Thin Pizza Crust

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bbq pizza
This dough is really easy to stretch out and the crust it is thin, crispy, and chewy. I love that you can make the dough anytime and even up to 4 days in advance – this actually makes the crust taste better because of a slow fermentation.  Pictured above is a Barbecue chicken pizza.  You can use either regular or thin crust for that recipe.

Thin Pizza Crust

  • 600 grams or 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour (all-purpose is important)
  • 15 grams or 2 ½ teaspoons sea salt
  • 10 grams or 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
  • 360 grams or about 1 ½ cups water
  • 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil.

Whisk flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add yeast – whisk again. Measure water and put in a 2 qt bowl. Mix in dry ingredients and stir about 20 – 30 times by hand (if you don’t mind your hands getting a little sticky, it is easiest to just use your hands instead of a spoon). Mix together just until it just starts to come together.   You will have a shaggy clump of dough.  It is okay if it is a little flaky.

Form into ball and coat generously with olive oil. Cover, and let rise ½ hour.  I usually put one layer of saran wrap touching the oily dough and another layer of saran wrap on top of the bowl. Cover and put in refrigerator for at least 4 hours up to 4 days.

When ready to use, take out of fridge and allow the dough to warm to room temperature for about 10 minutes. Brush a little of the extra olive oil from the bowl onto the 3 pizza pans. Form 3 flat balls – smash down and let each piece of dough rest for 20 minutes on a 12-14 inch pizza pan or baking sheet. Spread dough out thin on the pan. I use the oily saran wrap to help spread the dough.  If the dough resists stretching let it rest a little longer and attempt stretching again.  Let rest 20 more minutes on the pan to allow the dough to poof.  Make several holes in the dough with a fork.

Cook for 5 minutes at 500 degrees until the pizza crust has set. Take out and top with sauce and toppings. Place back in the oven to finish cooking for about 5 minutes more. If you like a crispy crust, place the pizza directly on the rack or stone without the pizza pan when you put it in the oven the 2nd time.

The original recipe came from “The Bread Bible” and I have taken the condensed version from my sister Becca’s blogpost.