This is a style of pizza that you can actually make at home in a regular old oven with reliable results. No fancy wood fired countertop or backyard stone fireplace needed. You don’t even need to travel to Brockton, Mass. (But you should).

It’s not your typical pizza, it’s a bar pizza. And it’s delicious.

See our related post about this regional delicacy here.

Ingredients

• This recipe makes (4) bar pizzas
• Dough
  • 3 cups (15 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 2-1/2 tsp (0.25 oz) instant yeast
  • 1-1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp diamond kosher salt
  • 1 cup warm water (110F)
  • 4 tbsp (2 oz) unsalted butter, melted but not hot
  • 2 tbsp corn oil, plus more corn oil for coating the pans prior to baking
• Toppings
  • Sauce: a 14 oz can or jar of your favorite pizza sauce (or marinara)
  • Cheese: 6 oz low-moisture mozzarella, and 10 oz extra sharp cheddar, shredded and combined
  • Other: with bar pizza, it’s a good idea to stick to a maximum of +2 additional toppings, because too many toppings will quickly overwhelm a 10″ thin-crust pie. Suggestions: pepperoni and julienned green peppers, thin sliced linguica and sliced banana peppers, or shallots and sliced thai red hots.

Special tools: you do need at least (2) 10″ x 1″ bar pie pans, such as these made by Chicago Metallic. If you are feeding more than two people it’s a good idea to have (4) pans.

Directions – Day One

1. To make the dough, combine all dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and then add the butter, oil and water. Mix on low until you see a ball of dough forming. Stop and scrape down all sides of the mixer, then mix again on low until the formed dough has completed about 5 turns around the bowl. It should be fully combined.
2. Move the dough to an airtight container and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Directions – Day Two (Pizza Time)

1. Take your pizza dough out of the fridge at least 3 hours before you plan to make it. Divide into (4) balls of equal weight. Each should weigh approx. 6.5 oz. At this point, you can put any dough you don’t plan to use right away back in the fridge, but don’t wait longer than one more day, otherwise you’ll have sourdough pizza. Even the extra day is borderline.
2. Grease each pan with a healthy dose of corn oil (~1 tbsp). Place a 6.5oz dough ball in each and push out with your fingers. The dough won’t reach all sides just yet, maybe 80% of the way there. Let it rest for 30 minutes before pushing further.
3. Prep toppings:
   • Shred your cheeses & combine, set aside;
   • Measure out 1/3 cup +2 tbsps of sauce per pizza, set aside;
   • Prep any others (if adding extras) & set aside.
4. Preheat convection oven to 500F.
   • If your oven loses heat as it runs, you may need to overshoot the 500F that’s needed to get a crispy undercarriage. Without convection we need to run our oven at 515F. The goal of a good bake is: toasty looking underside, browned and bubbly cheese topping, thin burnt edges arranged around the pie like a crown. It may take a couple pies to hone in on the right time & temperature for your oven.
5. Assemble your pie. Spread the dough out to cover the rest of the pan. Dock the dough with a fork or docker; this prevents it from bubbling excessively. Lay down sauce and spread all the way to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle the cheese blend. Add any toppings.
6. Bake at 500F convection for 15 minutes. Check the pie without opening the oven door. The top will look slightly overdone but this is where you want it; lightly browned on top should mean lightly browned on bottom.
7. Remove from the oven and gently lift with a heatproof spatula to check the underside. If it’s toasted it’s done. Pale is no good.
8. Move to a cutting board. Slice and enjoy!