So I’ve been bite by the pizza making bug and these days unlike before I even make the dough. Since I started making the pizza dough, I have to say, store bought pizza dough comes nowhere near homemade dough, yeah I said it.

If you ask me, the important element to achieving a delicious pizza is in the dough, once you have that figured out you can go crazy with the toppings.

This is a simple dough recipe and I’d like to put out a disclaimer, my name is Gatuiri and that is nowhere near an Italian name :-D, hence I am not professing to be the pizza making queen, anyway to the recipe.

The trick to the perfectly made pizza bread depends of how you handle the yeast, the water used should be lukewarm so that the yeast can activate in just the right temperature. If the water is too hot the yeast will die and if the water is cold the yeast won’t activate. I’m no scientist /chemist but from what I’ve read, when activating the yeast it’s good to add some sugar in the water for the yeast to feed off.

In a jug, add the lukewarm water and stir in some sugar.

Add in the yeast.

Stir in the yeast and let it activate.Let it stand for a few minutes or until is sort of foams at the top.

As the yeast is activating, in a bowl add in your flour, salt and some cinnamon.

Once set, pour in the yeast mixture into the bowl with the  flour.

You can either use your hands or a wooden spoon to mix it together.

Depending on the texture of your dough, you can add flour little by little until the dough is not sticky. Knead for a few minutes until the dough is soft and does not stick to your hands.

The dough is almost done, lightly grease a bowl, then put the dough and cover the bowl with some cling film.

Now to give the yeast the time to work, put the bowl in a warm place and allow it to rise, depending on how warm your kitchen is, thirty minutes may do the trick.

This is how my dough looked after thirty minutes, it almost doubled in volume.

Knead the dough once more for a few minutes, I wanted to make medium sized pizzas so I divided my dough into four equal parts.

Next, I’ll share a simple recipe for making the tomato sauce to serve as a base for your toppings of choice.

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How to: Pizza Dough

See Detailed Nutrition Info on

• 500ml lukewarm water
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 540gms plain flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• Vegetable oil

Instructions

In a jug add the water and stir in the sugar.

Stir in the yeast and let it stand for a few minutes until the mixture foams.

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and the cinnamon.

After the yeast is activated, make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the yeast mixture.

Using your hands or wooden spoon combine the ingredients.

Knead the dough and adding a little flour in case the dough is sticky.

Once the dough is done, put it in a lightly grease bowl.

Cover with some cling film and put the bowl in a warm place.

Let the dough rise for thirty minutes or until it doubles in volume.

Once risen, knead the dough for a few minutes.

Divide into your desired sizes and you are ready to assemble the pizzas.