Can You Make Pizza Dough Without Yeast?

Monday night is homemade pizza night at our house, a tradition that goes back about 25 years. While the best homemade pizza crust calls for a combination of yeast, water, olive oil and flour, sometimes we have to make a few substitutions when we are short on ingredients.

Last Monday, I happened to be out of yeast.

Bread products rely on rising (or leavening) agents to make them light and fluffy. Yeast and sour dough are two popular leavening agents, but there's yet also a third type of agent known as "chemical leavening" which includes baking soda, baking powder, and cream of tartar. While these chemical leavening agents are mostly used for quick breads and biscuits, they can also be used to make pizza dough when time is short and you are out of yeast, like I was.

I made yeast free pizza dough for the first time Monday and was quite pleased with the results. The dough was much fluffier than my regular dough and had a biscuit-like texture which is great for kids who wear braces and have to watch what they eat. As far as flavor, the only complaint I heard was from my teen daughter who thought the dough seemed a bit rich. No surprise there, since this recipe is basically pie crust with baking powder and an Italian kick. Here's the basic recipe:

Yeast free pizza dough

2 cups white flour
2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
2/3 cup skim milk
5 TB olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 garlic powder

--Preheat oven 425.
--Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir with a spoon until the mixture forms a ball. Knead the dough by hand until smooth, roll out on a lightly floured counter until a couple of inches larger than the pizza pan. (I prefer using a cast iron skillet myself for the ultimate deep dish pizza).
--Lightly grease the pan. Center the dough in the pan, flip the excess dough inwards and pinch to create a ledge.
--Spread 6 ounces of tomato paste on the dough. Sprinkle with a dash of garlic, basic, and other Italian seasoning.
--Top with grated mozzarella cheese, top with your favorite toppings.
--Bake for 25-30 minutes