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Friday night is Pizza Night at the Frugal Upstate house! For the last 2 1/2 years more or less every week I have made homemade pizza on Friday nights.
The kids love it and look forward to it, feeling like they are getting “junk” food. Yankee Bill and I aren’t exactly complaining about it either-we both enjoy pizza.
One of the great things about homemade pizza, besides it’s very frugal cost, is that you can control what goes into it and on it. I tend to make mine a bit lighter on the cheese, which cuts the calories and fat. We typically make pepperoni and cheese, although frequently we’ll break out to broccoli (if we have fresh on hand) or tomato (with slices of fresh). I’ve even tried my hand at a version of chicken BBQ.
And let’s face it, although pizza toppings would make even a piece of cardboard palatable, there is something about a great crust that really improves the total quality of your pizza.
For the longest time I just used the pizza crust recipe that came in my breadmaker cookbook. It was a decent recipe-tasted fine and all-but wasn’t anything special. I always had the feeling that although I was saving money and being much, much healthier than ordering out pizza (or even buying frozen pizza) I was somehow sacrificing on taste.
So last year when Amy from MomAdvice started experimenting with different pizza crust recipes I watched with great interest. I’m the kind of gal that likes to learn from other peoples experiences, and Amy gave me some great ones to learn from!
She started out in her initial “Homemade Pizza” post by detailing the way her family makes pizza, along with two crust recipes and a sauce recipe. She even gave directions for freezing the dough! I have been known to make an extra crust and parbake it for 8 min or so before freezing it, but I had never thought of freezing the raw dough.
Four months later in “Pizza Dough Revisited” she tried a new pizza dough & sauce recipe from a slow cooker cookbook. That was a success – despite her aversion to dough rolling.
Fast forward another two months and in “Dinner’s in the Bag” she not only shared another new crust recipe, but a way to speed up the entire pizza making process and tips for how to turn one batch of crust into breadsticks.
You’ve got to admire that kind of perseverance. Finally she hit the jackpot, at least as far as I am concerned, with her Pizza Hut Clone recipe.
Yes, it has more ingredients than the other recipes, so it’s a tiny bit more of a hassle to put together. The taste however makes it worth it. I was in a head cold induced stupor the other day and mistakenly made my old recipe on pizza night-everyone noticed the difference and was disappointed.
So without further ado, here is the king of all pizza crust recipes.
At least as far as I’m concerned.
Pizza Hut Style Pizza Dough*
1 1/3 cups water
2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp cornmeal
3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp yeast
Add ingredients to bread machine, according to manufacturer’s settings, and run dough setting. After the machine beeps, roll out the dough.
You can roll the dough into two 9×13″ pizzas (great for kid’s lunches!) or into two medium pizzas or a large pizza and an order of breadsticks (as instructed above).
Parbake the crust with a drizzle of olive oil on it at 450 degrees for ten minutes. Remove the crust and add sauce and toppings.
If making breadsticks, add your breadsticks at this time. Place into the oven for another ten to fifteen minutes or until golden and bubbly.
Enjoy!
*Note: Reprinted with permission.
**Note: Photos by Jeff Kubina, Adam Kuban, and Javier Psilocybin respectively.
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FAQs
DOUGH: ENRICHED FLOUR (BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, YEAST. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: SALT, SOYBEAN OIL, VITAL WHEAT GLUTEN, SUGAR, ENZYMES, ASCORBIC ACID, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE.
Does Pizza Hut use eggs in their dough? ›
Does Pizza Hut's pizza dough have eggs in it? The only pizza dough that contains eggs at Pizza Hut is Udi's Gluten-Free Pizza Dough.
What is the difference between pizza dough and bread recipe? ›
The main difference is that pizza dough is often made with a higher protein flour (bread flour is perfect). Bread dough can also be made with bread flour (of course) but some types of bread dough are better made with a lower protein flour like all purpose flour.
