⚙ Rolling Out Dough: How to Do It and How Long It Takes

Rolling Out Dough takes 1 min most of the time (usually between 1 min and 3 min).

Pizza dough that doesn't shrink: when the dough shrinks back as you roll it, let it rest covered for 5 minutes. The gluten needs to 'relax'. After that it will roll out easily.

Time by Dish

Dish	Usual time
Pizza	1 min
Filled pastry	3 min
Butter Cookies	1 min
Yeast Swirls	1 min
Babka	1 min
Baked Fruit Pie	5 min
Layered Honey Cake (Medovik)	3 min
Krembo	1 min
Shish Barak (Meat Dumplings in Yogurt)	3 min
Boiled Dumplings	3 min
Focaccia	3 min
Filled Yeast Pastry	3 min

Examples from the Recipes

Roll out the dough (or stretch it by hand) into a thin round on a floured surface and transfer to parchment paper · 1 min · Pizza
Roll out the dough into a 30 ×40 cm rectangle, spread the butter over it and the filling on top · 1 min · Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Roll out the dough into a 40 ×30 cm rectangle and spread the filling over it · 1 min · Chocolate Yeast Cake — Israeli Babka
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 5 mm thick, cut out squares and arrange on the baking sheet, spaced apart · 1 min · Spicy Cheese Biscuits
Roll out the balls, one at a time, into thin rounds, and cut a 22 cm round from each, using a plate as a guide; save the scraps · 3 min · Honey Layer Cake
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 3 mm. Cut into long strips · 5 min · Libyan Fleisi

Tips

For crisp homemade pizza dough: after rising, don't roll it out with a rolling pin but stretch it gently by hand. Stretching by hand keeps the air bubbles formed during rising and creates an authentic bubbly crust.
Let the pizza dough rise for 24 hours in the fridge (a long cold rise) — the dough develops a deeper flavor and an airy texture with big bubbles.
3 cups of flour (about 400 g) make 2–3 thin pizzas: divide the dough into balls before rolling, rather than stretching it all into one thick pizza.
Roll from the center outward and give the dough a quarter turn between rolls: this keeps it even in thickness and stops it sticking to the counter. If it springs back, cover for 10–15 minutes and try again.
The holes in the lid let the steam escape: that way the lid doesn't puff up and the filling doesn't bubble out at the edges.