12″ Chewy Crust Pizza Dough – Easy Recipe

Easy chewy pizza dough is simple to make with just a few ingredients like flour, oil, salt, and yeast.

With one pizza dough recipe it’s easy to make your own chewy pizza crust, calzone, or baked garlic bread sides. Keep reading to get 1 dough recipe and helpful tips to make all 3 recipes and more.

If I say “garlic” you say butter… “Garlic!” ______ ! “Garlic!” ______ ! That was fun, I hope you got a giggle out of it too.

Seriously, I love garlic, and if you do too. You will love these easy garlic butter with baked chewy pizza dough sides.

If you don’t have time to make your own dough, store-bought pizza dough will work for these too.

• Garlic Knots
• Cheesy Garlic Bread
• Garlic Butter Pull-Apart Bread
• Pizza Pockets & Calzones

Ingredients For The Best Homemade Pizza Dough

Yeast original recipe calls for 2 yeast cakes. I have modified this amount to 1½ teaspoon of instant active dry yeast.

Vegetable oil original recipe calls for Wesson vegetable oil. I use olive oil but any other cooking oil will work instead.

Flour for the best pizza crust use a high gluten bread flour but all purpose flour will work too.

White sugar

Table Salt or sea salt works best in this recipe.

Black pepper is an optional ingredient.

Tools

• Pizza pan, screen, cookie sheet, or pizza stone
• Large bowl
• Wooden spoon or dough hook and stand mixer
• Cloth kitchen towel or plastic wrap
• Medium-to-large rolling pin.

Steps For A Chewy Pizza Crust

Step 1 – In a large mixing bowl combine flour with all of the ingredients. Knead together for 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes with a stand mixer. Hand stretch dough into a smooth ball.

Step 2 – Cover the dough with a damp cloth or piece of parchment paper. Let the pizza dough rise for 30 minutes in a warm place until doubled.

Step 3 – Roll out the fresh pizza dough on a lightly floured work surface and continue to hand stretch the edge of the dough to form a 12-inch circle with a finger width ridge around the edge.

For a thin crust pizza, roll the dough out to a little over ¼” thick. Place rolled-out pizza dough on top of your pizza pan or screen. Top with pizza sauce and other pizza toppings.

Thicker crust pizza, roll out the pizza dough to be about ½” thick.

Tips For Using a Pizza Stone: Place your stone in the middle of the oven before preheating. Roll dough out on your work surface. Place dough on a floured wooden pizza peel and top with all your favorite pizza toppings. 

Before placing pizza to bake, give the pizza peel a little wiggle back and forth to loosen the pizza dough. Slide pizza onto the middle of the hot stone and bake.

Pizza Dough Variations With Garlic Sauce

How to make garlic sauce, in a small bowl add ¼ cup melted butter, ¼ cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 4 cloves minced garlic (about 1 tablespoon fresh or substitute 1 teaspoon garlic powder). Whisk together.

Garlic knots, with your hands, roll dough into a 1″ thick rope and cut into 6″ pieces. Loop each piece into a simple knot. Dip in garlic sauce (directions above) and bake until golden brown.

Cheese bread, roll out to the desired shape about 1″ thick top with garlic sauce, shredded cheese, and parmesan cheese. Bake until golden brown.

Garlic sauce with pull-apart bread, roll out dough to a 1″ thick rope and cut 1″ pieces. Dip pieces into garlic sauce and put in a bread pan to rise until doubled. Bake until the top is golden brown.

How To Make Pizza Pockets or Calzone With Pizza Dough

First: Make pizza dough or use store bought pizza dough. Divide dough into 4 or 6 equal pieces.

Second: Roll out each piece into a circle, between ¼ to ½ inch thick.

Third: Fill half of the dough with your pizza toppings and pinch closed. Place on your baking sheet and add a little vent on the top by pricking with a fork or knife.

Bake until golden brown or until the cheese is melted. If the cheese is not melted and the crust is golden brown add a sheet of aluminum paper, over the top, to prevent the crust from burning.

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