Last Updated on June 20, 2024 by Michelle

I’m over here perfecting my sourdough pizza crust while the world is on lockdown with the Coronavirus pandemic. I mean a girl has to stay busy and her family has to have pizza every Friday night. Cause these things are important when the world as we know it may never be the same.

Sourdough and pizza…

Keeping busy and family meals…

These simple joys carry a lot of weight in our home.

This happens to be one of my favorite uses for my sourdough starter.

Today I’m sharing one of our favorite pizza dough recipes with you.

I’ll share another sourdough pizza crust recipe in the weeks ahead (deep dish sourdough pizza crust), as well as explain how to use your sourdough starter in any recipe you want to, in addition to making a few loaves of delicious, easier-than-you’d-think Homemade Sourdough Bread.

But today, a gray New England spring afternoon that feels nothing like spring should, I’m making one of our family’s favorite dinners.

The wind is howling outside, and cold rains are hitting our old window panes.

But the sap has stopped flowing in the maples, and our last bottled syrup of the year is lined up waiting to go to the root cellar, so I am assured one day spring will truly arrive.

This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure here.

A Big Sourdough Shout Out.

Before I share my recipe for Sourdough Pizza Crust, I need to give a huge shout-out to the book Sourdough: Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More. It’s loaded with recipes using sourdough starter (nothing like stating the obvious, right?) as well as sprouted grains. It has been my inspiration for a lot of deliciousness while we’re stuck at home these long weeks, and the source for this pizza crust recipe adaptation.

As I was writing my book, Sweet Maple, I reorganized the layout many times. It was important to me that my book flow logically, yet also creatively. I can tell Sarah Owens went through a similar thought process with her gorgeous book, where she breaks down her kitchen creativity by seasons, letting her delicious recipes and the inviting photos be inspired by seasonal harvests.

A Note About the Dough.

When you add in your flour and start to mix it it doesn’t look much like dough at all. Once I’ve incorporated it as much as in the first picture below I will then knead it by hand. (Yep, the best pizza to eat is pretty messy to make.)

Also, as with any dough, I usually add my flour in gradually. Some days I want a little more than the recipe calls for and some days I need less. For this picture I had added exactly what the recipe calls for and I wound up wasting flour (left over in the blue bowl).

Sourdough Pizza Crust

On pizza day (which is Friday around these parts, as my Daddy would’ve said) make your dough in the morning. You’ll want to give it plenty of time to rise, maybe 8-10 hours.

1/4 cup sourdough starter (I explain how to make your own starter right here)
1 cup water
2 tsp oil (I use this avocado oil)
2 cup flour (go here if you’d like to know more about using fresh flour)
a pinch of salt (I use this one)

To make your dough, combine the first 3 ingredients. Then add the flour and salt and mix until you have a nice, soft dough. (Take care to only add as much flour as needed. You may find you need a little less than 2 cups or you may need a little more than that. Add until your dough is a nice consistency and not too stick.)
Oil a large bowl (I love this refillable oil sprayer), roll your ball of dough in the oil to coat it, then cover the bowl with a thin towel and let it sit at room temperature until it’s double in size. (But also read #4 below.) Any old bowl is fine, but this one happens to be my favorite.
When you’re ready to make the pizza, preheat your cast iron pan to 550°. This is the cast iron pan I love to use for this pizza (it also makes an amazing giant cookie). But this would work wonderfully too. Yes, btw, I’m asking you to get the oven super hot. The heat makes the sourdough use the first crucial 10 minutes of baking to its full advantage, giving you lots of wonderful bubbles in your baked crust.
Place your ball of dough on parchment paper and gently press it out, from the center until it’s the right size, about 10-12 inches in diameter. Being gentle leads to an airy crust. Also, I don’t find cornmeal or flour necessary. If you would like, feel free to dust your parchment paper with cornmeal at this stage. (Sidenote: I’ve had this recipe not rise much and make one 12-inch pizza. I’ve also had it rise very well many times, in which case I divide it and it makes two pizzas.)
Add your pizza toppings. Sauce, bacon, and cheese are our favorites.
Then lift your dough, on the parchment paper, directly into your hot pan, keeping the pan and the oven as hot as you’re able. (The less heat that escapes, the airy and bubblier your crust will be.)
Bake for 10-15 minutes, being sure to turn your parchment paper 180° half way through. When your cheese is bubbly and your crust is a pretty golden color, delicious dinner is served.

If you’re interested in knowing what items I couldn’t live without in my farmhouse kitchen, you want to check out this list of my kitchen loves.

So there you have it… one of our favorite things to make on a perfect Friday night… whether we are stuck at home or not, this sourdough pizza crust brings everyone to the family table.