Basic Homemade Pizza Dough

Ingredients

* 1 package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
* 1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
* 1 1/4 cups cold water
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 24.9 ounces (about 5 1/4 cups) unbleached bread flour, plus more for dusting
* Cooking spray
* zip top bags

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Combine cold water, oil, sugar, and salt in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Set aside.

2. Weigh out 24.9 ounces of flour ( or measure about 5 1/4 cups). Combine flour, yeast mixture, and cold water mixture in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low 8 minutes or until dough begins to form. Let rest 2 to 3 minutes; mix on low 6 to 8 minutes or until dough is smooth. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, just a few minutes. Feel free to add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel sticky).

3. If making large family sized pizzas, divide the dough in half and place each portion in a large zip-top bag coated with cooking spray. If making individual pizzas, take each half and divide again until you have 8-12 small dough "blobs". Seal and chill at least 6 hours and up to 2 days. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before using.

4. Create your pizzas on pizza stones or baking sheets with dusted with corn meal. We used a 450 degree preheated oven, but some recipes say 500 degrees. Our individual pizzas cooked for about 12-14 minutes, but keep an eye on yours and take yours out when you think they are done!

Notes

You can freeze the dough in heavy-duty, freezer-safe zip-top plastic bags for up to 2 months; to use frozen dough thaw dough overnight in the refrigerator, and then warm to room temperature the hour before using.

Do not forget to let the dough come to room temperature for the hour before using. This is crucial so that the dough is workable. If the dough is too cold to use, holes will be created in your crust. You can even take it out 90 minutes before you are going to use it.

A kitchen scale is fabulous to have in the kitchen! I use mine all the time, especially for baking. If you don't have one, definitely consider getting one!!!

Update May 10, 2013: I used bread flour straight from  my deep freezer and it worked well in this recipe!  The dough came together really quickly and was easy to work with, and it somehow didn't  kill the yeast.  If you remember ahead of time - measure your flour and then throw it in the freezer for the night.  When you make it the next day, the dough will be very easy to work with!