Pumpkin Pizza Dough Recipe

This recipe will make enough pizza dough for two, 12" deluxe pizzas.

Ingredients:

1 Cup - Warm water (110° - 115° F)
2 Tbsp. - Sugar
1 Envelop - Active dry yeast
1 1/2 Tsp. - Salt
2 Tbsp. - Olive oil
3 1/2 Cups - Bread flour
1/2 Cup - Canned pumpkin pie filling
1 Tsp. - Cinnamon, ground

Preparation:

Pour the warm water in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and package of yeast. Stir the mixture until dissolved. Let sit to allow the yeast to mature for about ten minutes.

Add the salt, olive oil, cinnamon and pumpkin pie filling. Stir again to combine and dissolve the ingredients. Add 1 cup of flour and whisk in until dissolved. Add the second cup of flour and whisk it in. Add the 3rd cup of flour and combine. By now the dough mixture should be fairly thick. Add the remaining flour. With your hands, begin to combine and knead the dough.

Should the mixture become too dry, add small amounts of water until pliable. You may need to add a dusting of flour from time to time to reduce the stickiness of the dough.

Be patient, folding the dough ball in half and then quarters, over and over again for perhaps 5 to 8 minutes. You may wish to remove the dough ball to a tabletop to knead it. You'll know you've done well when the ball no longer sticks to your hands. It will become a smoothly-textured ball slightly larger than a large grapefruit.

Coat the dough ball with a thin layer of olive oil, and place it in the bottom of a large mixing bowl which has also been coated on the inside with olive oil. Stretch a piece of kitchen film over the top of the bowl and set it in a warm place such an as un-lit oven, (ambient temperature of 98°F to 100°F). Allow the dough to rise, undisturbed, for 60 to 75 minutes. The dough will have grown to at least twice its original size.

Take the dough out of the bowl and cut in half with a knife. You now have two pizza dough balls, enough to make two (2) 12" deluxe pizzas. Take each raw dough portion and press them flat to remove the air trapped inside. Hand-mold each dough portion into balls. Smoothing the outer surface, tuck each ball into itself from underneath.

They can be set in a bowl or plastic tray, covered, to "rest" for an additional 15 or 20 minutes. The dough balls may also be allowed to "proof" for an additional hour, if you wish.

Rolling out each dough ball with a rolling pin into circular "sheets" for pizzas. Dust your worktop, the rolling pin and dough ball with a little white flour as you go along to prevent the dough from sticking. You may want to try the old traditional method of "hand-pressing" the dough in the pan, stretching it out to the shape of the pan.

Other helpful tips in preparation for topping the pizza:

Lightly oil the baking surface of the pizza pan (with olive oil or other cooking oil), before placing the dough in the pan (to prevent sticking and aid in browning).

Prick holes in the dough bottom after forming the dough in the pan with a fork, (to prevent the dough from "bubbling" away from the pan's baking surface and baking unevenly).

See: Jack-O-Lantern Pizza Recipe