No knead, no rise pizza

This recipe is from Uncle Jerry's Kitchen and makes two thin crust pizzas or one thick crust pizza.

We use sugar instead of honey for the sweetener, since we worry that honey and pizza don't go together. Uncle Jerry mentions in the comments that if you reduce the sweetener, you might need a longer rest/rise

After making one pizza crust fairly successfully, we will probably double the salt. This will more closely match another pizza recipe we have made.

Avoid high protein flour like King Arthur: it may make the dough too springy to stretch into shape. 

We made two smaller pizzas out of half the dough, mostly so it was easier to move them to the baking steel.

Uncle Jerry says that either all purpose flour or bread flour will work in this recipe. The comments on the website don't mention anything about the difference.

If using an electric oven or if living in a very dry environment, place a pie plate with hot water on the lowest oven rack when preheating the oven to add humidity, which will keep the crust tender.

After pizza crust is shaped, consider drizzling olive oil on it, followed by sprinkling salt before adding the sauce, etc.

The dough can also be used for focaccia, cheesy bread, calzones, bread sticks, etc. Look at the original link for details about letting the dough rise, etc.

Here's the pizza seasoning that we use, all pre-mixed for convenience.


INGREDIENTS

2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast or 1 full packet; same amount for instant/quick rise yeast
2 Tbl honey or 1 Tbl granulated sugar--possibly reduce this by half
1 cup warm water at 110F
Between 2-1/2 to 3-1/4 flour, either bread flour (or all purpose flour). A bit of extra flour can be used when rolling out/shaping the dough.
2 Tbl olive oil
2 tsp salt
(optional) corn meal for dusting pan


PREPARATION

1. Place a pizza stone or steel in the oven and preheat to 450F. A cookie sheet can also work. This extra step will crisp up the bottom of the crust.

2. In a large bowl, put in the yeast and sweetener-of-choice before adding the warm water. For active dry yeast, let stand for a few minutes until frothy. NOTE: Instant yeast/quick rise yeast shouldn't require that much time unless you have reduced the sweetener.

3. Add the smaller amount of flour to start, plus the olive oil and salt, stirring with a wooden spoon or mixing it by hand, until a soft dough forms. NOTE: The dough should be fairly firm; if it isn't, then mix in additional flour one Tbl at a time until the dough is no longer sticky. OTOH, if it is too dry, mix in warm water 1 Tbl at a time until it forms a good dough.

4. If making 2 thin crust pizzas--or even several smaller ones--cut the dough ball in half (or smaller) and continue to the next step. To store the dough, or to store any remaining dough, coat with olive oil and put it into a ziplock bag in the fridge for a few days or in the freezer for a few months. Presumably, you'll need to let the dough get to room temperature before rolling it out.

5. Let the dough rest 3-5 mins while you gather your toppings, seasoning, and sauce.

6. Lightly flour the counter and rolling pin, then roll out original dough to desired thickness and shape; then top with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, 2-4 Tbl of sauce, cheese, other toppings, and seasoning.

7. (optional) If using corn meal, lightly dust the baking stone or pizza steel, move the prepared pizza onto it, and bake for 8-10 mins, keeping the oven closed, until just browned and toppings are bubbly. Timing depends on thickness of the pizza and on your oven.

8. Use a pizza peel or large offset spatula to move pizza from the oven directly onto a cutting surface.