Beer-Based Pizza Dough Recipe

When you think of pizza, you probably think of ordering takeout from your favorite pizza place — and there's nothing wrong with that! If you do feel adventurous and want to make homemade pizza, it's easiest to opt for premade, ready-to-bake dough. There's nothing wrong with convenience, but as it turns out, it really is incredibly easy to make fresh, homemade pizza dough. Yes, it is time consuming, as you'll have to let the dough rest, but with Stephanie Rapone's beer-based pizza dough recipe, you won't have to worry about activating yeast or allowing the dough to rise. "I love that this dough doesn't require you to use yeast or a rising process," Rapone explains. "While you do have to let the dough rest, it's not so dependent on the yeast rising properly (which can be 'moody' if the weather or temperature isn't right)."

If you're worried that the dough won't taste quite right without yeast, fear not — there very much will still be yeast in the recipe! Instead of using a little packet of it, however, you'll thank your favorite pilsner for providing such flavor. "The beer is the special ingredient here, providing rise and a bit of that 'yeasty' flavor without yeast," Rapone explains. The beer really provides quite the shortcut with this recipe, not to mention flavor. Plus, you'll have five beers left of the six-pack you'll buy to make this recipe, so you can crack one open and enjoy it with your homemade pizza.

Every recipe starts with securing the ingredients, and for this one, the list is short. You'll need bread flour, baking powder, kosher salt, a 12-ounce beer (Rapone recommends something light, like a pilsner), and some olive oil for drizzling. Of course, this ingredients list covers only the dough — as for how you choose to adorn your pizza, well, that fun part is up to you.

First, grab a large bowl, and add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk those ingredients to make sure they're thoroughly combined, then crack open that beer. Slowly pour the beer into the flour mixture and, using a wooden spoon, continuously stir it into the dry ingredients. Stop stirring once you have a sticky dough, and lightly oil your hands and use them to work the dough, just until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. 

Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour, and once again oil your hands. Turn the dough out onto the work surface and begin to knead it with your hands, until it starts to form a more cohesive, elastic dough. If it's sticking to either your hands or the work surface, simply sprinkle on a little more flour. Once you have an easily-workable dough, divide it in half, and shape each piece into a ball. "Don't overwork the dough right away," Rapone advises. "Once it comes together, just get it in the ball shape and let it rest." Cover the dough balls with a kitchen towel, allowing them to rest for 30 minutes.

Once the half hour is up, knead each dough ball again. They should be nice and smooth at this point, so drizzle some olive oil onto each one, and let them rest for another 1-2 hours. "I always recommend longer rest instead of shorter rest periods," Rapone notes. During this time, the gluten will relax, making the dough much easier to roll out. 

This is a recipe for pizza dough itself, though Rapone does offer insight into adorning and baking a pizza. Get your oven preheating to 500 F and roll the dough out to about 12-inches in diameter. Dock the dough by poking holes in it with a fork, which will help steam escape as it bakes, and it will pop air bubbles in the dough. Finally, adorn your pizza with your favorite toppings. "We love simple pizza around here — just our favorite sauce with mozzarella, parmesan, and fresh basil; or sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni," Rapone recommends. "But this crust is super versatile and would be great with any toppings!" So, yes, that is your sign to get creative.

Once you're ready to bake the pizza, ideally place it on a pizza stone, then put it on the highest rack in the oven. Allow it to bake for 10-12 minutes, and voila! — you have a delicious, beer-based pizza, and it really wasn't that much more work than picking up the phone and ordering one, right? And, don't forget to crack open one of those extra beers to enjoy the perfect combo of cold beer and pizza.