How do you make thin pizza bases?

[KatyMac]

My homemade bread bases are very thick and if i stretch then they split rather than become thinner

So is there a better recipe?

I use a recipe from the Franco Manca book for dough that starts with a poolish made the night before, but only use half the amount of the ingredients listed and just stretch it very very thin...it hasn't let me down yet!

It's this recipe. I use half the amounts of ingredients listed, and it makes 2 large pizzas

www.culinarytravels.co.uk/blog/24112015103751-franco-manca-tray-baked-pizza/

I used the Jamie Oliver recipe - 1kg of plain flour 14g yeast, spoonful sugar, splash of oil, 650ml warm water. (I don't bother with 00 flour or adding semolina).

That's enough for 8 individual size pizzas....or we have 4 larger pizzas and one thicker pizza for my husband. We roll out the dough on parchment/greaseproof paper and top the pizzas and then I transfer them into the oven on the paper directly onto the oven shelf. - then we cool them on a wooden board before putting them on the paper directly on the table!!! Cut and eat. The kids sometimes save half or less for the next day.

Oh and we roll.woth a rolling pin rather than stretching them.

If the dough splits when you try to stretch it thin then it might be that it just needs kneading for longer. If you knead it long enough and develop the gluten then you should be able to stretch it or roll it very thinly. If it’s under-kneaded then it splits.

I cook mine in a hot skillet on a flame to start with and then transfer it to the oven after a minute or two.

Thanks i'll try kneading more @MadameMinimes

@Mumdiva99 that is pretty similar to my recipe i'll have a play with rolling out

Never used a poolish @Wellthisismorethanabitgrim

I once ate pizza at an Italian friend's house and they served us square pizza. They looked nonplussed when we asked why and said, "because it's easier to roll out".

So use a rolling pin and don't worry too much about the shape

I use HFW recipe 250g plain flour, 250g strong white bread flour, 1tsp dried yeast, 1tsp salt, 320ml warm water. Knead in KitchenAid for 8 min, prove for an hour. I make 2 adult and 2 child pizzas from this rolled out to about A4 size. They cook in about 12 mins at high temp.

I would kneed it longer as if it’s think it should split like that. I kneed the dough twice then roll and then pull.
Are you activating the yeast beforehand?

It makes perfect bread - which is frustrating and the pizza dough is lovely - it's just too thick!

We make rectangular pizza too!

Christmas day!

I use Delia Smith’s Scone Pizza base. It’s quick and easy and tastes delicious.

I make a quick version, it's an extract from my 90 day plan for Joe Wicks:

Serves 1
70g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
1/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
65g yogurt, such as Greek, natural or soy

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour in the yoghurt, then stir with a fork to combine. When the mixture forms a rough dough, turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead to form a smooth ball. Roll out into a thin round; the dough will bounce back slightly so roll it thinner than you think you’ll need. Heat a large dry frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the pizza base for 2 minutes on each side until golden.

Then you can add your sauces and toppings and bake.

I also like the jamie oliver recipe, I recently started adding the semolina and also rolling into semolina and it does add something a bit extra to the dough. But as pp are saying if its splitting its probably your kneading not the recipe thats the problem. If you make pizza regularly I would 100% advocate getting a stand mixer doesn't need to be a kitchen aid or anything fancy I have a cheap one that was under 50$ and it does the job just fine as long as I just do half batches of dough at a time.

I have keyword chef with a dough hook and I follow the keyword recipe (from a book hundreds of years old)

Kenwood!!

oh that is strange then! pizza dough shouldn't split and tear like a biscuit dough would. Does it go shiny and smooth when kneaded? if not try kneading it longer until it does. Or give the jamie oliver recipe a go, I knead that in my cheap mixer for about 7-10 minutes and it rolls easily and thinly.

I have been pressing down with my knuckles rather than rolling so I'll try that

I tried a lot of different recipes after having a pizza over built in the garden a few years ago. (Pizzas cook in two minutes as long as the base is thin enough - otherwise it burns on the bottom and isn't fully cooked all the way through.) Individual recipes didn't make much difference... it was the flour that did. It needs to be very glutinous - at least strong white bread flour but ideally 00 pasta flour. Then they can be rolled/stretched.

Pizza *oven