Tyler Florence's Ultimate Pizza Dough

I watched Tyler Florence's Ultimate Pizza episode on Food Network, and decided I had to try out this pizza dough. It's terrific. We actually doubled the recipe because we had friends coming over, and we were able to refrigerate the leftovers and have pizza for 2 days!

INGREDIENTS:

1 ounce fresh baker's yeast

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon maple syrup

3 cups flour (recommended 00--however, I just used all-purpose)

1 tablespoon sea salt (I'm still up in the air as to whether I think this is too much salt. It tastes great once it's baked, but I was a little nervous when I tasted the dough)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F and place the pizza stone on the bottom rack. (I actually cook the pizzas at 425 degrees)

Crumble the yeast in a small bowl then add 1/4 cup of warm water and the syrup. Stir together and leave for 5 minutes to dissolve.

Put the flour and salt in a mixer fitted with a dough hook and give it a quick spin to mix. Pour in the yeast mixture, the remaining war water and the olive oil at the same time.

Spin on low until the flour and water come together and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Put the ball of dough in a large bowl and drizzle a few drops of olive oil on top to keep it from forming a skin as it proofs. Cover with a towel and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes to let the dough proof. When the dough has proofed, it will double in size and look spongy.

Roll the dough on a floured surface and punch the air out with your hands, then start shaping it into a circle.