If you are new here, pizza is hands down my favorite food! Like by a landslide and I believe almost everything has the potential to become a pizza 🙂 I make homemade pizza every weekend and after experimenting with many from scratch dough recipes, I no longer like takeout pizza at all. This easy homemade cast iron skillet pizza dough recipe with honey is a great beginner dough recipe with a shorter rise time and it can be baked in a normal oven. It has a flavorful crust perfect for dipping! You can top it with your favorite toppings or be adventurous and try one of my unique combinations. Either way, this simple dough recipe will definitely be your gateway drug into a homemade pizza addiction. Full recipe card below.

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Why Homemade Pizza Dough?

If you know, you know and there is no going back. Great pizza starts with good dough. But if you are new to pizza making, I know it may seem daunting, but I promise you it is easier than you think! Homemade dough tastes nothing like the imitation store bought pizza and contains real ingredients you can actually pronounce. Just don’t get mad at me when you become a pizza snob like me 🙂

Why I Love This Recipe

This is a very beginner friendly homemade pizza dough and doesn’t require any fancy tools to make it. And unlike pizza oven pizza dough, it requires less rise time as it is a high-hydration dough at 72%. This means it can be made only a few hours before eating because the yeast works faster with more water. This pizza crust recipe is full of flavor and bakes really well in a cast iron skillet.

Pizza Dough Ingredients

Most pizza dough recipes have a few basic ingredients that are consistent across the board and simply vary in quantities. I will break down what I use and why and give you a few alternatives for substitutions.

Flour – For this recipe I always use all purpose flour. Believe it or not, different flour contains different levels of protein which impacts how much gluten is formed when combined with yeast. Higher protein equals more gluten formed and once you pass about 13% protein level in flour (like whole wheat flour) the result will be very dense. So while I sometimes use bread flour or 00 flour for pizza oven dough, it isn’t the best choice here. Since this a fast rise dough with a lot of yeast and those flours have a higher protein content, too much gluten develops making the dough tough not to mention the flavor becomes overly yeasty. For best results with this recipe, stick to plain Jane all purpose flour.

Yeast – I always use active dry yeast because I buy it in bulk, but instant yeast will work here as well. You can use them interchangeably in a 1:1 ratio as long as the yeast is being dissolved in water. Active dry yeast needs to be activated in water where instant yeast does not need water to activate. Either way, yeast is a required ingredient here.

Sugar – Sugar helps activate the yeast mixture and adds a little sweetness to the dough.

Melted Butter – This adds a rich buttery flavor to the pizza dough and helps it crisp up on the edges in the oven. It is best to use real, unsalted butter. You can use margarine, but it will not taste the same since margarine is made from vegetable oil and actual butter is made from churned milk or heavy whipping cream. I melt mine in the microwave.

*** Pro tip – cut each tablespoon of butter into quarters and microwave in increments of 10 seconds. The butter will melt faster when its smaller and anything longer than 10 seconds and you will be cleaning the inside of your microwave instead of making pizza.

Honey – There is truly nothing better than a little bit of honey in dough or cornbread! I normally buy honey in bulk at Costco and get raw honey. This type of honey is more potent and has a bit sweeter of a taste. If you are not using raw honey you may need to use a little more to arrive at the same flavor. You can also try adding maple syrup if you do not have honey.

*** Pro Tip – When measuring honey spray your measuring spoon with cooking spray first. The honey will slide right off.

Salt – To offset some of the sweetness you always want to add a bit of salt.

Olive Oil – I use extra virgin olive oil in two ways in this recipe. I add a little bit to the dough itself and a small amount of olive oil to coat the pizza dough while it rises so it stays hydrated and doesn’t dry out.

Pizza Toppings – Add your favorite pizza toppings and sauce or try one of my pizza creations.

Dipping – Next to eating the pizza itself, dipping the crust is my favorite! If you haven’t tried it yet, try dipping your pizza crust in Mike’s Hot Honey! It is spicy but oh SO good! Dipping pizza crust in honey is a Colorado thing but I promise it’s not as weird as it sounds. And if honey isn’t for you, creamy ranch dressing or garlic butter are great dippers too!

