Basic Pizza Dough

Here ya go Becky & Ang! =)

3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Pour warm water into a bowl. The water should be about 85 to 115 o F (make sure not too hot- this is what kills the yeast!) Test it with your hand. It should feel very warm, but comfortable. Add the honey and salt. (Sometimes I use 2 TBS of sugar instead of honey!) Mix by hand (or any other method) until well-blended. Add the yeast and mix some more. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the flour (and any other additions- sometimes I only use 3 cups of flour depending on consistency) and mix well. The dough should turn into a ball. If the dough does not ball up because its too dry, add water one tablespoon at a time until it does. If the mixture is more like a batter, add flour one tablespoon at a time. Adding water or flour as needed to get the right consistency will assure you always get a perfect dough. Just remember to do it in small amounts.

Once the dough is balled up, place the ball on a floured board and knead for about a minute. This builds the gluten which helps the dough to rise and become fluffy when cooked. Place the dough into a plastic grocery bag or a covered bowl and store in a warm, dry area to rise.

After about 45 minutes the dough should have about doubled in size. Show it who's boss and punch it down. That's right, give it a good smack so it deflates. Let it rise for another hour in a half to two hours. The dough is now ready to be rolled out. You can punch the dough down one more time if you want to wait another hour or two before rolling out. The choice is yours!

Special Notes: The dough should make any Extra large pizza - I cook mine at 375 degrees for about 15-17 minutes! Just keep checking on it, every oven has different cooking time! Also, if you want to spice up your dough add oregano, Italian seasonings, and Parmesan cheese makes for YUMMY DOUGH!