Can you freeze pizza dough?

This is a question I get asked often from friends and family.  Making homemade pizza dough takes some work and creates a bit of a mess in your kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly trade some flour spilled on the floor for a tasty slice of homemade pizza goodness any day.  However, is there a way to maximize your pizza-making output in one session to enjoy pizza at an undetermined date in the future?

Yes!  You can freeze homemade pizza dough.  I think if more people knew this fact, more people would opt to make a pizza at home rather than pay for some sub-par delivery or carryout pizza.  Plus, you control the ingredients that go into your food.

Now that you know that you can freeze your pizza dough, here's how to do it.

Make your dough as you normally would.  Need some pointers or a simple recipe?  Please take a look at yesterday's blog post, which is titled Triple Batch:  Make Ahead and Make Your Stomach Happy.

You can fit a double batch of the pizza dough into one gallon-sized freezer bags.  I prefer to use the ones that have the sliding zipper on top.  Before placing the dough into the freezer bag, double wrap the dough with plastic wrap.  This will help decrease the chances of any freezer burn.

I like to label the date that I made the pizza dough.  It will keep in the freezer for up to three months.  

When you want to make homemade pizza with your frozen dough, pull the dough out of the freezer at least a day in advance to thaw in your refrigerator.  On the day you are using the dough, let it sit out on the counter so that it can get to room temperature before you start working with it.  Cold pizza dough is very difficult to work with.

Set yourself up for pizza in the future and make extra dough the next time you make homemade pizza. It is easy to do and you're already making the dough, so why not?

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