New York Style Pizza Crust

I’ve been dissatisfied with my pizza crust recipe — it tastes great, but generally rises too much and just does not spread in the pan. I spotted this recipe and decided to give it a try.

The recipe is not necessarily special — however, the method is. I used the method and it worked fantastic — the crust spread quite evenly in the pan.

While I like this crust, next time I make pizza I will use my regular recipe and use the method in this recipe to see if it works.

I did not follow the recipe as written … not that I ever do. I added the basil & oregano, and used a bread machine to knead the dough.

New York Style Pizza Crust

• 1-2/3 cup water (110 F to 115 F)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
• 1-1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried basil (optional)
• 1 tsp dried oregano (optional)
• 1 Tbsp cornmeal (optional)

Hand Kneaded

Combine water and sugar in small bowl; stir to dissolve sugar. Sprinkle yeast on top; stir to combine. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes or until foamy.

Combine flour and salt in medium bowl. Stir in yeast mixture. Mix until mixture forms soft dough.

Remove dough to lightly floured surface. Knead 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic, adding additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed.

Place dough in medium bowl coated with nonstick cooking spray. Turn dough in bowl so top is coated with cooking spray; cover with towel or plastic wrap.

Let rise in warm place 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down; place on lightly floured surface and knead about 2 minutes or until smooth.

Jump to Both Methods and continue.

Bread Machine Kneaded

Instead of hand kneading, place all ingredients in the machine in this order: water, yeast, sugar, salt, basil, oregano. Add flour and set machine for dough cycle.

Remove dough from machine and continue.

Both Methods

Pat dough into flat disc about 7″ in diameter. Let rest 2 to 3 minutes.

Pat and gently stretch dough from edges until dough seems to not stretch anymore. Let rest 2 to 3 minutes.

Continue patting and stretching until dough is 12″ to 14″ in diameter.

Spray 12″ to 14″ pizza pan with nonstick spray; sprinkle with com meal, if desired. Press dough into pan. Preheat oven to 5OO F. Follow directions for individual recipes, baking pizza on bottom rack of oven.

Changes

My changes:

1. Original recipe was a bit small for the round pans I now use, so I scaled the recipe up 25%.
2. Current recipe is 2.5 times the size of the original, as I always make two pies.
3. The original ingredients were: 2/3 cup water, 1 tsp sugar, 1-1/2 tsp yeast, 1-3/4 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt
4. Usually add herbs.
5. Use bread machine to knead the dough.
6. Was using cookie sheets, but switched to extra large pizza pans.