Easy Overnight Pizza Dough Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix warm water and 1 teaspoon sugar; add yeast and whisk until dissolved. Let stand until bubbles form on surface. In a large bowl, whisk 3 cups flour, salt, remaining 1 teaspoon sugar and, if desired, dried herbs. Make a well in center; add yeast mixture and oil. Stir until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead, adding more flour to surface as needed until no longer sticky and dough is smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a large greased bowl; turn once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes; transfer bowl to refrigerator and chill overnight. Allow dough to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes, before rolling.

Steps:

• For sponge:
• Place 1 cup lukewarm water in large bowl of heavy-duty mixer. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon yeast (reserve remaining yeast for dough) and 1/4 teaspoon flour over water. Let stand until yeast dissolves and mixture looks spongy, about 4 minutes. Add remaining flour and whisk until smooth; scrape down sides of bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sponge rest at room temperature in draft-free area overnight (about 12 hours; sponge will look bubbly).
• For dough:
• Add 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 envelope yeast, and reserved remaining yeast to sponge, then add 6 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, beating with dough hook to blend after each addition. Continue to beat until dough is smooth, comes cleanly away from sides of bowl, and is only slightly sticky to touch, scraping down bowl occasionally, about 5 minutes. If dough is very sticky, beat in more flour, 1/4 cupful at a time. Scrape dough onto floured surface; knead into smooth ball.
• Brush inside of large bowl with oil. Add dough; turn to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; chill 6 hours, kneading dough down when doubled (after 2 hours).
• About 1 1/2 hours before baking, dust 2 baking sheets with flour. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead gently; shape into 16-inch log. Cut into 8 equal pieces. Knead each piece into smooth ball. Arrange 4 balls of dough on each sheet. Cover loosely with kitchen towels and let rise until almost doubled, 1 to 11/4 hours.
• If using pizza stone, place in oven.
• Preheat oven to 500&Deg;F for 45 minutes. Working with 1 dough ball at a time, dust dough with flour. Press into 5-inch round, then gently stretch and roll out to 9-inch round.
• If using pizza stone, sprinkle pizza peel or rimless baking sheet with cornmeal. If not using pizza stone, sprinkle large baking sheet with cornmeal. Place dough round on cornmeal; brush lightly with oil. Top as desired. Slide pizza onto stone or place pizza on baking sheet into oven.
• Bake pizza until sauce is bubbling and crust is crisp and brown, lifting edge of pizza to check underside, about 14 minutes.

Steps:

• To make the dough: Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside (a Pyrex 2-cup measure makes for easy pouring; be sure the cup isn’t cold).
• Put the flour and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade; process briefly to mix.
• With the machine running, add the water-yeast mixture in a steady stream.
• Turn the processor off and add the oil.
• Pulse a few times to mix in the oil.
• Divide the dough: Scrape the soft dough out of the processor and onto a lightly floured surface.
• With lightly floured hands, quickly knead the dough into a mass, incorporating any bits of flour or dough from the processor bowl that weren’t mixed in.
• Cut the dough into four equal pieces with a knife or a dough scraper.
• Roll each piece into a tight, smooth ball, kneading to push the air out.
• To use dough that same day: If you want to make pizza as soon as possible, put the dough balls on a lightly floured surface, cover them with a clean dishtowel, and let them rise until they almost double in size, about 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, turn your oven on, preferably with a baking stone in it, to let the stone fully heat.
• Pizza the next day: If you want to bake the pizzas the next day, line a baking sheet with a floured dishtowel, put the dough balls on it, and cover them with plastic wrap, giving them room to expand (they’ll almost double in size), and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight.
• To use dough that has been refrigerated overnight, simply pull it out of the refrigerator about 15 minutes before shaping the dough into a pizza.
• To shape, top, and bake the pizzas, see below.
• To freeze dough: Dust each generously with flour as soon as you’ve made it, and put each one in a separate zip-top bag.
• Freeze for up to a month.
• It’s best to thaw the dough in the refrigerator for at least 10-12 hours before you want to use it-- but in a pinch it'll defrost on the counter in about 1 1/2 hours.
• To shape pizzas: Put the proofed or thawed ball of dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Dust the top with flour.
• Using your fingertips, press the ball down into a flat rounds about 1/2 inch thick.
• Lift the dough and lay it over the back of the fist of one hand.
• Put your other fist under the dough, right next to your first fist.
• Now gently stretch the dough by moving your fists away from each other.
• Each time you do this stretch, rotate the dough.
• Continue stretching and rotating until the dough is thin, about 1/4 inch, and measures about 9 inches across.
• Alternatively, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface.
• Rub a bit of flour onto a pizza peel (or the back of a baking sheet).
• Gently lift the stretched dough onto the floured peel.
• Top the pizza, scattering the ingredients around to within ½ inch of the border.
• To bake: Put a pizza stone or unglazed quarry tiles on the lowest rack of the oven and heat the oven to 500°F.
• Ideally, let the stone preheat in the oven for an hour.
• You should place your pizza on the peel before topping it so that it's ready to slide onto your stone.
• Shake the peel (or baking sheet) gently back and forth to make sure the pizza isn’t stuck.
• Quickly slide the pizza onto the hot baking stone.
• Bake until the edges are golden, about 8 min.
• Using a peel, a wide spatula, or tongs, remove the pizza from the oven.

