If you've never made pizza from scratch, stop everything you're doing and go preheat the oven. No really, you don't have to make it now, but I really encourage you to add the ingredients to your grocery list because homemade pizza is wonderful. You can add any toppings you'd like- here I show how to make a barbecue chicken pizza, which is one of my personal favorites.

Making the dough does take some time, but it's well worth it. I calculate homemade pizza to cost somewhere around $3-$5, so not only does it taste good, but it's pretty inexpensive too!

If you like my recipes, please consider visiting my food blog, www.ButterwithaSideofBread.com!

Step 1: Ingredients

Here's what you'll need--

Dough: {Makes 2 large pizzas}

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-2 TBSP cornmeal, for lining pizza pan under dough

I'm a huge fan of Jay's Pizza Crust- I love this recipe and have made it many times. Thanks Jay, whoever you are!

Pizza: {Makes 1 large pizza- I made a plain cheese pizza for the kids using the other crust}

1/2 cup BBQ sauce, any variety
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 large chicken breast, sauteed in 2 TBSP BBW sauce and a 1-2 TBSp water or olive oil
2 cups mozzarella cheese
3 TBSP Parmesan cheese
about 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits- I didn't add mine to the pizza in the pics but I LOVE pineapple on BBQ chicken pizza!}
2 TBSP fresh cilantro, to top the pizza {optional but oh so good!}

Step 2: Make the Dough

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes. This is called "proofing" the yeast- it will bubble up and become almost creamy over time.

Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. I use my Kitchenaid mixer for this as it's so much easier!

Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth or piece of saran wrap. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. **Note: My husband has mastered the art of shaping pizza dough but I have not. Don't laugh at my irregular shaped pizza! I seem to do well on one side, but the other side looks odd. It tasted great that's all that matters, right?!

I then spread a little corn meal on my pizza stone, shape my dough and bake it 7-8 minutes in a 425 degree oven before adding toppings.

Step 3: Add Toppings & Bake

While the dough is baking a few minutes, I assemble my pizza ingredients. The dough makes 2 large pizzas, so if you want to make 2 BBQ chicken pizzas, make sure you have double the amount of pizza toppings I listed!

I spread the BBQ sauce on the semi-baked crust, then added a thin layer of mozzarella cheese, the chicken and red onion. I then topped it with more mozzarella cheese and sprinkled it with a small amount of Italian seasoning and sprinkled the parmesan cheese on top.

Bake it at 425 for about 12 minutes and voila! I topped it with some fresh cilantro because it's amazing, but optional of course.