When Sim and I first got married, there were three foods I wanted to find the perfect recipe for- mashed potatoes, biscuits, and pizza. After almost 7 years of marriage, I have perfected 2 of the 3. I’m still looking for the perfect biscuit recipe! But, I have found our absolute favorite way to make homemade pizza and mashed potatoes!

For the first several years of our marriage, we blocked off Friday night as our at home date night. I think we went over an entire year without missing a Friday! Once babies started coming, the dynamics of home changed a bit, and every Friday didn’t happen like it did before. Now that we have 3 littles, we have morphed it into a family pizza party night! Different life circumstances have caused for our schedule to be not only crazy, but also unpredictable. Because of that, our pizza party isn’t always on a Friday, but we do try to have it once each week. We have a living room picnic enjoying our homemade pizza while watching a movie together. The squeals of delight from our littles when I announce that it’s pizza night is a family memory I’ll cherish forever. While my husband doesn’t squeal in delight, he also gets quite excited. My homemade pizza is one of his favorite things that I make.

Many have asked me for my pizza recipe throughout the years, so I thought I’d post it here for easy access and reference. It truly does make the perfect pizza!

Brettnay’s Homemade Pizza

5 cups bread flour (I use a mix of 2 1/2 cups bread flour & 2 1/2 cups fresh ground whole wheat flour)

1 1/2 tsp natural sea salt

1 1/4 tsp dry active yeast

2 tsp cane sugar

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups hot water

Combine sugar and yeast in kitchen aid mixer bowl. Add hot water and mix for a few seconds. Let sit until yeast activates and becomes “frothy” on top (about 5 minutes). Add salt, oil, and flour. Let knead for several minutes. Separate dough into 3 dough balls.

You can either put into a greased bowl and let sit in the fridge for a day or so, then use, or you can wrap the dough ball in cling wrap, put in a ziploc, and freeze. When I make pizza dough, I usually make a double batch. It takes 2 pizzas to feed my family one meal, so I’ll save out 2 doughs and free the other 4.

If you have frozen your dough: When you are ready to use it, put it in the fridge for 24 hours to let it soften. Then remove it from the wrap, and put into a greased bowl. It can set in that for several days in the fridge until ready for use.

On pizza day, you’ll want to set the dough out in a greased bowl for several hours. Then transfer it to a pizza stone. I spray my stones with cooking spray and sprinkle with cornmeal. Let dough rise on stone for several hours.

Preheat oven to 500 (depending on your oven, it can take 20 minutes or so to get this hot). While oven is heating, make pizza according to your family’s taste. We love Mid’s pizza sauce from Kroger. It is thick and flavorful! I spread a generous amount of sauce, layer on our favorite toppings (pepperoni & sausage for Sim and Knox, LOTS of pineapple for me and Eden), and top with a thick layer of cheese (I used a combination of mozzarella, parmesan and cheddar)

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before cutting. Then enjoy!