Pizza Equipment – Being pizza aficionados, we own a lot of tools and gadgets for pizza making. You definitely don’t need anything more than a cast iron skillet, a pizza stone, or a pizza pan. I DO NOT recommend making this pizza dough in a high heat pizza oven. Because it is a honey pizza dough it contains too much sugar for the high heat and will burn easily in a pizza oven.

Making the Pizza Dough

First you will need to prepare the yeast mixture. In a large mixing bowl, add warm water and the yeast. Make sure you use warm water not hot because you do not want to kill the yeast. Let this sit for a few minutes. The water mixture should look a bit foamy and cloudy.

Now you are ready to combine all the ingredients except the salt into the bowl of your stand mixer. Once the flour mixture is combined with the yeast, add the salt and mix again. Adding the salt directly to the yeast mixture can cause your dough to be weak or tough.

Mixing Kneading Options

If you do not have a stand mixer, you can use an electric hand mixer with dough hooks or you can knead the dough by hand. I find hand kneading very tiring so I always use my stand mixer with the dough hook. You want to be careful not to overwork the dough though. The dough is ready to rise once it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and is no longer sticky. It should have some elasticity but it should not bounce back when you poke it.

The Dough Rise

The dough rise is the most important step and like in most pizza recipes it cannot be skipped. While this recipe has a short rise time because of the hydration and how much yeast it contains, it still needs to rise for at least an hour and a half at room temperature. This recipe uses a bulk rise which means the entire ball of dough rises at the same time rather than balling it up into individual dough balls.

You can rise it in a warm place like the oven (100 degrees) or on proof mode if your oven has that or you can rise it in a bowl covered with plastic wrap on the counter. I have done both methods and don’t think there is a huge difference between the two. You just don’t want to rise this dough in the fridge. Before I start the rise, I ball up the dough and spray it with a little olive oil in my Misto. This helps keep the dough from drying out during the rise.

Baking Pans

I always make this recipe in my 12 inch cast iron skillet. It makes a thick crust and puffs up the dough nicely. If you do not have a cast iron skillet you can also use a pizza pan without holes or a pizza stone but the cooking time may vary a little. You could also make your own personal pizzas in small cast iron skillets if your family has a hard time agreeing on toppings.

To shape the pizza, I lay the dough out in the center of the cast iron pan and work it into the edges of the skillet with the palm of my hand. I do not recommend using a rolling pin because it flattens the dough too much and takes all the air away which is what gives you a puffy thick crust.

Once the dough covers the entire base, I use my fingers to create a ring of crust around the outer edge. You don’t have to do this part, but I like having at least an inch of puffy crust on my pizza to season in the next step.

Buttery Seasoned Crust

My favorite part of this pizza dough is the crust it develops. It is perfect for a little garlic butter seasoning. I melt a little bit of margarine (not butter) in a small bowl or ramakin and add garlic powder, salt, pepper, and some Italian seasoning and brush it onto the crust using a basting brush. This part is definitely optional but it makes the BEST crust!

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Storage

The best way to store leftover pizza dough is in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days after making it. If you cannot use it within three days, you can freeze it in a zip-lock freezer bag or use a vacuum sealer and freeze the dough for up to 3 months. This recipe will make two 12 inch pizzas. I usually make one and freeze the second dough for future use. When you want to make pizza next time, thaw the dough in the fridge and put it on the counter an hour before making. Frozen dough keeps for about three months but don’t forget to date the bag in case you forget when you made it last.

When to Make Homemade Pizza Dough

For me the answer is every week! There is nothing quite like the taste of homemade pizza and cooking it can be a fun family affair. Every Friday night we put on some music, open a bottle of wine, and make pizza. Even if this is your first time making homemade pizza this recipe is simple enough to make whenever you have a craving, for a pizza party, family gatherings or your next pizza night. No matter the occasion, this is the best pizza dough recipe for a beginner and it will quickly become one of your family favorites!

Looking for more pizza ideas? Try my white garlic goat cheese pizza, pad Thai crescent roll pizza, Hawaiian pineapple and pepperoni pizza, buffalo chicken pizza, or lemon ricotta pizza. Looking for a homemade pizza sauce? Try my red tomato paste pizza sauce or white garlic pizza sauce.

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Homemade Cast Iron Pizza Dough Recipe with Honey