Pizza Dough with Beer - Small Batch

Pizza dough with beer takes homemade pizza to a whole new level. It's way better than the average take-out and of course, toppings are entirely customisable. This small batch pizza dough can easily be scaled up to feed more people or down to feed one.

A quality pizza base is an essential recipe to have to hand. I've been making the beer pizza dough I'm presenting today for in excess of a decade. It tastes so good and it is consistently reliable, so I never feel the need to deviate from it.

This small batch pizza dough is made using beer, which lends a certain lightness and crispiness to the dough.

Of course, the alcohol content evaporates as the pizza cooks, so you can rest assured that this beer pizza dough will not be getting anybody intoxicated any time soon.

However, if you are not keen on the idea of adding beer at all, feel free to replace it with water.

I'm presenting a recipe for 2 pizzas but I've also included details on how to adapt this recipe to feed 1, 3, 4 or more hungry diners. Use it to make my pizza bianca or a half portion of my pizzette (mini pizzas).

Ingredients Notes

The components of the pizza dough with beer are not glamorous, so most homes probably keep them generally in stock:

• Strong bread flour
• Light beer
• Water
• Salt
• Fast action yeast

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My top choice of beer for this recipe is Moretti - an Italian lager. Failing that, any other light beer works well.

It is important to use room temperature beer and lukewarm water though since dough takes far longer to rise when made with cold ingredients or when left to rise in a chilly environment.

Don't pull a bottle of beer from the fridge, decant it into your dough and expect it to rise in the time indicated. It will rise, but will take far longer to do so.

Likewise, allow your dough to rise in a warm environment - around 21C/ 70F is ideal.

Instructions

This pizza dough can be kneaded by hand or in a standmixer fitted with a dough hook. Regardless of which method you use, I suggest initially mixing the dry and wet ingredients together with a wooden spoon in order to ascertain when enough liquid has been incorporated:

• Put the flour into a mixing bowl then add the salt to one side and the yeast to the other
• Mix the beer and water together and pour ¾ into the bowl
• Using a wooden spoon mix the ingredients together, adding more water as necessary until a soft dough forms that incorporates all of the flour. You may not need all of the liquid or you may, just occassionally need a splash more - this is largely dependent on the flour. Aim for a dough that is soft but not wet or sticky

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• Knead, either by hand or in a machine, for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic
• Wipe a little olive oil around the base and sides of a clean medium/ large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size

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When risen, knock back, fold the dough over itself a few times, shape into a ball, then divide into two. Your dough is ready to use.

Can I Make this Dough Ahead of Time?

This beer pizza dough can be made in advance.

Infact, remember I told you that dough takes a long time to rise in a cold environment? This can work to our advantage when wishing to make in advance.

Once the dough is mixed and kneaded, it can be put in the fridge to rise for 12-18 hours. Once ready to use, simply take out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for an hour before using.

How to Shape Pizza Dough

The true Italian way to shape pizza is by hand stretching it and twirling it up in the air. I'll be honest and confess that this is one skill I have yet to master. Take a look at this video if you would like to give this technique a go.

Instead, I use a rolling pin and my hands. It's not an authentic technique, and my pizza may not always be a perfect circle, but that just adds to the rustic charm of homemade in my view.

Part 1: Rolling Pin

• To begin, flour your worktop and rolling pin and put one portion of the dough onto the worktop
• Press it out slightly with your hands to form a circle
• Use the rolling pin to begin stretching it out. To do this, position the edge of the roller inside of the circle of dough, about ½ inch from the edge. Roll once, taking care to apply pressure to the left-hand side of the disc only
• Turn your dough clockwise by ⅛ of a circle, position your rolling pin again and roll once more
• Keep on rotating and rolling the dough until a full circle has been completed

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By constantly positioning your rolling pin inside of the edge of the dough the raised edge of the pizza should begin to be visible

Once you have worked your way around the edge of the pizza with the rolling pin, it's time to put this tool aside and use your hands.

