Perfect Pizza Crust

Miss F has a game called "Pizza Mania!" At the start of the game, the chef says "Let's all make some delicious pizza." I love to make delicious pizza, who doesn't, but I often resort to buying pizza dough from our local pizza shop because it is just so easy and always foolproof. Confections of a Foodie Bride is a fellow Houstonian and absolutely amazing cook, so I figured her pizza crust recipe would be fantastic. And I was certainly right! And it was nearly as easy as driving over to my local pizza shop and buying the dough.  As the chef says at the end, "You win!"

Perfect Pizza Crust

1 ½ cups warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
4 teaspoons dry active yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for brushing crust
½ teaspoons salt
3 ½ cups flour, plus more for dusting
Cornmeal, for dusting surface

Place water and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and sprinkle the yeast over top. Let stand for 10 minutes - if your yeast doesn't swell or get frothy, buy new yeast.
Add the olive oil, salt, and flour.

With the mixer on low, mix until the dough comes together and mostly off the sides of the bowl (it will not come all the way off of the bottom). You can add flour by the tablespoon if necessary. Let the mixer run for 5 minutes to knead the dough. It should be smooth and slightly sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into thirds and shape into a ball. This makes the perfect pizza stone sized pizza. Lightly dust a plate with flour and place the balls of dough on top, seam-down. Sprinkle the top with flour, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge. Allow to rise in the refrigerator for 8 hours.

Pull the dough out of the fridge and let it sit, covered, on the counter for 60 minutes while your oven is preheating. If the plan is to only make one pizza that day, dust the extra ball of dough with flour, loosely wrap with plastic wrap, place in a gallon zip-top bag and refrigerate to it within 2 days, freeze if you need to store it for longer.

Place your pizza stone in the top 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 550, letting it hold at temperature for 30 minutes. Prepare your toppings: grate cheese, chop veggies, cook sausage, etc. Cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of your pizza stone. Dust the parchment paper with cornmeal.

Gently stretch the dough into a round - I hold one edge of the dough ball a couple of inches above my work surface and let gravity do most of the work, while I move my hands around the edge of the dough (like turning a steering wheel). Place the dough onto the parchment paper.

Switch your oven from "bake" mode to "broil." (If you get the option, select the "high" broil setting or 550 degrees. If you don't get the option, don't worry about it.). Top the pizza as desired. Transfer the pizza, parchment included, to the baking stone and broil for 5-7 minutes.

Remove the pizza from the oven, leaving the stone in place. Slice and serve.

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