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I'm a huge fan of Buffalo Chicken Pizza. It all started when I went to Houghton College. I worked in the downstairs cafe/snack shop that served wraps, hamburgers, fries, chicken wings, pizza, milkshakes and a few other unhealthy college staples. While the food was not all that fresh and pretty much everything came frozen or jarred, it did start my buffalo chicken pizza obsession. When I first heard about it I thought that it was super gross, until I tried it. Where had been this deliciousness been all my life?!
Since I worked in the snack shop, I could customize anything I made for myself to the way I liked it. So now that I'm living in my own home with a family and I have all the ingredients to make it all from scratch it's just that more delicious.
Ever since I found a bread machine at a yard sale for $5, I've been using it to make my pizza dough. But I'll be putting in my recipe to make it by hand, which is slightly different, because I know that not everyone has a bread machine - and this is how I used to make my pizza dough before.
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Pizza Dough (makes 2 medium round crusts)
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 TB oil
Toppings
- one chicken breast
- salt and pepper
- mozzerella and parmesan cheese
- Blue Cheese dressing, preferably with chunks
Pizza Dough
Combine yeast, warm water and sugar in a bowl and wait for yeast to activate, roughly 10 minutes.
Add in oil, salt, and flour (cup by cup) while mixing with a mixer with a dough hook attachment.
When the dough becomes thick enough, knead by hand for at least 5 minutes (can also be done with a dough hook).
Let it rise in an oiled bowl covered with a dishcloth for 1 1/2 hours.
It's now ready to shape and make into pizzas.
Pizza Assembly and toppings
Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the dough is rising, you can make the chicken and buffalo sauce.
To make the chicken, simply season with salt and pepper, cut into bite sized pieces and cook in a skillet until done. Set aside.
Make the buffalo sauce by combining the blue cheese dressing and Frank's Buffalo sauce in a 2:1 ratio (I like mine pretty spicy, feel free to add more or less blue cheese dressing to either tone it down or increase spiciness.)
Shape half of the pizza dough into a circle or square (depending on your preference or shape of your pan), and prick the dough with the tines of a fork to keep it from puffing too much. Leave about a inch around the edge of the dough for the crust. Dust the pan with a thin layer of cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking to it and put the dough in the oven for 5 -10 minutes until mostly cooked though but not browned.
Once the dough has been pre-baked, take it out and re-prick the dough with a fork. Top with the buffalo sauce, cooked chicken and mozzarella cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.
Top the finished pizza with Parmesan cheese if you wish. Let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into slices.
Enjoy!
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