Part 2: Hands

• Pick up the dough and begin to stretch the dough gently using both your hands
• Again, work your way around the pizza, stretching outwards
• As the pizza gets larger and thinner you may prefer to lay it on the worktop and gradually tease the dough out further, rotating it around as you work
• Notice that the ridge created around the edge remains

For a visual representation of this hands-on action take a look at this video - the latter half demonstrates how I shape my pizza once I've completed the initial rolling out.

How to Cook Pizza in the Oven

I have 4 tips when it comes to cooking pizza at home:

1. Apply as much heat as your oven will allow
2. Heat your baking tray in the oven before putting the pizza on it
3. Work quickly and don't overload your pizza with toppings
4. Use semolina to dust the baking tray

Oven temperature is key to success in pizza making, so dial up that temperature as far are your oven will allow. In my case, that is 275C (525F).

Wood fired pizza ovens get far hotter - more like 400C (750F), so it makes sense to aim for as hot as possible in our homeovens to achieve a good rise and crisp base on our homemade pizzas.

Heating the baking tray prior to adding the pizza follows on from this train of thought on creating intense heat. If you have a pizza stone feel free to slide this into the oven instead.

Working with speed and moderation is also essential once the pizza is rolled out. I typically place my rolled base onto a baking sheet sprinkled with coarse semolina (to help prevent sticking), quickly add on my toppings and slide it into the oven, all in around 90 seconds.

To aid this process, I always prepare my toppings before rolling out the dough.

Why? A speedy approach helps to prevent the dough sticking to the baking sheet it is resting on. A pizza that sits around will be hard to slide off of one baking sheet onto the other hot one.

Similarly, resist the urge to put too much topping on your pizza. It will get weighed down and again be hard to transfer to the hot baking sheet.

Coarse semolina scattered across the heated baking tray prior to sliding the raw pizza onto it will help keep the dough from sticking during cooking. Semolina is a much better bet than flour since it doesn't char as easily and any residue on the pizza will be better texturewise than loose flour.

Keep in mind that it is essential to dust the baking sheet just before sliding the pizza onto it to avoid the semolina charring too much. Similarly, if cooking multiple pizzas it may be necessary to replace or renew the semolina if it looks burnt.

Make this Recipe for 1, 2, 4 or More

This small batch pizza dough is so easy to scale up or down. I've presented a 2 serving recipe here because pizza is always best when served with company (and beer/ wine), but keep the following measures per person in mind and just multiply by the number of diners:

• 125g/ 1 cup stong bread flour
• 42.5ml/ 8.5 tsp light beer
• 42.5ml/ 8.5 tsp Water
• ¼ tsp salt
• ⅜ tsp fast action yeast

Remember to use an appropriately sized bowl for larger numbers - perhaps even dividing between several large bowls if making for more than 4 people.

Pizza Topping Ideas

Do you have a favourite topping? Do you have a few you loath too? You can throw ham and pineapple into the latter camp for me, but here are my suggestions for topping this flavourful pizza dough. Unless stated otherwise, a tomato sauce base is non-negotiable:

• buffalo mozzarella, slow-roasted tomatoes and pepperoni
• blue cheese, diced red chilli, caramelised pear & rocket
• goats cheese, slow-roasted tomatoes & green pesto
• salami, artichoke & taleggio cheese

Find More Pizza Ideas:

See this dough in action for my white pizza (no tomato sauce) and my dessert pizza (yes, it's a thing - a very good thing, infact).

Alternatively, take a look at the following recipes for futher inspiration:

• Bacon, brie & basil mini pizzas
• Gluten-free squash, chorizo & blue cheese pizza
• Greek lamb pizza
• Chicken tandoori naan bread pizza

Try More Savoury Bakes:

• Taleggio cheese palmiers
• Bombay lamb rolls - like a sausage roll but with lamb and spice
• Brie & potato tarts
• Cheesy olive pastries

If you have tried this Italian iced coffee recipe please give it a rating below. Don’t forget to share your creations with me on Instagram too - I love to hear how you've got along. Use #littlesugarsnaps and tag me @jane_littlesugarsnaps.