Pepperoni, olives, onion, jalapeno, etc. for topping
Instructions
For the dough:
To make the dough, place the warm water and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let bloom, about 10 minutes. Mixture will be bubbly when ready.
Add the flour, olive oil, and salt to the yeast mixture and turn the mixer, fitted with the dough hook, to medium. Knead until the dough comes together to form a smooth dough. You may need to add more flour, a few tablespoons at a time, until the dough comes together to form a smooth, elastic ball that you can pinch without leaving much residue on your fingers.
Remove dough to an oiled bowl and place in the oven with the light turned on. Let rise for one hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Punch the dough down and separate into 2 evenly sized pieces of dough. Roll into balls.
Use your hands to shape the dough into a disc and place onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press and stretch the dough, keeping the round shape, to form a pizza crust about 7 inches in diameter. If the dough is pulling back into itself, let it rest for 10 minutes and try again.
Repeat with the remaining piece of dough to form 2 pizza crusts.
To cook:
Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees for at least 5 minutes.
Once the pizza dough is shaped to your liking, transfer to dough carefully onto a piece of parchment paper that’s just a bit larger than the dough itself. This will make it easier to transfer the pizza to the air fryer.
Add half of the sauce to one pizza crust and spread it out leaving just a bit of space for the crust.
Top with half of the cheese and arrange any toppings you like over the cheese.
Carefully remove the preheated air fryer basket from the air fryer and quickly but carefully use a large spatula to transfer the dough on the parchment paper into the air fryer basket.
Return to the air fryer and cook for 6 minutes. Check for doneness and continue cooking in 1 minute increments until the pizza is cooked to your liking.
Remove the pizza to a cutting board, place the basket back in the air fryer to stay hot, and make your second pizza following the same instructions.
When both pizzas are finished, slice and serve.
Notes
You may use a 1 pound ball of refrigerated dough from the grocery store rather than making your own, if preferred.About ¼ cup of sauce per pizza is the limit or your dough will be soggy. We prefer our pizza to be not overly saucy, so I don’t usually use the full amount. You’ll want a nice, solid, flat spatula to transfer the dough - it’s the hardest part but definitely doable. Make sure to use parchment so you can slide the spatula under the dough without it sticking. Parchment doesn’t need to be much bigger than the crust at all and it will just block air flow if it’s too large.You can use any blend of cheese that you like for pizza. We often do closer to a cup of mozzarella and then finish it off with some Parmesan or cheddar. Pepperoni is a classic, but feel free to get creative with the toppings. My personal favorite is crumbled bacon, sliced pickled jalapenos, and small bits of pineapple. Sweet, salty, spicy, and cheesy in every bite!