Jenny Gentile’s Pizza Dough

  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
  • Serves: 6-10,Yield: 1crust (12 inch thick or 14 inch thin)
  • About This Recipe

    “This is a thin, crisp dough.Its awesome from my friends Italian grandma, who is no longer with us.Her dough lives on.”

    Ingredients

  • 1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
  • 4tablespoonswater( not hot)
  • 12tablespoonswater, cold
  • 1tablespoonolive oil
  • 1teaspoonsalt
  • 1tablespoonhoney
  • 3cupsflour
  • Directions

  • In a cup dissolve 1 pack of yeast in 4 tablespoons of warm (but not hot) water.
  • Allow to proof (sit) for 10 minutes.
  • In another cup, mix together 12 tablespoons of cold water, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of honey.
  • Add the wet ingredients (cold stuff first) to 3 cups of flour and mix (I sometimes use a food processor, but you can use your hands.)Allow the dough to rise.Personally, I make the dough the night before I need it, put it in the refrigerator overnight, and let it rise the next day (all day.)But as long as you let it rise at least 2 hours, it should be OK.
  • Reviews

  • “A wonderful Pizza dough, though I’ve never seen anyone who used honey in thiers but this came out very well.To spread it, I laid it out on some flour and used my hands to work it.I’ve also worked in a pizza place so knew how to throw it.DO not try this if you’ve never done it- its very messy.To get the pizza to round out try pushing it flat and then tossing it from hand to hand while spinning it slightly.We used ours to make a BBQ chicken pizza and loved it.Thanks so much”

  • “This was the best pizza I have ever made!!! NO JOKE!! I tried refigerating it overnight and then letting it rise the next day.I put it outside to rise, thinking that it would rise nicely in the Arizona heat. Wrong idea.I failed to realize that something sitting in the hot Phoenix sun can get over 200 degrees.My dough ended up getting cooked instead of rising. Lesson be learned, do not let your dough rise outside in the Phoenix sun.However, I realized it was cooking with enough time to do another batch and let it rise for two hours, and trust me, the trouble was worth it.It was great, I will definitely use this recipe again and again.No more take out for me!Thanx for a great recipe!!!”

  • “This was a great recipe. The crust taste good all by itself or with a good tomato basil sauce. the only thing i changed was i added about a tablespoon of sugar in with the yeast and water. That helped it proof better. I also needed to add a slpash more water to the dough to help it come together. It baked fantastically!”

  • “I’ve used this recipe about 5 times now for Stromboli and it is amazingly delicious easy to make!”

  • “We prefer thin crusts and I got 2 large thin crusts out of this. The crust was excellent and this is one of those good old fashioned reliable recipes. Good enough for dinner party style gourmet pizza.”

  • “Crispy outside, light as a feather inside. I was concerned at first, because this dough is very stiff, but it turned out great. I only let it rise 2 hours…it was fine.”

  • “Wonderful recipe. This is absolutely my favorite pizza dough. So easy to make and it rolls out like a dream, never sticky. I’ve done it once with all whole wheat flour and it was a bit chewy, which I attribute to the whole grain flour. Now I use half whole wheat and half white and I prefer it that way.”

  • “I’ve used this recipe many times to my great satisfaction. After trying several common ones (from Joy of Cooking, etc.) and ending up with thick, un-rollable dough, I stumbled upon this one.The dough is easily rolled out with a rolling pin and quite tasty. It doesn’t usually come out as thin or crispy as I would like it to be, but that might be more my fault than the recipe’s. If you’re looking for an easy, yummy pizza dough, this one is great :)”

  • “Deliziosa!When I posted my own recipe for Smoked Salmon, Apple, and Three-Cheese Pizza today, I recommended this as the dough to use.High honors to Nonna Gentile!”

  • “Love it!Cheap and quick.I added some of my favorite Italian seasonings and garlic powder.”

  • “Perfect! Not greasy or heavy.And I measured all the ingredients in order into my bread maker and set it on dough.It more than doubled it’s size and I let it rise in the oven once more on the pans after I rolled it out. Thank you for a wonderful recipe”

  • “great, easy ..I used 1 1/2cup whole wheat flour and the 1 1/2 cup white turned out wonderful”

  • “I used this dough to make two pizzas: Recipe #214261 and Recipe #254451. While my dough was mixing in the bread machine it had me worried, since it was very “craggy” so I added a couple of teaspoons of water. It still was a really tight looking dough, but it did rise sufficiently and was not tough to work with. With the chicken pizza I let the dough rise again, after it was shaped in the pan. This resulted in a fluffier crust. The other one was fine, but I thought it was a tad tough or brittle, which may be what a crisp crust is (I liked the other one better). Thanks for posting Beth.Roxygirl”

  • “My fiance and I made pizza together for the very first time using this recipe. I can confirm it is fantastic and very easy to make. I placed a warm towel around the base of the bowl to encourage rising.”

  • “I have made this dough several times and found that one cup of warm water made a perfect dough.It depends on the humidity how much flour you need to add, but around 3 cups is usually perfect.I think the texture and flavor are excellent for a nice thin crust!Thanks Beth!”

  • “YES — USE MORE WATER!!! Otherwise good recipe.”

  • “I also had to add a little more water, but this was an excellent pizza dough. I made breadsticks with the extra dough. I brushed olive oil infused with some italian spices onto the dough before covering with sauce and toppings. I’ve looked for a long time for a dough that was actually toss worthy, this is it! Thanks!!!”

  • “I had to add an extra 1/4 cup of water to get the dough right. I let it rise one hour, punched it down and let it rise one more hour. It rolled out beautifly and made two pies. I paired it with the sauce recipe # 21202 from Bonnie Scott. I heated the oven and stone to 500` and baked 8 min. Next time I’ll bake 10 for a crispier bottom. I will make this again.”

  • “Great pizza dough, but I think next time I’ll roll it a bit thinner and split it in 1/2.It was a little thick for my tastes, but I have to admit I’m a novice in making pizza dough.Loved the honey in it – it added that special something.I substituted ground garlic salt for the salt and that perked up the flavor.”

  • “This is a great recipe!I use it all the time now.I cut the dough in half and use it for 2 pizzas.I usually make one pizza and put the rest of the dough in the freezer.I find the dough that has been frozen is much tastier than the fresh.I also bake the crust for about 10 minutes and then add the sauce and toppings and bake about 10 minutes more.”

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