Steps:

• Put 1 3/4 cups/420 milliliters lukewarm water in a mixing bowl (use a stand mixer or food processor if you prefer). Sprinkle yeast over water and let dissolve, about 2 minutes.
• Add flour, salt and olive oil and mix well until flour is incorporated and dough forms, about 5 minutes. It may look a little rough or pockmarked.
• Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Turn dough out onto surface and knead lightly until it looks smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Cut dough into 4 equal pieces, about 8 ounces/225 grams each.
• Wrap dough pieces individually in resealable zipper bags and refrigerate for several hours or, for best results, overnight; you can also freeze it for future use. (You can skip this rise in the refrigerator and use the dough right away, but this cool, slow rise makes it easier to stretch and gives the pizza a crisper texture and more nuanced flavor.)
• To use dough, form each piece into a smooth, firm ball, and place on a flour-dusted or parchment-lined baking sheet. (If you froze the dough, leave it at room temperature for several hours first, or defrost overnight in the refrigerator.) Flour lightly, cover loosely with plastic wrap and top with a kitchen towel. Leave to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Each dough ball with make a 10-inch diameter pizza.

Steps:

• In mixer bowl, thoroughly combine the flour and salt and make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine the yeast, olive oil, and lukewarm water. Pour the wet mixture into the well in the dry mixture and begin mixing the two together with dough hook, gradually incorporating the dry into the wet. After about 3 minutes, when the wet and dry are well combined, turn off the mixer and let it rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes. This allows time for the flour to absorb the moisture.
• Turn the mixer back on and knead the mixture for about 3 minutes. The dough will be moist and sticky, but after a few minutes of kneading it should come together into a smooth mass; add a teaspoon of flour at a time if it seems too wet. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, shape them gently into balls, and wrap them in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 24 and up to 48 hours before using. This process, called proofing, allows for the fermentation that gives the dough structure-which means a chewy, pliable crust-and flavor. One ball with make one thin-crust 12" pizza, enough to serve 2 people generously. The other one can be frozen and used another time; thaw in refrigerator for several hours.
• TO COOK: Preheat oven to 450 or 500 F., with baking stone on center rack; allow to heat at least 45 minutes.
• Place ball of dough on a floured counter, cover loosely with plastic wrap. When dough is a puffy, after about 30 minutes, gently press with fingertips and stretch it into a 12" circle - it will most likely be uneven in shape. Don't roll with a rolling pin, as that flattens all the bubbles and lightness in the dough. Lift the round, stretch the top edge gently, and let the weight pull it larger. Sprinkle a peel or rimless baking sheet with some semolina or cornmeal and AP flour. Place stretched dough onto peel, allow to rest 5 - 10 minutes. Spread crust with 3-4 oz. pizza sauce, any meat or veggie toppings, and 4 oz. grated mozzarella. Slide from peel onto heated stone , bake for 8-10 minutes until cheese begins to brown and crust is nicely browned. If you are using cooked meat topping, you can bake it without cheese for about 5 minutes to heat through and firm up the crust, then add cheese and bake for another 5 minutes.