Sourdough Pizza Crust (Better than Pre-Made)
Sourdough pizza crust makes some of the best-tasting pizza. The dough has a balanced sourdough tang that pairs well with any topping. You can roll it thin or keep it thick, whatever you like. This is the only recipe we use for at-home pizza night. It's that dang good!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup fed sourdough starter
- 1 cup water
- 3 Tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp raw honey
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- BEFORE YOU GET STARTED: Feed your entire sourdough starter jar 4-12 hours before starting this recipe. I recommend feeding your entire starter a 2:1 ratio of unbleached flour to filtered water to get the same results as I do when making this recipe. (Example: Feed entire starter 1 cup flour + 1/2 cup water and let it sit on the counter at room temperature until it's bubbly and has grown in the jar. Your starter needs to be active, bubbly, and a thicker consistency to use in this recipe.)
- Add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine (dough may be shaggy).
- Use your hands to bring dough into a ball (add 1 Tbsp extra water if needed).
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 3 minutes.
- Place dough back into the bowl and cover for 10-12 hours to bulk ferment in a warm space. Please see notes below!
- OPTIONAL: When the bulk ferment is over you can continue this recipe OR cover the dough with an airtight lid or saran wrap. Then place it in the fridge up to 3 days until you're ready to use it.
- When you're ready to continue, divide the dough into 2 even pieces (you can make 2 pizzas or 1 pizza and a side with this, or freeze one section of the dough and use the other).
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (if you're using a pizza stone place it in the oven now)
- Roll 1 dough section out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin to the shape and thickness you desire (1/4" for thin crust or 1/2" for hand-tossed). Roll the edges a little if you want a crust.
- Use other section as desired.
- Place rolled-out dough on a preheated pizza stone or a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake dough for 8-10 minutes before adding the sauce and toppings.
- Pull out of oven and add sauce and toppings of choice.
- Bake for an additional 15-18 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
What to do if your dough isn't doubling in size during the bulk ferment:
- If your dough doesn't look like it's doing anything halfway through the rises, you need to place it in a slightly warmer area.
- This can be in a turned-off oven with the light on and oven door open, or you can slightly warm the oven to about 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit, then turn it off and place your dough inside with the door shut.
- Never leave the oven on, even on the keep warm setting, with fermenting dough inside. Your dough, for both rises, needs to double.
- If your dough doesn't double even in the warmer area, there is a problem with your starter. It is too weak to ferment the dough even in a warm environment.
- To fix this, you will want to leave your starter out on the counter for 2 days and feed it every 12 hours at a 2:1 ratio of unbleached flour to filtered water.
- For example, 1 cup unbleached flour + 1/2 cup filtered (or bottled) water.
- Make sure you're using unbleached flour and filtered or bottled water to do this. If you don't, it will affect your starter strength. Reverse osmosis water (or any water that uses salt in the filter) can make the starter weak.
- This will strengthen the cultures in your starter to give you fluffy baked bread and treats. After the 2 days, you can go back to feeding it like usual (once a week if stored in the fridge or once a day if stored on the counter). Be sure to use the 2:1 ratio feeding from here on out.