Thick, crisp, but chewy pizza crust. The recipe yields enough dough for two 12-inch pizzas but you can stretch this to 3 if you prefer a smaller, thinner crust. This pizza dough can also be frozen for later use.
Combine the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer, if you are using one. Cover and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the yeast to bubble up.
Add the olive oil, flour, and salt. Beat on low speed for 2-3 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for 5 minutes. You can use your Stand mixer to knead the dough but it may be a bit heavy for it. Press the dough lightly with your finger to test if its ready to rise. If it slowly bounces back, you're ready to go. If not, knead for a little longer.
Lightly grease the bowl the same bowl you used to mix the dough with oil and place the dough in the bowl, making sure to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
You can prepare your pizza toppings at this point
Preheat oven to 475°F (246°C), allow it to heat for at least 15-20 minutes as you shape the pizza dough.
Prepare a baking sheet or pizza tray by lining with baking paper or lightly spraying with non-stick spray or olive oil.
When the dough is ready, punch it down and divide the dough in half. You can freeze the dough at this point if you are only making 1 pizza (see below).
Lightly flour both your work surface and hands and then gently flatten the dough into a disc, place it onto a pizza tray and stretch and flatten the disc until it is around 12-inches in diameter and about 1/2-inch thick.
If the dough keeps shrinking back as you try to stretch it, simply stop shaping and gently cover cover the dough for 5-10 minutes and then try again.
Top with your favourite toppings and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the crust starts to turn golden brown.
Freezing Instructions: After the pizza dough rises and you divide the dough in half, you can freeze the dough to make pizza at a later time. Or you can simply freeze both balls of dough separately. Lightly coat all sides of the dough ball(s) with non-stick spray or olive oil. Place the dough ball(s) into individual zipped-top bag(s)and seal tightly, squeezing out all the air, or simply wrap in film. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw, place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator for about 8 hours or overnight. When you are ready to make the pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to rest for approx. 1 hour on the counter. Then follow the recipe from Step 4.