soooooo good! Thanks for sharing!!
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Would this freeze well? Would I freeze after it rises?
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