Julie Clark
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Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough
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The ultimate in pizza dough! Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough has amazing flavor without a long waiting time. Read our tips for a perfectly golden brown crust.
One recipe that sourdough lovers have been asking for is a sourdough discard pizza dough. Some have used our sourdough discard bread recipe, but I wanted to take the pizza crust that we know and love and give it a sourdough flair.
I spent all winter perfecting it and have made delicious pizzas with this recipe for about the past 6 Friday nights. I’m so excited to share it with you today!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Perfect for when you have sourdough discard to use up.
- When you want sourdough flavor but don’t have time for a long fermentation.
- Same day mixing and baking. No overnight rest.
- Tips for the best perfectly golden brown crust (with bubbles!).
What is sourdough discard?
Sourdough bread has been a comforting classic for years, but this year it has become even more popular than ever. If yeast is scarce you can learn how to make bread with sourdough which has a naturally occuring yeast.
You can read our complete sourdough guide, but once you start making sourdough, you either have to bake with it or discard part of the start or it will keep growing. In order to not be wasteful, you can make recipes with the sourdough discard. These discard recipes use other leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda or yeast) to get a rise in the baked good. See below the recipe for some of our favorites.
Tips for Making Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough
- You’ll need one of these three things to make this pizza dough: a stand mixer, a bread maker (that has a dough setting), or raw arm muscle power. I use my bread machine on the dough setting most often to make dough. It’s easy to set it and have it be ready for me to use in about 2 hours. The second easiest is the stand mixer. But if you don’t have either, use your hands to knead the dough the old fashioned way. It works!
- I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients. If you choose not to, add the flour slowly so that the dough doesn’t end up too dry. You want the dough to be slightly tacky to the touch.
- My sourdough starter is 100% hydration. That means I feed it with equal weights of water and flour.
- This pizza bakes at a high temperature. Set your oven to as high as it will go. I set mine to 550º Fahrenheit. It takes about 30 minutes to heat to this temperature.
- Don’t roll the dough with a rolling pin! This will pop all of the little air bubbles in the dough giving you a chewier, denser crust. If you want light and crispy, just press the dough with your hands.
- Don’t allow the toppings to sit on the pizza too long before baking. The sauce may make the dough soggy. Bake as soon as you get the pizza assembled.
- Looking for more pizza tips and our favorite toppings? Read our complete guide to making homemade pizza.
Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough
The ultimate in pizza dough! Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough has amazing flavor without a long waiting time. Read our tips for a perfectly golden brown crust.
Servings 8
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup warm water (115º Fahrenheit) 172 grams
- 0.25 ounces Red Star Platinum Instant Yeast (1 package)
- 1 cup sourdough discard 240 grams
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar 12 grams
- 1 teaspoon salt 6 grams
- 2 tablespoons olive oil 30 grams
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal 24 grams
- 2 3/4 cups bread flour 358 grams
Instructions
- Put warm water the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the top.
- Add in the sourdough discard, sugar, salt, olive oil, cornmeal and flour.
- In your stand mixer, mix them with the paddle attachment just until combined. Then put on the dough hook and knead for about 10 minutes.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until almost doubled.
- Preheat the oven to 550º Fahrenheit. (This takes about 30 minutes for our oven to heat to this high temperature, so plan accordingly.) If you have two baking stones, place one on each of two racks in the oven. The pizza will sit on the bottom one and there will be a stone on top also to cook the top of the pizza.
- Place a large piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet (preferably one without sides). Sprinkle cornmeal on the parchment paper.
- Note: This recipe is for one extra large pizza. You can split the dough into two and make two medium pizzas as well. If you do they won't take as long to cook.
- Stretch the pizza dough out and press it lightly with your fingertips until it is the size and thickness you'd like it. Don’t roll the dough with a rolling pin! This will pop all of the little air bubbles in the dough giving you a chewier, denser crust. If you want light and crispy, just press the dough with the pads on your fingertips.
- Top with desired pizza toppings.
- Slide the parchment paper with pizza off the pan and directly onto the lower pizza stone. Bake for about 14 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. This time will vary based on how thick the crust is and how large the pizza is so watch it closely.
- Remove the pizza from the oven, slice and serve. Be careful….it will be VERY hot!
Notes
The calories shown are based on the the dough being divided into 8 pieces, with 1 serving being ⅛ of the dough (no toppings). Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**
Nutrition
Calories: 228kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 292mg | Potassium: 51mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg
Sourdough Discard Recipes
These discard recipes use other leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda or yeast) to get a rise in the baked good. See some of our favorite recipes using sourdough discard here:
Can I use APF instead of bread flour? And would it be the same amount?
This is seriously the BEST recipe!!! Makes the yummiest pizza we have ever ate! My kids no longer want to order pizza out because “we can make it better.” We try to make it every Friday after school.
I wouldn’t change anything but I am curious if I can do this with only sourdough and not yeast? Like, if I use active starter can I bypass the yeast? Just curious, as I started the sourdough process to avoid using commercial yeast. Although, I am not opposed to continue buying it just for this recipe.
This was amazing, best discard crust recipe I’ve made yet!! I just used some honey instead of sugar
Hi everyone! For those using a Kitchenaid stand mixer, at what speed do you put it?
If I use an active starter do I need to add the yeast?
Can I use active dry yeast instead of instant in the bread machine?
Made it for friends the other day and everyone thought it was the best pizza we’ve ever had. Dough was soft and silky. Flavor and texture was amazing
I have made this dough dozens of times and it always turns out perfect! It freezes beautifully too! After the first rise, I punch down the dough and put it in a freezer bag and into the freezer. The night before I want to use it, I will put it in the fridge overnight to thaw. Then 30 mins before I want to use it, I’ll remove it from the fridge to warm up. Push into the pan, top and bake. Works a treat!
Love this pizza dough. I’ve tried pizza dough quite a few times. Some, you have to start the day before, some just taste weird. This one was perfect. Ready in under an hour. I thought the corn meal would add a sandy texture but the dough was pillowy and delicious. 2 thumbs up from both my picky sons, as well as myself!
I followed the recipe (other than I don’t have cornmeal) and the dough is just sticky and unworkable, what have I done wrong?!
This dough recipe is perfection! My oven only goes to 500, and I split the dough in half for 2 smaller pizzas. I cooked it with all the toppings and some added seasonings (I’m a heavy seasoning person), but only some of the cheese, for four minutes. I then added the remaining cheese and cooked it 6 minutes longer. While, I knew the toppings and sauce would be good, I was over the moon happy with the crust. My almost 4 year old granddaughter ate her crust! That doesn’t happen!!! Glad I picked your recipe to try!! Thank you.
Question about the cornmeal, I’m curious what this ingredient does for the dough mixture?
Tried many sourdough crusts, this one turns out fluffy & perfect every time. If my sourdough is overachieving, we’ll get 2 decent sized crusts that can feed 8 people. We bake the crust with olive oil brushed on for 7 minutes, then add sauce, cheese & toppings & bake until done. Delicious!
LOVE this pizza dough! So flavorful and soft. I add 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning to it when I put in the flour. Our new family favorite. The kids don’t ask to order pizza anymore, they enjoy making their own delicious pizza from home now. Thank you for sharing!
Can you let this “ferment” overnight to increase the sourdough flavour?
This is my go to recipe for pizza dough, it’s simply amazing! I’ve made it several times for pizzas and calzones and had great results. This last time I proofed my dough in my car as it was 89° F outside!