Tasty individual-sized pizza crusts ready to use for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks. The size is perfect for the grill, for a galley, or the small oven we use here in Mongolia.

After trying many different recipes, I now have our go-to basic pizza crust recipe. The recipe can be easily modified by adding different spices or cheese into the crust. I’ve also substituted half of the all-purpose flour with wheat for a heartier crust that goes especially well with olive oil-based toppings. The best thing about the recipe is that it makes six crusts – two for now and four more for two more meals later. These crusts freeze well.

The crusts bake up best on a pizza stone, or, as I’ve recently learned, on an untreated clay tile from your local hardware store. The stone provides for even baking, giving the bottom a satisfying crispiness and leaving the top of the crust nice and chewy.

Our traditional dinner pizzas tend to be fully loaded, like our cheese and burger pizzas or smoked anchovy and salmon pizzas or our Alaska silver salmon pizzas. Pizza crusts can be loaded up for breakfast, too. How about a pepperonata and fried egg pizza? Or brush on some olive oil and grate some parmesan cheese on the crust, bake for 10 minutes and you have yourself a tasty appetizer. The possibilities are endless.

Individual-Sized Pizza Crusts

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Mix water, olive oil, yeast, and sugar together in a large bowl.
2. Mix in salt and about half of the flour.
3. Knead in more flour in increments of about 1/4 cup. (I actually knead the dough in the large bowl.)
4. When all flour is incorporated, dough should no longer be sticky.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and clean the large bowl.
6. Oil the bowl well and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, about an hour.
7. Divide dough into six pieces. Stretch the dough into the shape of a plate. Let pizza-shaped crusts rest for 10 minutes while you preheat oven.
8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (about 200 degrees C). Preheat with baking stone in oven. If you don’t have a baking stone, preheat baking sheet.
9. Place two crusts on baking stone, pricking each generously with a fork.
10. Bake for 10 minutes.
11. Repeat with remaining crusts.
12. Let cool completely before you keep in the freezer or refrigerator.
13. When you are ready to use crusts, let them thaw slightly (if frozen) cover with desired toppings and bake at 400 degrees F (200 C) for about 10 minutes – cheese should be bubbly and slightly browned.

Need some tasty ideas to top these crusts?

Click here for silver salmon pizza.

Click here for smoked anchovy and salmon pizza.

Click here for pepperonata and fried egg pizza.