Pizza Dough

I have been on the hunt for a good pizza dough for awhile now. I have tried 2 others that just didn't make the grade, this one however will remain front and center in my recipe book! The crust is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, and the best thing about homemade pizza is you can put whatever you want on the top, so for us it's lots of cheese then pepperoni for Kevin and anything for me, this night it was garlic and green olives! I just made it on a cookie sheet and used all of the dough because we like a thicker crust. I baked it on 400 for about 20 mins.

Pizza Dough as seen on Brown-Eyed Bakers Blog
(Source: Baking Illustrated, pages 153-155)

Makes enough for 3 medium pizzas.

We find the food processor is the best tool for making pizza dough. However, only a food processor with a capacity of at least 11 cups can handle this much dough. You can also knead this dough by hand or in a standing mixer (see the variations that follow). Unbleached all-purpose flour can be used in a pinch, but the resulting crust will be less crisp. If you want to make pizza dough in the morning and let it rise on the counter all day, decrease the yeast to 1/2 teaspoon and let the covered dough rise at cool room temperature (about 68 degrees) until doubled in size, about 8 hours. You can prolong the rising time even further by refrigerating the covered dough for up to 16 hours and then letting it rise on the counter until doubled in size, which will take 6 to 8 hours.

1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 envelope (about 2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 ounces) bread flour, plus more for dusting work surface and hands
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Olive oil or nonstick cooking spray for oiling the bowl

1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room-temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

2. Process the flour and salt in a large food processor, pulsing to combine. Continue pulsing while pouring the liquid ingredients (holding back a few tablespoons) through the feed tube. If the dough does not readily form into a ball, add the remaining liquid and continue to pulse until a ball forms. Process until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 30 seconds longer.

3. The dough will be a bit tacky, so use a rubber spatula to turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead by h and for a few strokes to form a smooth, round ball. Put the dough into a deep oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

Pizza Dough Kneaded by Hand
Follow the recipe for Pizza Dough through step 1. Omit step 2 and instead combine the salt and half the flour in a deep bowl. Add the liquid ingredients and use a wooden spoon to combine. Add the remaining flour, stirring until a cohesive mass forms. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic 7 to 8 minutes, using as little dusting flour as possible while kneading. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and proceed with the recipe.

Pizza Dough Kneaded in a Standing Mixer
Follow the recipe for Pizza Dough through step 1. Omit step 2 and instead place the flour and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and proceed with the recipe.

Pepperoni and Cheese Bread

I was doing my usual surfing on all of the wonderful food blogs that I frequent and came across this recipe not only once, but twice! The first was on Amber's Delectable Delights and the second on Mrs Sac's Purple Kitchen. I thought if these two wonderful women like it then we must too! They did not disappoint and I have another pizza dish to add to our Pizza Friday rotation!

Pepperoni and Cheese Bread

Ingredients:

1 roll refrigerated french bread dough OR 1 loaf frozen bread dough (thawed)
Regular or turkey pepperoni
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Dried Italian seasoning
My pizza sauce---I used Prego three cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Roll out bread dough, and drizzle with olive oil, a few small dollops of sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses, Italian seasoning, and place pepperoni on top of the cheese.

Carefully roll the bread dough into a cylinder shape. Pinch ends and top to seal. Brush top and sides with some olive oil.

If desired, top loaf with cheese, pepperoni, and/or Italian seasoning. Make a few diagonal slices in top of loaf for air to escape while cooking.
Bake at 350 for ~20 min. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

Serve with pizza sauce.


I also made breadsticks with a can of Crescent rolls I had on hand. I seperated the crescents into the 4 rectangles that they naturally fall in. I cut each one in 1/2 and then into 1/2 again so each rectangle gave me 4 sticks. I then twisted each strip and placed on a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. I then sprayed the twists on cooking spray and then sprinkled parmesan cheese over them. I baked at 375 for 14 mins (which was a min or 2 too long) and then brushed them with 1/2 cup of butter that was melted and had 1 tsp of garlic powder added. They were very good!

Pizza Bake

One of my and my hubby's favorite dishes is the Hoagie Bake. We make it alot of Friday nights. It's either that or pizza. Well I thought I could combine the two. This is what I came up with and man are we glad I did because it was EXCELLENT!

2 cans Recipe Creations
30-40 slices pepperoni
3 slices provolone cheese
1/3 cup mozzerella
1/3 cup shredded Pizza combo cheese
6 Tbl spaghetti or pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Spray bottom and sides of a 9X13 pan.

Place one can of dough in bottom of pan. Spread 3 Tbl of sauce over top. Sprinkle with mozzerella then place 15 pepperoni over the cheese. Place the 3 slices of Provolone over the pepperoni cutting to fit. Place the rest of the pepperoni over the cheese. Spread rest of the sauce over the pepperoni followed by the shredded cheese. Place the second roll of dough over the cheese.

**I used the glass pan that is smaller than the 9X13 and just rolled the dough to cover all the sides and top and make a little bit more of a crust.

Bake 18-20 mins until browned.

Homemade Pizza

Well I finally jumped and made my own pizza dough! It was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It's from now thats whats cooking's blog.

2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
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. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit 10 minutes.

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

3. Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until doubled in size; approximately 1 hour. Punch down the dough and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax a little before rolling out.

4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise 15-20 minutes before topping and baking it.

5. Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

I topped my pizza with provolone, pizza mix, and parmesan cheese and Kevin's with pizza mix cheese and pepperoni. Kevin liked this better than any other pizza we've tried so it will be tried again!