This Bread Machine Thin Crust Pizza Dough is perfect for you if you want a crispy thin crust that is still chewy underneath the toppings! Throw all ingredients in the bread machine and let it do the work for you. Ready to cook in 90 minutes.
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Since we like to make pizza at home more than ordering delivery, I came up with a perfect thin crust pizza dough comparable to the delicious, thin, and crispy NY style pizza I grew up eating.
It's really tough to develop the perfect thin crust pizza dough, but this recipe is comparable to a restaurant dough and is better than any packaged store bought container.
And while we love thin crust pizza, we also love this homemade thicker dough also made in the bread machine and a Neapolitan dough topped with basil and mozzarella. Both styles of dough make a delicious veggie packed Mediterranean pizza, pepperoni pizza, margherita pizza, or whatever kind of pizza is your favorite.
Tips for the Best Dough
One thing I've learned about pizza dough is that there are many ways to make it. I've also discovered two other very important steps when it comes to baking your thin crust pizza dough.
1. Using a pizza stone. If you want that true NY style pizza with a crispy crust yet softer bread under the cheese and toppings, use a pizza stone.
Before purchasing this pizza stone, I made my pizza with this dough on a big round non-stick pizza pan. But once I made it on the pizza stone, there was no going back to the pan.
Using a pizza stone turned this 5 star thin crust pizza dough into 10 stars. It was truly like eating Italian restaurant quality pizza. If you don't have a pizza stone and must use the pan, your dough will still turn out fantastic. But I still suggest investing in that pizza stone if you make homemade pizza often.
2. Preheating the pizza stone (or pan). Whether you use the pizza stone or pan, it is important to preheat it and then add your dough to make the pizza. It can be tricky to shape pizza dough on a heated pan, so it's important to shape the dough prior to placing it on the pan.
With this method, the dough is shaped into a small circle and then is allowed to rest for 10 minutes. Then it's spread out again using a rolling pin until it's about 16 inches wide.
Once the dough is completely spread, it's transferred to the preheated pan.
2. Poking holes in the spread dough. The first few times we made thin crust pizza dough, the crust was uneven and lumpy. It had risen like a hill in some places and was completely flat in others.
To help it rise evenly, poke holes all around the dough with a fork.
Bread Machine Instructions
It's super simple to make thin crust pizza dough in the bread machine.
Put all ingredients in the pan of the machine in the order listed (or the order your machine suggests), set to the dough function, and let the machine do all the work for you.
The dough function on my Cuisinart bread machine takes 90 minutes. Once the dough is ready, follow the instructions below for cooking your pizza.
You should always check the dough about 15 minutes into it. The dough should be tacky to the touch but not too sticky. If it's too sticky, add a little more flour. Or, if it's too dry, add a little more warm water.
I highly recommend investing in a good bread machine. While my Cuisinart bread machine is pricey, it is very well worth it. I have made all sorts of bread, dough, croissants, and jams in the bread machine. It has saved me endless amounts of money as I am not constantly buying bread. If my machine is out of your budget, you can opt for this one.
By Hand Instructions
You can also make this thin crust pizza dough by hand, and believe it or not it's actually quicker to do it this way! So if you don't have a bread machine, here is how to make it.
First, fill a large bowl with the warm water and sprinkle in the yeast.
Second, add the sugar, salt, and flour. Mix with a spatula until the ingredients are mixed and the dough is crumbly.
Then lightly flour the counter and knead the dough for 7 minutes. If you're unfamiliar with kneading dough, Youtube has lots of videos to show you.
Now form the dough into a ball and put into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a heavy cloth and put in a warm place to rise. I put mine in the microwave or oven.
Let the dough rise for 30 minutes. The dough will not double rise, but will rise slightly. It's also okay to let it rise for longer than 30 minutes, if you lose track of time.
Then follow the instructions below for cooking your thin crust pizza dough.
Cooking the Pizza
This thin crust pizza dough recipe makes one 16-18 inch pie. You can also divide it to make 2 individual 10 inch pizzas.
First, preheat the stone or pan at 450 degrees F. While the pan preheats, spread the dough into a circle. It will be small, about half the size of the finished pizza. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Then use a rolling pin to spread it out til it's about 16 inches wide.
Next, transfer the dough onto the warmed stone carefully. Reshape and fix any holes if necessary. Poke holes all around with a fork. Bake the plain thin crust pizza dough for 5 minutes.
After it bakes for 5 minutes, layer with about 1 cup of sauce, 1-2 cups of cheese, and your choice of toppings. Our favorite pizza is a white pizza with tomatoes and basil.
Put back in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes more, until the cheese starts to brown and bubble.
Enjoy!
Serving
Pizza dough will keep well in the fridge wrapped in oiled plastic wrap for about 2 days. It can be stored in the freezer for 6 months. To store in the freezer, wrap in foil in addition to the oiled plastic wrap.
I like to make this thin crust pizza dough in my bread machine while I am hanging around the house, even when it's not pizza night. I love to have dough in the freezer ready to go! It defrosts fairly quick on the counter or overnight in the fridge.
If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to give it a star rating and let me know what you thought in the comments! And follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more delicious recipes!
Recipe
Bread Machine Thin Crust Pizza Dough
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup warm water (110-120°)
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon active dry or instant yeast
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the bread machine pan in the order listed. Set machine to the dough function and press start.
