Savory

Pumpkin Pizza Dough

Maybe you should come over for dinner. You could see Elliot and Jake and maybe even the neighbor dog that wears a bandana and occasionally a lime green sweater.

I’d probably make this for you because it’s pizza, it’s dreamy, and it’s pumpkin. The pumpkin flavor is subtle in an earthy way. It’s perfect for fall, but I’m not going to be limited by seasons with this dough; I love it too much, and I think you will too.

I get really focused when I’m workin’ the dough because I’ve been trying to learn how to form pizza dough into a circle. If I don’t focus, my pizzas tend to look more rustic like a shrub, a hippo or a cloud.

I’ve even been trying my best to thin out the middle and get the crust nice and fluffy sans rolling pin. Rumor has it using your hands instead of a rolling pin lets the dough maintain delicious bubble action. Try it!

I love how the spinach shrinks down and I love goat cheese so much I’d marry it. And remember when I said that since it’s fall, I am ready for pumpkin everything? Well, here’s more proof.

I bet you if you try this, you’ll love it more than a dog in a sweater. It’s the truth.

Pumpkin Pizza Dough {makes 2 pizzas}
Recipe adapted from (never home) maker

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 envelope active dry yeast
  • 2 T honey
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 1/2 t kosher salt
  • 3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
  • corn meal, for sprinkling
  • marinara + toppings*

* My toppings for this pizza: fresh mozzarella, goat cheese and baby spinach.

Directions:

  1. Whisk the yeast and warm water together in a medium bowl and set aside to proof, 10 minutes or until foamy. Add the honey, pumpkin and olive oil. Whisk until smooth.
  2. In a large bowl stir together the flour and salt. Pour in the wet ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until you can’t stir anymore. Knead by hand until the dough is elastic, but not sticky. (Or you can use your stand mixer for this step, kneading with the dough hook.)
  3. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, turning once to coat. Set aside to rise for 2 hours. Once the dough has risen, place a pizza stone in the oven and  preheat the oven to 500° for 30 minutes. (You can use a pizza pan instead of a stone, but the stone works best.) Divide the dough into two equal pieces. (If you’re planning on using the other half the next day, put it in a large ziploc bag and refrigerate over night. You may also freeze the dough for up to three weeks.)
  4. Form the pizza. Use your fingertips to stretch the dough into a circle, flattening the middle and pushing dough out toward the edges to make the crust. Meanwhile, get your pizza toppings out and have them ready.
  5. Carefully remove the pizza stone from the oven and sprinkle it with corn meal. Place the dough round on the stone and top with sauce and toppings. Place back in the oven for 10 minutes or until the entire pizza lifts when a corner is lifted with a spatula.
  6. Remove from the oven and slide onto a cutting board. Allow to rest for at least 5 minutes. Slice and enjoy. Repeat if making two pizzas.

If pizza crust had a facebook page, I’d like it.

14 thoughts on “Pumpkin Pizza Dough”

  1. I’d come over for supper, and we could have pie for dessert! Pizza and pie would be great.

    I don’t know if I have a sweater for my dog though. 😛

  2. Awesome Dana! Let’s have pizza and pie for real!

    Don’t worry, Elliot doesn’t have a sweater either… although after seeing the neighbor dog lookin’ so fly, he might need one.

  3. I made this crust tonight, and it’s my new favorite! So delicious!

    I had trouble getting my yeast to proof and thought that a cup of water was a lot for one packet of yeast, so I used 1/2 cup water plus a pinch of sugar for proofing, and added the other 1/2 cup after the yeast was all foamy. This worked perfectly! Thought I’d throw that out there in case anybody else had this issue. 🙂

  4. I made this over the weekend and it was really good! Thank you for the recipe! The only complaint I would have is that I couldn’t actually taste any pumpkin flavor. But it is still a super tasty pizza dough and I will definitely be making it again. 🙂

  5. Pingback: This and That

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*