Easy Bread Machine Pizza Dough
January 3, 2006 by Andrea 
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Filed under Breads
This pizza dough really is easy! It’s chewy and has a wonderful flavor. You can also use this dough to make focaccia, calzones, and breadsticks.
Equipment
bread machine
baking stone or pizza pan
large bowl for rising
Ingredients
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water (You may need to use less. Adjust for humidity, otherwise the dough will be runny.)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
bread flour for kneading
olive oil for baking stone
coarse yellow corn meal
Preparation
1. Place all the above ingredients in the order listed into the bread machine. Select the Dough cycle and press Start. (1 hour 30 minutes rising time) Note: Some bread machines require the yeast to go in first and the liquids last. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for your bread machine.
2. When the dough cycle is complete, take the dough out of the machine and place in a bowl with olive oil in the bottom. Roll the dough around coating it in the oil. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1/2 an hour. I like to put it on my stove top and turn on the light above the stove. That seems to be just right. NOTE: If your dough has too much liquid, it may be runny when you remove it from your machine. If so, lightly knead some bread flour into the dough, but don’t overdo it. The dough should be slightly sticky, not dry, when you put it into the bowl.
3. Preheat oven to 450° F (225° C). If you are using a baking stone, put stone in oven to preheat. Punch down risen dough and turn it out onto a floured board. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Knead the risen dough lightly. For a thick crust, use all the dough to make one pizza. For a thin crust, divide dough into two pieces and use each for a pizza.
4. Spread or toss pizza into a circle to fit your pan or baking stone. Rub olive oil on the baking stone (not on a pan). Sprinkle pan/stone with coarse yellow corn meal. Place dough onto pan/stone.
6. Bake dough by itself, no toppings, until just set, for up to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and add your favorite toppings. Return pizza to oven and cook until crust is golden brown and cheese is getting a nice brown crust in spots, about 10 minutes or so. Cooking times will depend on your oven.
Notes
Total rising time: 2 hours and 20 minutes
If you use a nonstick pan for your pizza, reduce the temperature of the oven 25°, otherwise you will overcook the crust.
You can spice up the crust by adding garlic powder, dried basil, or dried oregano to the dough mixture.
If you want a less chewy dough, use unbleached all-purpose flour instead of bread flour. I personally prefer the flavor with bread flour.
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Source: Andrea Meyers, based on a variety of sources over the years
This is my recipe to make an excellent cracker-thin pizza using the bread machine and an autolyse (this recipe makes a 12” pizza). The crust is crisp, yet chewy and tender at the same time. (For a more Giordano’s-style thin crust [you can use my Giodano's recipe on this site and roll it out thin], use 4 TBS –not tsp–oil).
1.25 cups all-purpose flour
.50 tsp yeast
.75 tsp sugar
.50 tsp salt
.50 cup water
1 tsp canola oil
Put all but .50 cups flour into bread machine. Program to “dough”. Let it mix for two minutes, then turn the machine off. Let the mixture stand covered for one half hour. The dough should look like a batter at this point.
At the end of the half hour, remove the mixing pan from the machine, program it to “dough“ again and let it cycle through the mixing stage without putting the pan in. When the kneading cycle comes on, insert the pan and let it knead for 6 minutes. After 3 minutes of the 6, add the remaining flour a little at a time (don’t just dump it in) , until it’s all incorporated.
After the 6 minutes, turn the machine off and let the dough rest for at least 15 minutes. Then turn it out onto a floured board and knead for 30 seconds to a minute.
Oil the dough, then let it rise for at least 4 hours (8 is better).
When it has risen, turn it out onto a floured surface and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then roll it out as thin as you possibly can and place into a pizza pan. Prick it all over with a fork–this will prevent air pockets from rising.
Preheat the oven to 450. Cover the pizza with foil, place on the bottom rack and let cook for about 10 minutes, just until the bottom starts to take on color.
Remove the pizza from the oven, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Cover with foil again and place it near the bottom of the oven. When it gets a bit golden, move the pan to the middle rack and remove foil. The top will cook pretty quickly, so watch it!
Sauce
1 28-oz. can 6-in-1 tomatoes (if you can’t get 6-in-1′s, Contadina crushed romas will do)
.25 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 garlic clove, minced or crushed
Italian spices to taste
A few dashes of red pepper flakes
Do not cook (pre-cooking a pizza sauce will destroy the flavor as it will cook twice when it goes into the oven)
Thanks for sharing your recipe, Steve. The more I bake, the more I rely on an autolyse (resting) stage. It does make the dough easier to work with. I love cracker thin pizza crusts, so I’ll have to give this one a try!