Kid-Friendly Pizza Dough

Kneading dough is one of those things I dread. Truth be told, I don't like having dried out dough on my hands. As a child, I was always the odd kid who spent more time making sure I didn't have play-dough on my hands than I spent playing with play-dough.

This preference still holds true for me except I have my Kitchen Aid Mixer to knead the dough now.

I tried this pizza dough in part because my No-Knead Pizza Dough was a little tough for my little man to eat. I wanted a tender pizza dough that won't kill his little gums.

I tested this dough on my little man and my husband and this recipe received rave reviews. The next day, I brought this dough over to a family friend's house to make pizzas. I got two thumbs up from the hostess and her two lovely kiddos.

Left to right: Kosher salt and Pyrex cup (water, oil, sugar)

Makes: Four 8 inch pizzas

Ingredients
1 cup lukewarm water (2 parts cold water, 1 part hot)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1-1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions
1. In a liquid measuring cup, mix the water, olive oil, sugar and salt until the sugar fully dissolves.

2. In a stand mixer or large bowl, mix the flour and yeast together.

3. With the stand mixer on low speed, gradually pour the liquid in until the dough comes together. There will be a little flour at the bottom.

Gradually pour in the liquid mixture.

4. Dump the dough and excess flour onto a counter top dusted with flour.

5. Knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Knead, give the dough a quarter turn and repeat until the dough comes together.

6. Divide the dough into 4 portions and shape into balls.

Using a bench scraper or knife, divide dough into 4 portions.

7. Place the dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet.

8. Drizzle olive oil over the tops and sides of each dough ball.

9. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in size (about 45 minutes).

I used my oven to proof the dough.

If not using right away, place the dough in a lightly greased Ziploc bag and store in the fridge for up to 2 days.

If using the dough, roll it out on a floured surface.

Source: Mario Batali, Food Network 

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