20 Minute Pizza Dough

How would you like to make delicious pizza dough in 20 minutes and be able to enjoy a fresh baked pizza in 30 minutes from start to finish!   

How would you like to have great tasting pizza ready in 30 minutes!

That’s right… 20 minutes to make the dough and 10 minutes to cook.

No more waiting for an hour for the dough to rise, this is a recipe you’ll use over and over.

Yes, it’s possible…. totally possible and delicious too.

• Less expensive than take-out!
• Completely customizable
• ready in 20 minutes

Have you ever thrown a pizza party? There are so many options, you can have everyone bring their favorite topping and you have all the pizza dough ready to go, or you can slice and prepare all the toppings yourself. It’s not too difficult, you don’t have to go crazy to have a great time.

These toppings seem to be most popular

• pepperoni
• mushrooms
• peppers
• spinach
• olives
• tomatoes
• pineapple
• ricotta cheese

Of course, that will just get you started, add any topping you prefer, just remember if you want a crispy crust don’t pile on too many toppings especially if they have a lot of moisture to them, they will make the dough soggy.

Now don’t forget to the cheese, mozzarella cheese is the most common cheese on top of a pizza and it has that great stretch factor to give it a cheesy pull!

I mix my dough in the bowl of my kitchen-aid mixer, you can use a hand held mixer with a dough attachment or a food processor and just pulse the processor until the dough comes together.

Once you have the dough mixed and it pulls away from the sides of the bowl, lightly flour your hands and a work surface and roll it into two balls.
Let them rest 5-10 minutes, the dough will rise and be able to be stretched. If your kitchen is cooler let it rest 10 minutes, if the dough feels warm and it looks like it “puffed” 5 minutes will be fine.

With lightly floured hands and work surface, press your fingertips into the dough to press out the air bubbles. once this is done, pick up the dough with your knuckles and stretch the dough by having your knuckles a few inches in from the ends, work in a circle and go around the outside edge of the dough until it resembles a pizza circle.

Here is a video of me stretching the dough:

I bake my pizza on pizza screens, they have holes just like a “screen” implies, they really are the BEST for baking pizza and ensuring a crispy crust and bottom. I’ve used all sorts of “pizza” pans and stones over the years and the pizza screens are by far my favorite, they are just a few dollars at a restaurant or cooking supply stores.

CLICK HERE to see the pizza screens on Amazon

Be sure to measure your oven to be sure you purchase the correct size screen. 14″ screens fit best in my oven.

I have a few in different sizes, I even use a small one 8″ round to heat just a slice of pizza or small leftover in the oven and it ensures the bottom will be crispy and not soggy. Reheating items on this screen allows it to taste as good as when it was first made.

This dough stretches 2- 12″ pizza doughs so there is a little bit of screen showing around the edge.

If you are adding sauce to your pizza don’t overload it as this is just one more thing that can make the crust soggy and heavy and not crisp properly.
Add 1/4 cup sauce to start with them add some more.
Alternatively, you can brush some olive oil on the crust and add topping if tomato sauce isn’t your favorite.
Then add your cheese about 8oz. grated cheese per pizza then toppings. Add a little oregano and begin cooking.

Heat your oven to 500 degrees.  Be sure to keep an eye on the pizza the last minute or so as you won’t want it to burn. If you are baking for a while, I find I can turn the oven to 450° after the first hour as my oven tends to get even hotter sometimes. So I keep an eye on a thermometer I keep in the bottom of my oven to be sure all my pizzas will cook evenly.

Cook pizza 9-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly and bottom crust is crisp.
When the pizza is done, let it rest a couple minutes so when you slice it the cheese stays put on each piece.

Print Recipe

20 Minute Pizza Dough

Servings: 2 14”-16” pizza

Author: Diane Schmidt - createdbydiane.com

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 teaspoons instant yeast 11ml(or 1fast acting rapid rise yeast packet)
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup warm water that has been brought to 120°
• 3-1/4-3-1/2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Preheat your oven between 450-500° (If your oven runs hot try 450° once you know how even you oven runs at this temperature you'll have a better idea of temperature and timing.
• I run my oven at 500 degrees once it's been on for an hour if I'm making pizza after pizza I turn it down to 450° if I feel the cheese is getting dark quick.
• The pizza takes 9-10 minutes to bake. KEEP an eye on them, 1 minute will matter at 500°
• In a large mixer bowl add the yeast and sugar to the warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes. It will become foamy.
• Then place 3-1/4 cups flour into the bowl with the olive oil and salt and mix with the paddle attachment or with a wooden spoon if mixing by hand.
• Then add the paddle attachment and mix until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If you aren't using a mixer, just use a wooden spoon to mix until it forms a ball.
• The will make about 24oz dough.
• Roll the dough into 2 balls with a small amount of flour if needed if it's sticky.
• TWO 12oz pizza dough will stretch to be about 12" pizzas each.
• Let the dough rest/rise for 5-10 minutes. The timing will depend on how warm or cool your kitchen is.
• Stretch the pizza dough with floured hands and a little flour on your work surface. Knead the air out of the dough by pressing your fingertips to create a crater look in the dough. Then pick up the dough and stretch it with your knuckles around in a circle until the dough is smooth and fairly evenly round shaped. This sometimes takes practice, do not try to overstretch the dough the first few times you try it, you can always put it on your pizza screen and stretch it a bit before adding toppings.
• I bake my pizza on pizza screens, they have holes just like a "screen" implies, they really are the BEST for baking pizza and ensuring a crispy crust and bottom. I've used all sorts of "pizza" pans and stones over the years and the pizza screens are by far my favorite, they are just a few dollars at a restaurant or cooking supply stores.
• If you are adding sauce to your pizza don't overload it as this is just one more thing that can make the crust soggy and heavy and not crisp properly.
• Add 1/4 cup sauce to start with them add some more.
• Alternatively, you can brush some olive oil on the crust and add topping if tomato sauce isn't your favorite.
• Then add your cheese about 8oz. grated cheese per pizza then toppings. Add a little oregano and begin cooking.
• Cook pizza 9-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly and bottom crust is crisp.
• When the pizza is done, let it rest a couple minutes so when you slice it the cheese stays put on each piece.