Does thin crust pizza use less dough? ›
Healthier - Less dough is used for thin crusts than deep dish varieties. As a result, each slice of the thin crust will usually have fewer calories and carbs than an equivalent slice of deep-dish pizza, making it an excellent option for health-conscious individuals.
Why is Pizza Hut crust so good? ›
The high heat and the yeast in the dough cause the crust to puff up and become crispy on the outside while remaining soft and chewy on the inside. The thickness of the crust can also contribute to the taste, as it allows for more toppings and cheese to be added, creating a more flavorful pizza overall.
Is Pizza Hut dough made in store? ›
What many people don't know is that Pizza Hut has two models when it comes to making dough – one whereby the dough is made fresh in store and one where it is supplied frozen as a raw dough piece. “Both work and deliver the same great quality of pizza, but the equipment and training is totally different.”
Does Pizza Hut put sugar in their crust? ›
CONTAINS WHEAT
Hand-Tossed Style Crust ENRICHED FLOUR (BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, YEAST, SOYBEAN OIL. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: SALT, VITAL WHEAT GLUTEN, DATEM, SUGAR, ENZYMES, ASCORBIC ACID, SUCRALOSE.
What is a good egg substitute for pizza dough? ›
You'll want to start your crust-making process by making a flax egg. A flax egg is a vegan egg substitute that works extremely well in vegan baking. To make one flax egg combine 1 tablespoon flax meal and 3 tablespoons water, mix well and set aside for at least 5 minutes.
What does Pizza Hut stuff their crust with? ›
What cheese is in a Stuffed Crust Pizza at Pizza Hut? Pizza Hut's stuffed crust is 100% real cheese made from whole milk mozzarella.
Can I substitute bread flour for all-purpose in pizza dough? ›
Higher protein content means higher gluten content, as we now know, so using bread flour in your pizza dough will result in a stretchy dough that's less likely to tear. You get a very chewier, more bread-like pizza crust when you make your dough with bread flour.
For my Perfect all-purpose pizza dough recipe, I combine bread flour and all-purpose flour and find that the combination works very well for texture, cooking time, and handling.
Is it better to buy pizza dough or make it? ›
Make it. No doubt about it: a pre-made pizza crust isn't in the same league as Lahey's pillowy, yeasty, richly flavored made-from-scratch dough. Whole Foods' frozen version fell slightly short in the texture department, but got high marks for its yeasty, complex flavor.
What is the secret to making thin crust pizza? ›
The secret to making pizza crust thinner is by rolling out as thin as you can without tearing the dough. This can be achieved by using a rolling pin and about ½ to ¾ of 1 dough ball for this recipe.
What happens if I use less yeast in pizza dough? ›
if instead we want something more elaborate, always within 24 hours but giving the dough time to mature in the refrigerator, more yeast will be needed: even 10 grams per kilo is fine because the metabolism of the yeasts is slowed down by the low temperatures, so using little yeast for this type of dough could lead to ...
Why is my thin crust pizza not crispy? ›
If you want to get a thin and crispy crust, follow the tips below:
- Tip 1. Use the 'low and slow' technique.
- Tip 2. Add oil to your dough.
- Tip 3. Avoid using toppings with too much moisture.
- Tip 4. Make your dough thinner.
- Tip 5. Add sugar to your dough.
PLANO, TEXAS (May 26, 2015) – Pizza Hut announced plans today to make changes to its ingredients brand standards, beginning with the removal of artificial flavors and colors from its nationally available pizzas by no later than the end of July, the first national chain to make this commitment.
What is Pizza Hut base made of? ›
Pan : Frozen Enriched Unbleached Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt, Soybean Oil, Calcium Sulphate, Sugar, Acetylated Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono And Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl-2- Lactylate, Distilled Monoglycerides, Ascorbic Acid, Enzymes (Amylase, Fungal Amylase, Glucose Oxidase, Pentosanase, Protease (From Wheat).
