Personal Pizza Dough

Homemade margherita pizza with mozzarella cheese and fresh basil

Monty Rakusen / Getty Images

Prep: 45 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 65 mins
Servings: 3 to 4 servings
Yield: 3 (9-inch) crusts

Making your own personal pizza is a whole lot of fun for a party or group of kids, as it's a great way to get other people involved in the kitchen. Everyone can customize their own favorite ingredients and toppings, and they cook up in a flash because they're smaller. Personal pizza dough is as simple as breaking up a ball of dough into three or four smaller pieces.

Top the pizzas with your favorite ingredients, whether it's mozzarella, provolone, or goat cheese. There are so many ways to top a pizza, and making individual ones means one person can load it up with pepperoni while another person keeps it simple. Each small pizza can be cut into four pieces; it is super easy.

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. In a medium bowl, stir in yeast, water, sugar, salt, and oil. Mix in enough flour to make a dough that can be kneaded.

  3. Turn dough out onto the board and quickly knead for 3 minutes, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky to knead.

  4. Place dough in a greased bowl and flip dough over in bowl so that dough top is also lightly greased.

  5. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until it doubles in size, which should take about 30 minutes.

  6. Preheat oven to 400 F.

  7. Divide dough into 3 equal parts. Grease the pizza pan or baking sheet. Press 1 dough part into a 9-inch circle on greased pan. Put on the sauce and desired toppings.

  8. Bake pizza in a heated oven for about 20 minutes or until pizza edges are lightly golden.

  9. Enjoy.

How to Store and Freeze Personal Pizza Dough

  • You can bake all three personal pizzas or place the other two dough parts in a plastic food storage bag and refrigerate for later use. The dough will be good for a day or two.
  • You can also freeze any unused balls of dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, and label it with the dates. It will keep for three to six months. You can defrost in the refrigerator overnight (at least 12 hours), but bring the dough to room temperature before using, which should take about a half an hour.

Variations

  • This recipe can also be made with all-purpose flour instead of bread flour or a combination of both.


  • You can also use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast; just reduce the amount to 3/4 teaspoon. The dough won't need a 30-minute rise and should be ready to go right away after a brief (5-minute) rest.

Tips

  • Depending on the ambient humidity in your house, you may need more or less water to bring this dough together. If you add the water and you still have bits of flour that aren't incorporated, add more in 1/4 cup increments.


  • You can make this dough ahead of time and let it rise in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 24 hours.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
374 Calories
8g Fat
63g Carbs
11g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 3 to 4
Amount per serving
Calories 374
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8g 11%
Saturated Fat 1g 6%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 586mg 25%
Total Carbohydrate 63g 23%
Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 11g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 15mg 1%
Iron 1mg 5%
Potassium 95mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)