Day 27: Duff's Pizza Dough

I am a huge fan of Duff Goldman and absolutely love his cookbook, Duff Bakes. If you don't have it or haven't heard of it- you need to go check it out. I love this book because it has a little bit of everything in there. You have holiday cookies, fresh breads, dough, muffins... a little bit of everything. I bought his book around the holidays last year and basically made every cookie or bar in there but there's still so much more I want to explore with his book, so tonight I gave his pizza dough recipe a try.
Finding the right pizza dough recipe is like finding the right cookie dough recipe. You think they're all the same and that the end result will be perfect but in reality, recipes vary and the end result does too. I'm happy to say that this recipe is amazing! I love the crispness but also that it has a nice chew to it at the same time. I'm so happy I made this recipe tonight, best part is that it makes three 12 in pizzas so if you're not making all three, you can store them for later- which I plan on doing.
Also, this recipe is one that I really don't mess with. This recipe is exactly how it's printed in the cookbook and I wouldn't change a thing.
Hope you enjoy it!

*Ingredients
2 (1/4-ounce) envelopes of active dry yeast
1 TBS sugar
3 cups bread flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting surace area
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 TBS kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for greasing bowl

*Directions
In a big bowl, combine yeast, 2 cups of warm water, and sugar. You want to make sure your water is only warm and not too hot because it will kill the yeast if it is. Let your mix sit for at lest 7 minutes, until you see your yeast become almost foamy at the top.
Once the yeast has been activated add your flours, cornstarch, salt, and oil. Mix well in your bowl to combine ingredients and then on a flour surface, knead your dough for 15 minutes.
When your dough is nice and smooth, place back in oiled bowl and oil your ball of dough and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let you dough sit for at least 45 minutes, your dough will double in size.
Once your dough has risen, knead it down and then on a floured surface, cut dough into three equal pieces. Shape them into balls, cover with a towel, and let them rise again for 15 minutes.
At this point your dough is ready to be used! Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place your baking sheet in your oven. Roll out your dough ball to make a 12 in sized pizza crust. I made mine a little larger because I wanted a crispier crust but do as you prefer. Poke holes with a fork in your dough so the entire crust doesn't poof up but if you get some bubbles as your dough bakes, enjoy it! It will bring extra crispiness to your pie. Add your toppings to your pizza and them place in oven. Be careful handling the baking sheet, it's going to be extremely hot from preheating in the oven. Your pizza can cook anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on how thin your pizza is.
If your toppings might burn if they're in the oven for too long, you can just bake your pizza dough and then add your sauce and toppings when your crust is done. To melt your cheese and warm your toppings, put your oven on broil and keep in oven until cheese melts.
Enjoy!