- When cycle completes, spread into a circle on parchment paper. It will be small in size, about half of it's full size. Let rest for 10 minutes. Then spread again using a lightly floured rolling pin to flatten evenly until it is roughly 16 inches in diameter. Use a fork to poke holes throughout the dough.
- To cook, pre-bake at 450°F for 5 minutes. Then layer with 1 cup of sauce, 2 cups of cheese, and your choice of toppings. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for another 15 minutes, or until the cheese begins to lightly brown and bubble.
Notes
Nutrition
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Wendy
I have tried MANY pizza dough recipes and this one is above and beyond! A tip I read and tried, says to heat your oven to 500 degrees for about an hour before baking your pizza. While the dough is in that 10 minute "rest", reduce the heat to 450 and put your stone in the oven to get hot. I roll my dough on parchment and use that to move it to the hot stone. After that first 5 minute bake, I pull the parchment out and add my toppings, then do the second bake directly on the stone. I use half the dough and I'm able to cover my stone. I just oil the surface of the other half and put it in a Ziploc for another day!
Kristina Tipps
I am so glad you enjoyed it! That is a great tip. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Liz Schreiner
Great recipe! Made a great pizza!
Debb
Excellent thin crust! Thank you, never using anything else.
Allison
Was wondering what size bread machine you have ? Mine is 1 1/2 lb loaf
Kristina
Hi Allison, Mine can make a 1, 1.5 or 2 pound loaf.
Malana Moberg
I was wondering why you use sugar in the recipe. My husband doesn't like added sugar - so I'm wondering if I can leave it out
Kristina
Hi Malana, You can leave the sugar out and the results should be similar.
Darlene Ryno
We like thin crust that is a little puffy, like Round Table dough. I also make their spicy sauce. I used 1 1/4 cups organic all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup wheat flour and 1/2 cup bread flour. I also used 1 1/4 tsp instant yeast. This was my second attempt at pizza dough. The first time I followed the book that came with my machine, which was all bread flour. What a difference the flour made. My husband thought this was perfect and so did I. Thanks for all the knowledge.
Lin
Hello, did you bake with parchment paper between crust and the pizza stone? Thank you.
Kristina
Hi Lin, sometimes I do but not always. It depends on how the dough is acting and if it's unusually sticky, I will use parchment paper so it's easier to transfer to the pizza stone. Or, if I use heavier toppings the parchment paper makes it easy to transfer to the stone. The parchment paper will not make a big difference in how the crust turns out, if it's even a noticeable one.
Jean
I have been looking for a thin crispy crust for years. This one gets the prize by far. In all honesty, I did skip the resting for 10 minutes a prebaking. I cooked directly on the rack with parchment paper at 450 degrees. Going to try the recommended way tonight. (My pizzas was small because of not resting as well. )
Jean
I have been looking for a thin crispy crust for years. This one gets the prize by far. In all honesty, I did skip the resting for 10 minutes a prebaking. I cooked directly on the rack with parchment paper at 450 degrees. Going to try the recommended way tonight. (My pizzas was small because of not resting as well. )
Anthony Galzarano
My second attempt at making pizza. The crust on the first (recipe came with the bread maker) was terrible. This was PERFECT! Thank you.
Kristina
That's great!! I hope you enjoy it many times over.
Anonymous
Amazing thin crispy crust.A keeper for sure.Thanks for sharing!!!
Marcellina
I love thin crust pizza and I think you have done it! Looks delish!!
Jere Cassidy
Great recipe, I love using the pizza stone.
Maggie
This dish looks SO deliciously good. I wish I could eat that right now!
Anonymous
Loved the tips! Dough can be very tricky to get right. Thanks to your detailed guidance, I got it right in the first time. Pizza turned out perfect, we ended up making 4 of them 😛
Kathryn Thieben
I make this pizza dough on a regular basis. I always prebake because that's how we like it. Thin and crispy! Now I need a good pizza sauce recipe.
elle
love this, thanks for posting and working out the bugs so we didn't have to. the first time we found that the prebake made the crust a little too crispy, probably because we go really thin on the crust. this time we'll skip the prebake and see how that goes. expecting it to be perfect! cheers!
Kristina
I'm glad it's work out so well for you! I think you'll be very happy the next time around. Let me know how it goes!
Sarah
Turned out perfect at the first try. I put it in the oven together with the toppings (no preheating of the dough); the pizza was ready in 13 minutes. Everyone loved it. Great bread machine recipe.
Kristina
Awesome! I am glad you all loved it and hope you make it part of your regular pizza night!
Kathryn Thieben
I make this pizza dough on a regular basis. I always prebake because that's how we like it. Thin and crispy! Now I need a good pizza sauce recipe.
Kristina
I am so glad to hear how much you love it!
Adam
I never comment on recipes but this pizza dough is so good!!! Everyone should try it! Thanks for sharing it.
Kristina
Thank you so much! I worked hard to get this pizza dough just right, so I am pleased to hear that you love it too! I'd love to hear about the pizzas you've made using it. Feel free to send along some ideas!
Yate9934
Tonight,I made this again. Best pizza crust ever! Thank you so much!
Maria
Best pizza dough for bread maker that I've tried by far@
Kristina
Thank you so much for your feedback! Hopefully you will enjoy it many times over!
Susan
Great recipe. I made two small pizzas and it worked out nicely for 4 people as a dinner.