Quick Pizza Dough (April Ashton)

Updated 11/11/12. Makes one cookie sheet of dough.

1 c warm water
1 Tbsp instant yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp oil
2½ c white flour*

Add the water, yeast and sugar first. Then salt, oil and flour. Mix until bread is pulling away from side of the bowl. Mix for about 4 min or knead till elastic. Let rest for a few min. Roll dough into desired shape. Pull off an extra portion if the dough is very thick. Roll that onto an extra (smaller) pan (about ½ a cookie sheet). Poke with a fork to avoid bubbles, then top with desired toppings. Bake at 450° for 14 min. Crust should be slightly brown.

Top with half of a 7-oz jar of pizza sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese.

Additional fun toppings: ham, olives, Alfredo chicken, tomatoes, pineapple; BBQ chicken, cilantro and green onions. Tip: Let your kids slice olives with an egg slicer.

*You can substitute up to 1 cup of white wheat flour for the regular flour with good results. Add 1 tsp of wheat gluten if you do.


For variation, make pizza balls and dip them in pizza sauce.

Divide the dough into 15 balls. Add a slice of pepperoni and mozzarella cheese to each. Seal. *Spray a 9x13 pan with olive oil. Arrange the pizza balls. Spray again with olive oil, and sprinkle with garlic and herbs. Bake at 425° for 17 min. Dip in heated pizza sauce.

*Try melting butter in the bottom of the pan first, then rolling each ball in that.


For Valentine's Day, divide the dough and let the kids each make their own heart-shaped pizza.


For Halloween, cook your pizza on a circular pan and make it look like a Jack-o-Lantern:


Or make Candy Corn Pizza (from ourbestbites.com)

Make a thick ring of cheddar around the outside edge and a thick layer of mozzarella in the center. (You can see that mine isn't thick enough to cover the pizza sauce completely.) Cut into wedges.