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Crazy Dough for Everything(aka Universal Dough) – make one miracle dough, keep it in the fridge and use it for anything you like: pizza, focaccia, dinner rolls, pretzels , crescent rolls etc
My mother got this recipe for Crazy Dough from her friend over 20 years ago. At the time it was called “Universal Dough”, but now it is often referred to as “Crazy Dough” (UPDATE November 2014: I’ve seen some food bloggers have used this recipe and called it “Miracle Dough”). This friend was so thrilled with the recipe because it was very simple to make and you could use it for almost anything you wanted. Just mix all ingredients together, keep the dough in a plastic bag in your fridge for up to 3 days, and take out as much as you need for whatever you need: pizza, focaccia, panzerotti, dinner rolls, buns, scones, crescent rolls, pretzels, doughnuts, etc. For Vegan Crazy Dough click here.
A neighbour of mine said she always keeps it in the fridge and, whenever she has any kind of leftovers, she uses them as a stuffing for panzerotti. Another friend told me Crazy Dough is the best pizza dough in the world. I was a bit skeptical about it, but when I tried it, I must admit it is true.
From this batch you will get 4 lb (1.8 kg) dough which is quite a lot, enough to make 4 pizzas (10 inches / 25 cm diameter). If you don’t need that much, just use half the batch.
Crazy Dough freezes well, too. You can always have it prepared and easily make fresh snack or a dinner in no time. When you need it, take it out of the freezer, let it thaw and then use it in the same way as you would use fresh dough.
Do you use Crazy Dough in your recipes? What has been your experience? Please share in the comments! Thanks!
UPDATES:
No 1.
I made Crazy Dough using WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR and I can confirm that it does work.
No 2.
I created VEGAN Crazy Dough for all those people who cannot eat milk, yogurt or eggs and GLUTEN-FREE Crazy Dough fro gluten-intolerant.
No 3.
I FROZE Crazy Dough and thawed it several days later. Then I baked it in the same way I bake fresh dough and it turned out just as good.
No 4.
I get a lot of questions about YEAST quantity. I always use 80 g of fresh yeast. When I was writing this blog post I tried to convert it to Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast measures. For that purpose I consulted various online Yeast Converters, but each of them gave me different results, which was pretty frustrating.
That is why I bought all kinds of yeast that I could find on the market and made conversions myself.
I wrote down my results and made an Yeast Conversion Chart infographics out of them so that both you and me can refer to it any time we need it.
Also, I baked Crazy Dough using Active Dry Yeast and Instant Yeast, so now I know for sure that it works and that quantities are correct.
Yeast Conversion Chart
See how to make Crazy Dough for Everything (video shows just 1/4 batch):
4.74 from 15 votes
Crazy Dough for Everything
Crazy Dough for Everything (aka Universal Dough) – make one miracle dough, keep it in the fridge and use it for anything you like: pizza, focaccia, dinner rolls, pretzels , crescent rolls etc
Course:Side Dish
Cuisine:American, Eastern European
Keyword:crazy dough
Author: Kitchen Nostalgia
Ingredients
- 1cup(220 ml220 g) milk, lukewarm
- 2tspsugar
- 80gfresh yeastor 4 tsp active dry yeast or 4 tsp instant yeast
- 6 2/3cupall-purpose flour1 kg
- 3tspbaking powder
- 3tspsalt
- 1 1/2cup(360 ml360 g) plain yogurt
- 2whole eggs
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine lukewarm milk with sugar and yeast. Let stand until yeast activates. It will become foamy and start expanding.
Put the yeast mixture together with all other ingredients in a bowl of your mixer or food processor. Mix well. You should get soft dough, similar to pizza dough. If the dough is too dry, add a little bit of milk or water. If it is too soft, add just a little bit of flour.
You can use miracle Crazy Dough immediately. Shape it into whatever shape you like, wait a little bit (15-20 minutes in the warm kitchen) until it starts expanding, then pop in hot oven.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Put Crazy Dough in a plastic bag, squeeze the air out and close the bag. Just to be safe, you can put it all together in another bag because the dough will continue expanding and the first bag could burst.
Keep it in your fridge for up to 3 days. You can freeze it, too.
1/2 BATCH (for 2 lb / 900 g dough):
1/2 cup (110 ml, 110 g) milk
1 tsp sugar
40 g fresh yeast (or 2 tsp active dry yeast or 2 tsp instant yeast)
3 1/3 cup (500 g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (180 ml, 180 g) plain yogurt
1 whole egg
1/4 BATCH (for 1 lb / 450 g dough):
1/4 cup (55 ml, 55 g) milk
1/2 tsp sugar
20 g fresh yeast (or 1 tsp active dry yeast or 1 tsp instant yeast)
1 1/2 cup + 2 1/2 Tbsp (250 g) all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp (90 ml, 90 g) plain yogurt
1 whole egg
Recipes using Crazy Dough:
Crazy Dough Bread
Crazy Dough Cinnamon Rolls
Crazy Dough Focaccia
Crazy Dough Pizza
Vegan Crazy Dough
Gluten-Free Crazy Dough
Crazy Dough Dinner Rolls
Crazy Dough Pretzels
Crazy Dough Doughnuts