I’ll discuss the pizza dough I used in another post - because it completely deserves it’s own place!!!  The dough is posted here: 50/50 All-Purpose Flour & Cake Flour Pizza Dough.


So let’s talk about technique to get is super thin!!  I only used 2 ounces of dough - the authors suggest 4 ounces for this super thin crust - so I went a little crazy.  But it was perfect, just what I was looking for - crispy, light and super thin!


The dough that you make from their book is a very wet dough.  And that’s where my learning curve showed up front and center.  Yes, there were a few frustrations and likely even some tears :)


So just like anything else in life - if you feel led to passionately pursue something - you owe it to yourself to get back up on your feet and try, try again!  And that’s what made the difference to getting it right where I wanted it to be!


If you’ve worked with pizza dough before, even store-bought - you know it can be springy and bounce back on you and do all sorts of crazy things - and that’s because of the gluten.  So that can be one thing “working against you” that makes you want to scream ... and the other thing in particular with this dough - is that is is wet and will stick to your pizza peel and it may never make it into the oven!


So let’s talk about those 2 issues and conquering them ...


First ... What has worked for me is to allow my piece of dough to sit out at room temperature for a good 20 minutes before I even attempt to start pulling and rolling it out.  I simply lay a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the dough and every so often I check on the dough, give it a good tug and see if it bounces back.  Typically 20 minutes does the trick and I get very little bounce back! 


Before I talk about rolling the dough out (now that the dough will cooperate) - the wetness of the dough needs to be addressed.  You can’t just roll it out - without what seems like using a ton of flour to avoid it sticking to everything around you!  I thought I was doing something wrong, until I dug a little deeper. 


For me, the only thing that has worked (any maybe it’s because I live in a very humid environment here in Florida) is to very liberally flour my work surface where I will be rolling out the dough.  The dough is so wet that it will almost act like a sponge and soak up the flour very quickly.  So you have to dust the dough itself with flour plus the work surface and the rolling pin.  By the way, the rolling pin is the only way I could get the dough to roll out to 1/16 of an inch (and mine was likely even thinner than that).


Once everything is generously dusted in flour - start rolling the dough out - I start at the center and roll out to the edge.  Then I turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat.  Sometimes even another dusting of flour has to be used to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin or the work surface.


Once the dough is rolled out as thinly as you like it - dust your pizza peel with more flour and transfer the pizza crust to the peel.  You have to work quickly.  That’s why it’s imperative that your ingredients are minimal and measured out ahead of time.  Otherwise the crust will almost glue itself onto your pizza peel and you’ll never be able to slide it into the oven.  To check if your pizza has stuck to the peel, slide the peel around and you want to see the crust moving while it is on the peel.  That’s how you’re going to get it off the peel and into the oven.


For baking - I preheat my oven to 500 degrees 30 minutes ahead of time.  I use a baking stone that I’ve had for years, nothing fancy.  So as you’re thinking ahead if you want to give this a shot yourself - I preheat the oven when I pull my dough out of the refrigerator for the initial 20 minutes of resting time, and then the oven continues to preheat while I roll out the dough and continue on to baking.


For toppings - since this pizza is so incredibly thin - I went the minimalist route.  I used 1.5 ounces of whole milk mozzarella cheese and 1.5 ounces of pizza sauce.  Fresh basil was placed on the pizza after baking, along with a drizzle of olive oil.


To get the pizza off of the pizza peel and in to the oven ... You first have to be sure the crust is able to move around on the pizza peel.  That’s why it needs to be dusted liberally with flour, and then use minimal toppings so as to not weigh the crust down, encouraging it to stick even more ... and you have to work quickly.


How I get it off the peel is to open the oven door (obviously) - and place my peel (with the pizza on it) close to the back 1/3 of the baking stone.  And then with a quick firm pushing motion, kind of jerk the peel forward and the back half of the pizza will slide off the peel and onto the stone ... and once the pizza has reached the stone, then I can gently pull the peel back towards me and the rest of the pizza will slide off and on to the stone.  Ahhhh, confusing perhaps - but definitely not scary and you’ll get a little feeling of delight once you figure it out!


Just remember - if your pizza starts sticking to the peel - it’s really going to stick when you go to put it in the oven.  If you do by chance notice that it is starting to stick to the peel - take a dough scraper (or even a thin/metal spatula) and gently lift up on the dough where it appears to be sticking.  Dust some flour underneath and give the peel a good jiggle to see if that solved the issue.  Repeat in any other areas where the pizza has started to stick.  OH - You can also use corn meal in place of the flour on the peel for a different texture (and taste).


Quick Re-Cap:


  1. - 2 ounces pizza dough, rested 20  minutes, floured liberally, rolled out12 inches

  2. - 1.5 ounces pizza sauce

  3. - 1.5 ounces whole milk mozzarella cheese

  4. - Drizzle of Olive Oil

  5. - Fresh Basil Leaves


Oven Temperature:  500 - 550 degrees, however hot your oven will go


Baking Time:  4 - 6 minutes - preferably on a baking stone placed on the lowest rack that your oven allows


RESULTS:  It was perfectly thin and wonderful!  So if you’ve been discouraged by homemade pizza making before - now it’s your time to shine - and save a ton of $$ in the process!  Stay tuned ... !!!!


P.S. - Click HERE for the Pizza, Breadstick & Sandwich Recipe Index