Gourmet Pizza Crust with suggestions for toppings, sauce, and herbs. Make an incredible home made pizza from this unique recipe!

Pizza Crust

Try this quick pizza crust recipe using quick-rise yeast and savoury herbs. Your kitchen will smell like honey and roasted garlic as this golden crust bakes, and you can seal it in foil for the freezer to use at a later time. The triple recipe will make three medium round pizza crusts or two extra-large rectangular crusts. Serve your home-made pizza with some home-made beer: pizza and beer is sure to impress your guests when you've made them both!

For an even quicker pizza crust recipe, scroll down to find a yeastless dough with buttermilk that yields a thin, crisp crust . . .

Triple Pizza Crust

Glass Bowl:

1 ½ cups non-fat evaporated milk (1 tin)

1 ½ cups (or more) water

1 ½ cups (3/4 lb) butter

3-4 tbls honey

Large Bowl:

3 cups white unbleached flour

3 cups whole wheat flour

3 tsp salt

2-3 cloves garlic, pressed

3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary, stripped and chopped

3 palmfuls of fennel seed

Medium Bowl:

3 cups white unbleached flour

6 3/4 tsp (1 1/2 tbls) quick-rise yeast

-use 2 extra large heavy cookie sheets for a standard sized oven

-when using bottom oven rack, lower temperature to 300° F and/or raise rack

Double Pizza Crust Recipe

Glass Bowl:

1 cup non-fat evaporated milk

1 cup (plus) water

½ lb (1 cup) butter

2-3 tbls honey

Medium Bowl:

4 cups flour (2 cups whole wheat & 2 cups white)

2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 tbls (or more) chopped herbs (rosemary, fennel [toasted])

2 tsp (or more) salt

Small Bowl:

2 cups white unbleached flour

4 ½ tsp quick-rise yeast

Single Pizza Crust

½ cup non-fat evaporated milk

½ cup water

1/4 lb. (½ cup) butter

1-2 tbls honey (for a crunchy golden crust)

1 cup unbleached white flour

2 1/4 tsp quick-rise yeast

2 cups flour (1 cup whole wheat & 1 cup white)

1-2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 tbl (or more) chopped herbs (rosemary, fennel [toasted])

1 tsp (or more) salt

1 lrg glass bowl

2 medium bowls

Warm milk, water, butter, and honey in microwave in a glass bowl on medium for 3-4 minutes to 120-130° F. Mix 1 cup flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl & add to warm liquid mixture; beat well.

Thoroughly mix 2 cups flour, garlic & herbs in a bowl & add to above mixture. Mix with wooden spoon, then turn out on floured board. Knead, adding additional flour for 5-10 minutes.

Allow dough to rest on the board covered with a thin cloth for 10-30 minutes, or place in slightly warm oven. Punch down and knead a bit, then spread on a round non-stick pizza pan or extra large cookie sheet. Pour a little--roughly a teaspoon--olive oil into the palm of your hand and use it to grease your fingertips. Spread the dough evenly over the pan. Allow dough to rest for another 10-30 minutes, covered with a light tea towel.

Use a wooden skewer or toothpick to prick surface of pizza crust in a dozen places. Place pan in an oven preheated to 325° F. Bake with convection fan for 20-30 minutes, or until crust is a rich deep brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Pizza crust may be slightly under baked and frozen wrapped in foil; toppings may be applied while crust is still frozen.

shrimp, green peppers, and fresh tomatoes

Topping Suggestions

If using fresh tomatoes or pineapple, dice (or defrost if using frozen shrimp) and then squeeze out excess moisture so that crust will not be soggy.

Lightly oil the crust with olive oil before spreading it with the sauce.

Juicy ingredients are best placed on top of the cheese.

Pine nuts can be sprinkled on the cheese, toasted or untoasted.

Cherry tomatoes can be halved and seeded and placed on top of the cheese (they hold pine nuts well); sprinkle with lots of ground pepper & basil; when slicing the pizza, move them aside to avoid spilling juice on the crust.

Roasted bell peppers, skinned, seeded, and diced, have a wonderful flavor.

Seasonings may be added on each level (fennel seed on top of the cheese is toastier).

Unico basil & garlic pizza sauce with some salsa stirred in is delicious and fragrant!

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Roasted bell peppers, skinned, seeded, and diced, have a wonderful flavor.

Seasonings may be added on each level (fennel seed on top of the cheese is toastier).

Unico basil & garlic pizza sauce with some salsa stirred in is delicious and fragrant!

When you're in a hurry, a pizza crust without yeast will save at least an hour. This soda-bread pizza crust is delicious! The tangy buttermilk is amazingly nutritious, too. Of course, it won't have the elasticity of a yeast bread. Be sure to coat your pan with olive oil, and to oil the surface of the dough well. You can pre-bake this crust just until it's fully risen and lightly browned on the bottom, then layer or store it for later use.

Yeastless Pizza Crust

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbls granulated sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup buttermilk

For a thin, crisp crust, try this simple soda recipe. And remember: there's no reason why you can't add some herbs to enhance the flavor!

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Make a well in the center and add buttermilk; stir just enough to combine. Form dough into a ball, flatten slightly, then roll out with a rolling pin to the shape and size of your pan or pizza stone or pat into shape with your hands.

The buttermilk in the recipe above adds a lot of flavor as well as nutrients to the crust, but if you're out of buttermilk, try using sour cream with a little beer stirred in. One cup of sour cream plus 1/3 to 1/2 cup of cold beer should do the trick! Or, if you're out of beer, try wine . . .

Many inexpensive devices have been made available to enhance your pizza crust. The pizza crisper is a pan riddled with holes that allow excess moisture to evaporate from the dough while baking or reheating so that crispness is maintained. The pizza stone is a ceramic surface that can be used for baking bread as well as pizza crust. The stone must be preheated in the oven at a high temperature before the crust or loaf is put in the oven. Some maintain that ceramic tiles or terracotta plant trays purchased at a hardware store are cheaper and as effective, but the pizza stone is manufactured as a food-grade material and is not terribly expensive.

How to use a Pizza Stone: To keep your new pizza stone looking good, you can use parchment paper instead of cornmeal under the crust to absorb spills. Do not use soap to clean the stone--it's too porous for that. Hot water is recommended, and perhaps a little baking soda.

While preparing your pizza crust, preheat your oven at 425-450° F with the pizza stone, for 15 minutes. Baking with a pizza stone produces much faster results, so keep an eye on it! It's ready when the cheese begins to brown around the edges. In my oven, I find that 450° F produces a crust hard enough to break polar bear teeth, so I prefer to preheat at 425° F.

Use a wire rack or flat baking sheet covered with a layer or two of baking parchment to prepare your pizza on. When it's ready for the oven, slide out the oven rack with the stone part way, then slide the pizza onto the stone with the aid of the parchment (bearing in mind that it won't help you remove it later--it will be too brittle after baking). After 20 minutes or so, turn off the oven heat and open the door for a few minutes. Then, using your best oven mitts, slide out the oven rack and lift the stone onto a wire rack or the serving rack that came with the stone. The stone will keep the pizza hot for some time and you can slice the pizza while it's on the stone.