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Deep Dish Pizza Dough w/ Butter & AP Flour

The Fundamentals of Deep Dish Pizza Dough w/ Butter

This Deep Dish Pizza Dough consists of warm water, instant yeast, AP flour, salt, olive oil, and butter. It's incredibly fun and easy to make. You can mix and match your own toppings or follow one of the recipes that I highlight on this page. I'm particularly fond of adding mashed potatoes to deep dish pizza. Although you really can mix and match in whatever you have on hand! Deep dish pizza dough lends itself well to overfilling and making more of a casserole than pizza. Unlike thinner crust pizzas, there's enough crust to toss in extra sauce, fresh mozzarella, and any and every topping to your heart's content.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Resting Time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 35 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 2 medium pizzas (or 1 extra large)

Equipment

  • 1 Small Bowl
  • 1 Large Bowl
  • Oven
  • Cast Iron Pan

Ingredients
  

  • 255 g. warm water ~100°F (1 c. + 2 tbsp.)
  • 10 g. instant yeast (2¾ tsp. or slightly more than 1 package)
  • 480 g. all-purpose flour (4 c. + 3 tbsp.)
  • 11 g. salt (1¾ tsp.)
  • 50 g. olive oil (1/4 c.)
  • 57 g. butter (1/4 c. + more for greasing the pan)

Instructions
 

Proof Dough

  • Combine warm water and yeast. Let rest for 15 minutes, or until the yeast begins to bubble.
    This recipe calls for 2¾ teaspoons of yeast. A typical package contains 2¼ teaspoons yeast. For pizza dough, this is perfectly fine! If you want, you can measure out the extra 1/2 teaspoon. Although pizza dough is a lot more forgiving than a lot of other doughs. A little extra here or there and you will absolutely still end up with pizza dough!
  • Meanwhile, whisk together all of the other ingredients.
  • After the yeast has proofed, stir yeast mixture into the flour. Mix until roughly incorporated and the dough has a shaggy appearance.
    In a mixer with a dough hook attachment, this only takes a minute or two. By hand, this takes about 5 minutes. It's a no-knead bread recipe, so you're not necessarily looking for soft and pliable dough. Really, you just want all of the ingredients to be mixed thoroughly at this point! Which does make it a great recipe to make by hand if you prefer or don't have a mixer.
  • Lightly grease a large bowl and transfer the dough.
  • Cover dough and let proof for 6 hours, or until doubled in size.
    A quick pizza dough proof can be done in about 6 hours. Ideally, the dough is made 2 days ahead of time and proofed in the refrigerator for that time. However, I almost never know that I'm going to make pizza 2 days ahead of time! And 6 hours is perfectly adequate.
    It will ferment less and you may want to sprinkle a little bit more salt in after the proof to add a little bit more flavor. Just make sure to do this after the proof because too much salt can dampen the grown or even kill the yeast.

Bake Crust

  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Heavily grease a large cast iron pan or round baking dish.
  • Spread the dough evenly across the pan.
    You can do this by whatever method works best for you. I tend to stretch the dough out to a round shape roughly the size of the pan (it can help to do this with a rolling pin), gently lay it into the pan, and then use my fingertips to gently press the dough, starting in the middle, outward to the edge of the pan.
  • Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
  • Continue to stretch the dough into shape with the crust slightly up the side of the pan.
  • Bake for 10 minutes.
    If you add all of the toppings before baking the crust, the ingredients on top will burn before the crust cooks in the center. That's why you need to pre-bake it slightly before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Cook Pizza

  • Add the desired toppings and cook the pizza until it's heated throughout. This typically takes about 25-45 minutes, but may vary slightly depending on how crispy you want the crust and how wet the toppings are.
    Things with a high water count, like mushrooms and fresh mozzarella, may prolong the baking time. Things with a higher oil count, like pepperoni and parmesan, tend to fry slightly when cooked, tend to be crispier, and decrease the baking time.

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

  • This recipe is intended to make 2 medium-sized pizzas. I have a particularly large cast iron pan, though. It barely fits in my oven and sits comfortably across all 4 of my burners. I do have quite a small oven. Although this 15-inch cast iron pan is a behemoth! You can easily cut the dough in half and make two separate pizzas, though. Especially because it gives you more opportunities to have fun with different toppings.
  • I do recommend cast iron for deep dish pizzas. Because they hold onto so much heat, they really do crisp the crust up nicely and help heat it throughout for a more even bake. Although you can really use any large baking dish. I sometimes use a couple of different sized baking dishes depending on what kind of pans are still available or fit better tetrised into my oven.