Expert: Heinz Henze - 11/19/2008

Question
Is egg needed in a pizza dough? why/why not? Thanks!

Answer
Hi Dawn,
To answer your question, no egg is not needed in pizza dough.  And actually I have never used a recipe for pizza dough that has egg in it.  

And as to why or why not, pizza dough is a lean dough, meaning that it doesn't any fats in it to make it soft and rich.  By adding eggs to pizza dough you would make it more along the lines of a regular bread or dinner roll dough that is richer and softer in texture.  

Most pizza dough recipes call for at least 4 basic ingredients: water, flour, yeast, and salt.  Some recipes call for adding a little sugar or honey to them to help with browning and taste. For the most part though you only need those for ingredients so that you come out with a nice lean dough that gets a nice crust with a chewier consistency.

Let me know if this helps and feel free to ask any other questions you have

Thanks and have a great day,

Heinz