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Vegan cheese pizza cut into fours on cutting board with wooden background

The Best Vegan Pizza Dough (Oil-free!)


  • Author: Liz Madsen
  • Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
  • Yield: 2 pizzas 1x
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

The Best Oil-free Vegan Pizza Dough is easy to make and not intimidating at all. This 5 ingredient pizza dough produces delicious thick crust pizza.

Vegan, Oil-free, Nut-free, Soy-free


Ingredients

Scale

Dry

  • 750g flour (about 4 cups) (see note 1)
  • 2 1/4 tsp or 1 packet active dry yeast (see note 2)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar

Wet

  • 1 1/4 cup warm water
  • 3 tbsp + 1 tsp coconut cream, divided (see note 3)

Instructions

  1. Measure out 750g flour using the method in the above article. Reserving around a cup, add most of the flour to your mixing bowl. Add your salt to the bowl and mix. If you have a stand mixer, go ahead and use that. If not, I recommend a strong wooden spoon.
  2. Next, add your wet mixture and mix until well combined. Add in the extra flour a little at a time, until you get a thick slightly tacky (but not sticky) dough.
  3. If you're using a stand mixer, you'll want to switch to the dough hook as soon as it becomes super thick. Mix your dough by hand if you don't have a mixer. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. 
  4. Now take another bowl and grease the inside of it with a little leftover coconut cream or oil if you're cool with that. (This step is not necessary but it does make for a softer dough and easier time getting it out of the bowl after rising.)
  5. Scrape your dough into a large bowl. Turn the dough out into the greased bowl and flip it once so both sides have touched the coconut cream.
  6. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and place it in a warm area to rise. I like to put it my oven with the oven light on (but no heat). If you used regular active dry yeast, let it rise for 60 minutes. If you used rapid rise yeast, it should take 30-40 minutes to double in size. To skip the kneading process, see Note 4. If you'd like to use the pizzas now, let's knead them a little bit. Turn on the TV or some fun music.
  7. First, use your scale to weight out your dough. I like to do this in a bowl and use my tare function. Now we're going to cut our dough roughly in half. You'll want to divide the total weight by 2 and each dough ball should weigh that amount. Take a little from the larger and stick it on the smaller if needed.
  8. Now work with one ball at a time and cover the other in the meantime so it doesn't dry out. Gently knead each ball for about 7-10 minutes. Don't knead too hard--this is not a dough to work out your frustrations on. I like to use one hand. I flatten my hand and instead of pushing down into the dough, I'm applying some pressure and moving my hand across the top of it, gripping it lightly at the end with my fingers.Continue to work the dough. You'll know you're doing it right when you feel an air pocket release. 
  9. When you get to the 7 or 8 minute mark, we're going to test the gluten structure with a tension test. Turn your ball over and fold in the edges and pinch them shut. Turn it over once more and cup your hands around the sides, creating a bit of tension in the ball. Lightly press one finger into the top of the ball. If the dough springs back almost immediately, your dough is ready! If not, you'll need to knead it a bit more. When the first ball is ready, switch it with your other ball. Make sure to cover the now kneaded one so it doesn't dry out.
  10. Before you start shaping your pizzas, preheat your oven to at least 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260 degrees Celsius). If your oven supports it like mine does, I recommend 550 degrees Fahrenheit (288 degrees Celsius).
  11. We want the kneaded dough to rise for about 20 minutes before baking. So take the first ball you kneaded and start to flatten it into a circle.
  12. Do not use a rolling pin on your dough! This removes the elasticity and some moisture. Take your first cutting board and sprinkle it with cornmeal (you can also use semolina flour--this is just to keep it from sticking). Start to flatten the first ball of dough with a palm of your hand. Using 2-3 fingers, press out from the center toward the edges leaving a distinct lip for the crust. Try to make this a flat even surface. Be mindful of any spots that get too thin.
  13. Now I'm going to ask you to do something that might be a little scary. Pick up the crust and put your fist gently in the center of the dough. Start to move your balled hands carefully around the inside of the crust. Gently work them around the inner edge of the crust, trying to stay away from those parts that may have gotten too thin.
  14. If at any point the dough rips, place it back on the cutting board. Manipulate the dough so that you fold over any rip and seal it. You may use a tiny bit of water to seal the seam. As you move around the inner edge of the crust, let gravity do the work. Stretch the crust gently. It will have elasticity but it's not unlimited. You can pretty much go as wide as the crust will let you, and as you have wood for in your pan or on your stone. It will be infinitely easier for you if you do not make the crust wider than either your pan or your stone.
  15. Now pick up the cutting board and give it a gentle shake. We want to make sure that the crust is still going to come off the board easily. If it moves back and forth on the board, you're good.
  16. Now dress the pizza as you see fit. I just use a jarred marinara sauce but you can use anything you like. If you only have plain tomato sauce, you could always add some herbs and spices.
  17. I added a thick layer of my vegan stretchy mozzarella, which is absolutely delicious on pizza apparently!!
  18. If you'd like any other toppings add them now. If you're going to add vegetables that need to cook, you should cook them ahead of time because the pizza is only going to be in the oven for about 10 minutes.
  19. Now open the oven door and use an oven mitt to pull out the rack halfway. Position the cutting board halfway over the pizza stone. GENTLY SHAKE OR SLIDE THE CRUST off the cutting board on to the pizza stone, angling so the crust gets onto the center of the stone. Replace the rack in the oven and set a timer for 8 minutes. I have found the sweet spot for me is about 10 minutes with my oven but your oven may be different.
  20. While this pizza cooks you can start work on the other one. Repeat the process on a separate cutting board and set aside. 
  21. Once the timer dings and you feel the crust is adequately cooked (it should be lightly browned on the outside, but don't worry if the center still looks a little molten), remove it from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting. This is crucial.
  22. To remove it from the oven, use an oven mitt to pull the rack halfway out again and position the cutting board back over to the stone. use tongs to grab the cross gently and pull it onto your cutting board. Transfer the other pizza to the oven and set the timer again.
  23. I know it's tough, but try to wait at least 10 minutes before cutting either pizza. Cut with a pizza cutter or kitchen scissors. Enjoy!
  24. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container up to 4 days. Reheat in microwave for soft crust or oven/toaster oven/airfryer for crisp crust.

