Best 3 Overnight Sourdough Pizza Crust Recipes

OVERNIGHT PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• For sponge:
• Place 1 cup lukewarm water in large bowl of heavy-duty mixer. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon yeast (reserve remaining yeast for dough) and 1/4 teaspoon flour over water. Let stand until yeast dissolves and mixture looks spongy, about 4 minutes. Add remaining flour and whisk until smooth; scrape down sides of bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sponge rest at room temperature in draft-free area overnight (about 12 hours; sponge will look bubbly).
• For dough:
• Add 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 envelope yeast, and reserved remaining yeast to sponge, then add 6 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, beating with dough hook to blend after each addition. Continue to beat until dough is smooth, comes cleanly away from sides of bowl, and is only slightly sticky to touch, scraping down bowl occasionally, about 5 minutes. If dough is very sticky, beat in more flour, 1/4 cupful at a time. Scrape dough onto floured surface; knead into smooth ball.
• Brush inside of large bowl with oil. Add dough; turn to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; chill 6 hours, kneading dough down when doubled (after 2 hours).
• About 1 1/2 hours before baking, dust 2 baking sheets with flour. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead gently; shape into 16-inch log. Cut into 8 equal pieces. Knead each piece into smooth ball. Arrange 4 balls of dough on each sheet. Cover loosely with kitchen towels and let rise until almost doubled, 1 to 11/4 hours.
• If using pizza stone, place in oven.
• Preheat oven to 500&Deg;F for 45 minutes. Working with 1 dough ball at a time, dust dough with flour. Press into 5-inch round, then gently stretch and roll out to 9-inch round.
• If using pizza stone, sprinkle pizza peel or rimless baking sheet with cornmeal. If not using pizza stone, sprinkle large baking sheet with cornmeal. Place dough round on cornmeal; brush lightly with oil. Top as desired. Slide pizza onto stone or place pizza on baking sheet into oven.
• Bake pizza until sauce is bubbling and crust is crisp and brown, lifting edge of pizza to check underside, about 14 minutes.

OVERNIGHT PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• In mixer bowl, thoroughly combine the flour and salt and make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine the yeast, olive oil, and lukewarm water. Pour the wet mixture into the well in the dry mixture and begin mixing the two together with dough hook, gradually incorporating the dry into the wet. After about 3 minutes, when the wet and dry are well combined, turn off the mixer and let it rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes. This allows time for the flour to absorb the moisture.
• Turn the mixer back on and knead the mixture for about 3 minutes. The dough will be moist and sticky, but after a few minutes of kneading it should come together into a smooth mass; add a teaspoon of flour at a time if it seems too wet. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, shape them gently into balls, and wrap them in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 24 and up to 48 hours before using. This process, called proofing, allows for the fermentation that gives the dough structure-which means a chewy, pliable crust-and flavor. One ball with make one thin-crust 12" pizza, enough to serve 2 people generously. The other one can be frozen and used another time; thaw in refrigerator for several hours.
• TO COOK: Preheat oven to 450 or 500 F., with baking stone on center rack; allow to heat at least 45 minutes.
• Place ball of dough on a floured counter, cover loosely with plastic wrap. When dough is a puffy, after about 30 minutes, gently press with fingertips and stretch it into a 12" circle - it will most likely be uneven in shape. Don't roll with a rolling pin, as that flattens all the bubbles and lightness in the dough. Lift the round, stretch the top edge gently, and let the weight pull it larger. Sprinkle a peel or rimless baking sheet with some semolina or cornmeal and AP flour. Place stretched dough onto peel, allow to rest 5 - 10 minutes. Spread crust with 3-4 oz. pizza sauce, any meat or veggie toppings, and 4 oz. grated mozzarella. Slide from peel onto heated stone , bake for 8-10 minutes until cheese begins to brown and crust is nicely browned. If you are using cooked meat topping, you can bake it without cheese for about 5 minutes to heat through and firm up the crust, then add cheese and bake for another 5 minutes.

SOURDOUGH PIZZA CRUST DOUGH

Steps:

• Mix starter, flour, olive oil, and salt together in a bowl until mixture forms a ball. Let dough rest for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
• Roll out dough on parchment paper or a lightly floured work surface, rotating frequently, until it is the same size as the baking pan. Transfer to the pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pale golden, about 7 minutes.