This dough produced a slightly sweet and buttery compliment to tangy tomato sauce or the zing of prosciutto. It was a good enough base dough to add here. It will be experimented and improved upon but this is a nice dough nonetheless.
Dry Stuff:
2.5 cups of flour (if you have no starter)
50g of sugar (about 1/4 cup)
salt (just a pinch)
1/2t of bread machine yeast
Wet stuff:
1/2 c. of starter
1/2 c. of filtered warm water (105-115 degrees)
1/2 stick of butter
1 tb of olive oil (the tastier the oil, the tastier the dough)
Process:
Day 1#1. Freeze the butter in the freezer and let become very hard.
#2. Put filtered warm water, sugar, and yeast in a mixing bowl (stand mixer is best) and let proof (let the water become foamy with yeast gas).
#3. When proofing is done (about 5 minutes) add the starter and let rest about 5-10 minutes. (if you don't have starter, add 1 cup of flour to the bowl and mix well)
#4. After letting the starter rest, add the olive oil and the rest of the flour and mix with a spoon until dough forms and moves away from the sides of the bowl. (If you used starter, only add 1.5 cups of flour).
#5. Knead the dough with a dough hook (spray with cooking spray) for 5 minutes. Add the pinch of salt in this step. Lightly flour a surface while the dough is kneading. You will do some kneading by hand.
#6. Take the dough out of the bowl and put on floured surface. Stretch the dough away from you while holding one end of the dough and then fold it back and press the whole dough with the palm of your hand. Do this several times. Then fold the dough in on itself until you get a nice round "roll" look to the dough and roll it around on the counter between your hands to form a nice ball.
Cover with kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes. This will allow the gluten to strengthen.
Put the dough back in the mixer and get out your frozen butter and a cheese grater. You are just going to knead the dough with the hook just enough to incorporate the butter. So while kneading on low speed, slowly grate the frozen butter into the bowl and let the dough soak it up. Grate about half of the stick of butter and put back into the fridge for other purposes.
#7. Form dough into a ball again. Lightly oil a clean bowl, put the dough ball in the bowl and swirl around covering the doughball with oil. Lightly place some plastic wrap on top of the ball to prevent air from getting to the surface. Place a towel over the bowl and place the bowl in a warm area until the dough doubles in size. (This will take about an hour so go watch some tv, have a drink, or mow the lawn.)
Make sure it is not too warm. Nothing over 85-90 degrees please.
#8. After the dough doubles in size,
DO NOT PUNCH THE DOUGH. We want all that carbon dioxide from the yeast in the dough. Otherwise, the dough won't rise well. So instead, carefully fold the dough on itself again and roll it out so it become a ball once again. You will loose some gas but not as much if you treated it like you were Mike Tyson. Put the dough ball back into the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cover bowl with towel and place in the refrigerator over night.
Day 2#1. About an hour before you are ready to cook the dough, place the dough on a floured surface or cutting board and cover with a towel. Allow the dough to rise to room temperature.
#2. Preheat the oven to 475-525 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, the hotter the better. Form the dough into any shape (flatbread or pizza). Add your toppings and cheese at this point. Bake 5-10 minutes depending on the amount of heat you chose. Keep an eye on it.
#3. When pizza is baked, take out and let rest for about 3-5 minutes. This will harden the bottom crust and allow for a more thorough cut. Cut pizza/flatbread however you like.
(if you use a metal pizza pan, put corn meal on the pan before putting the dough on the pan. This will help keep it from sticking).
ResultYou should have a nice buttery, chewy dough with a flaky under crust.