Notes

  • Note 1: For flour, I recommend using unbleached or all purpose flour. Any brand will work, though some of my favorites include Bob's Red Mill (link), Trader Joe's, and King Arthur (link). If all you have is bread flour, you can use that, but it will be more chewy. I would be careful not to over knead dough made from bread flour, and try to keep it moist. Similarly, whole wheat flour is fine to use, but it will require a bit more water. Play around with it when mixing the dough. You want your dough to be moist but not sticky.
  • Note 2: For our dough to rise, and a really good flavor, you'll need some yeast. You can use active dry yeast like I did, or you can use a rapid rising yeast. The rapid yeast decreases the total time of this recipe. But I will say that the more time the yeast develops in your dough, the better the flavor. So choose whichever fits your needs best.
  • Note 3: I love the coconut cream in this because it makes it the dough soft and supple, resulting in a divine crust. However if you can't find coconut cream, you can use tahini, oil, or even regular coconut milk (reduce the warm water by 2 tablespoons or add a little extra flour if you do this). You can also totally omit it, but your dough might be slighly less supple.
  • Note 4: If you'd like to skip the kneading process, you'll need to refrigerate your dough for 24 hours (or up to 3 days), then let it come back to room temperature. The yeast and gluten will have developed enough at that point to shape your pizzas and bake.
  • Prep Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Entree, Party
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American, Italian, Vegan

Keywords: Vegan, Oil-free, Nut-free, Soy-free, Pizza, Pizza Dough, Homemade