Dough Balls with Garlic Butter (PizzaExpress-Style)
Soft enriched dough balls baked in a skillet, brushed with garlic and parsley butter.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 18 min
- Proving
- 1 hr 30 min
- Serves
- 6
Medium · Total 2 hr 13 min · Updated 12 September 2026
Why This Recipe Works
- A little milk and olive oil in the dough keeps the crumb soft for hours. A plain water dough goes tough as it cools, which is why bakery dough balls often disappoint at the table.
- Baked touching each other in a skillet, they rise upwards and steam each other soft, while only the tops and bases colour.
- The butter goes on hot, twice. Once as they come out so it soaks in, once just before serving so it sits on top and looks like it should.
How to Make It
Make a soft enriched dough, prove it until doubled, divide into 18 balls and arrange them just touching in an oiled skillet. Prove again briefly, bake at 200C fan for 16 to 18 minutes, then brush with garlic parsley butter twice and serve straight from the pan.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 400g strong white bread flour
- 7g fast-action dried yeast
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 150ml whole milk, warmed to blood temperature
- 100ml warm water
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for the pan
For the garlic butter
- 80g salted butter
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 3 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Pinch of flaky sea salt
- Squeeze of lemon juice
Instructions
- 1
Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a large bowl, keeping the salt and yeast on opposite sides until you stir.
- 2
Add the milk, water and olive oil and mix to a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead for 8 minutes by hand or 5 in a mixer, until smooth and elastic.
- 3
Cover and leave somewhere warm for about an hour, until doubled.
- 4
Knock back gently and divide into 18 equal pieces, about 38g each. Roll each into a tight ball under a cupped hand.
- 5
Oil a 28cm ovenproof skillet or round tin. Arrange the balls in it, just touching. Cover and prove for 30 minutes, until puffy.
- 6
Heat the oven to 200C fan. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until risen and golden on top.
- 7
While they bake, melt the butter with the garlic over low heat for 2 minutes. Do not let it brown. Off the heat, stir in the parsley, salt and lemon.
- 8
Brush half the butter over the dough balls as soon as they come out of the oven and let it soak in for 2 minutes. Brush the rest on and serve immediately, in the pan.
Tips for the Best Results
Weigh the pieces. Uneven balls bake unevenly and the small ones dry out.
If the dough fights you, it needs another two minutes of kneading, not more flour. A wet dough makes a soft crumb.
An ovenproof frying pan works as well as a tin and gets a better base. Cast iron is best of all.
Grate the garlic rather than chopping it, and keep the butter below a simmer, browned garlic turns bitter and there is no fixing it.
Make Ahead & Storage
The shaped dough can prove slowly in the fridge overnight; bring it back to room temperature for 30 minutes before baking. The garlic butter keeps a week in the fridge. Baked dough balls are best within hours, but refresh well at 180C fan for five minutes.
What to Serve It With
- More garlic butter, in a dish, for dipping
- A tomato and basil sauce for dunking
- Any pizza, as the thing you eat while it cooks
- A green salad, so the table has something that is not bread
Nutrition (Estimated, per serving)
| Nutrient | Per serving |
|---|---|
| Energy | 340 kcal |
| Fat | 15g |
| of which saturates | 7g |
| Carbohydrate | 43g |
| of which sugars | 3g |
| Fibre | 2g |
| Protein | 9g |
| Salt | 0.9g |
These are our own estimates, calculated from the ingredient quantities above and divided by 6 servings. They are not laboratory figures, and yours will differ with the cut of meat, the brand of each ingredient and how generously you serve it. Treat them as a guide, not a measurement.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dough Balls with Garlic Butter
Can I make them without a stand mixer?
Why are mine dense?
Can I freeze them?
Is this PizzaExpress's recipe?
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Curious what it costs to buy instead of make? The PizzaExpress menu prices are here, with calories beside every item.