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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.
What is the secret of pizza dough? ›
There are many tricks to achieving a tasty, homemade pizza dough that rises into a beautiful pizza crust, such as making sure your ingredients are at right temperature, using half bread flour for a stronger dough and half all-purpose flour for a nice rise, substituting honey for sugar to help caramelize the crust and ...
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.
Does Pizza Hut use frozen dough? ›
According to one Pizza Hut employee on Reddit, it all starts with the proprietary frozen dough. "The dough comes frozen in boxes. It's prepared by spraying a pan/cooking sheet with non-stick spray and then laying the dough in it and putting it in the walk in freezer to thaw overnight," they said.
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 fluffy crust from Pizza Hut? ›
What Is The Difference Between Pizza Hut's Original Pan® Pizza And Hand Tossed Pizza? Original Pan® Pizza features a thick, crispy crust that's fluffy on the inside. Hand Tossed Pizza features a thinner, more-traditional crust.
What does adding milk to pizza dough do? ›
Adding milk to a homemade pizza dough recipe can change the texture and taste of the dough. Milk contains fat and protein, which can make the dough more flavorful and tender. The fat in milk can also help to create a softer and more pliable dough, which can make it easier to stretch and shape.
What's the difference between pizza crust and bread dough? ›
The water-to-flour ratio in pizza dough is also different from that of bread dough, with more water being used for a softer and more pliable crust. This allows for the dough to be stretched and shaped into a thin, round crust that is then topped with sauce, cheese, and other toppings before being baked in a hot oven.
What's the difference between bread dough and pizza dough? ›
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.
What is the unhealthiest thing at Pizza Hut? ›
Worst: Meat Lover's
Sausage, pepperoni, ham, oh my! According to Pizza Hut's description, "this pizza is NOT messing around"—unless, of course, you mean messing around for your health. If you eat two slices, you'll take in 80% of your daily value of saturated fat and 72% of your daily value for sodium.
Choosing the best crust type at Pizza Hut ultimately boils down to personal preference: – For fans of traditional, deep-dish style pizza: The Original Pan Crust is likely to be the top choice. – For those who enjoy a balance of crispiness and fluffiness: The Hand-Tossed Crust is a great choice.
What kind of cheese does Pizza Hut use for stuffed crust? ›
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.
What pizza chain makes their own dough? ›
Blaze Pizza
This fast-casual pizza chain utilizes an assembly line to get customers from one end to the other as they create their own personalized pizza. Blaze Pizza prides itself on using fresh dough that's made daily in-house from unbleached flour, filtered water, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and a touch of sugar.
Does Pizza Hut use sourdough? ›
Yes, we do!
Does Pizza Hut use artificial ingredients? ›
In 2015, Pizza Hut became the first national pizza restaurant to remove artificial flavors and colors from its core pizzas. On top of that, Pizza Hut has already eliminated partially hydrogenated oils (also known as artificial trans fats) and MSG.
What does pizza dough contain? ›
Making pizza dough is all about the ratios. All you need is flour, water, salt, sugar, oil and yeast. The ratio you'll need depends on the crust you want to serve.
Does Pizza Hut use animal rennet? ›
Parmesan Romano cheese blend that is added to P'Zones, Breadsticks and Ultimate Cheese Pizza as well as some dine-in products contains both microbial enzymes and animal-based rennet. Customers can request that 'breadstick seasoning' or 'Parmesan parsley blend' NOT be added to their products, if desired.
What is the stuff on pizza crust? ›
Cornmeal gives the pizza crust a little extra flavor and crisp. Most delivery pizzas you enjoy have cornmeal on the bottom crust!
