Fail-Proof Pizza Dough

We love making homemade pizza; we used to make it almost every week when we were engaged/dating/in Rexburg.  We don't make it as often now, but it's always fun.  We have almost always used Zak's mom's recipe (they have a Pizza Friday tradition since forever), which is awesome and we love.  But I saw this recipe online and thought I'd like to give it a try.  The gal talked about how the crust was chewier, thinner and like restaurant pizza, and the only major difference was using bread flour vs. regular flour.  Zak was in charge of the dough and when I came home for work, we made two pizzas: one just cheese, and one with pineapple, tomatoes and basil.  It was delicious.  I really liked this recipe, the crust was awesome!  Zak liked it too, but he naturally loves his mom's recipe.  So I think we'll use this one from time to time, depending on our stock of bread or regular flour.  

Crust
1 c. warm water
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbl. honey (or sugar)
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. olive or canola oil
3 c. bread flour

Sauce
6 oz. tomato sauce
6 oz. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic
1/2 tsp. minced onion


~4 c. cheese
toppings

1.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together yeast and honey (or sugar) into warm water.  Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam.
2.  Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix on low.
3.  Once that flour is incorporated, start adding rest of flour slowly until dough is slightly tacky, but doesn't stick to hands when you touch it.
4.  Turn the mixer to medium - high to high speed, set a timer for 6 minutes and walk away.
5.  Lightly grease bowl and dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 - 2 hours.
6.  Once dough has doubled in size, punch down, separate into two pieces and roll into circle.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
7.  Mix sauce ingredients, adding other spices to taste.
8.  Add sauce, cheese and toppings to pizza.
9.  Cook pizza about 8 - 10 minutes, until crust has turned a beautiful golden brown color.

at first, I was skeptic of pineapple w/basil & tomatoes, but it was so yummy!

beautiful and delicious

Homemade Bagels

I love bagels, holy cow.  We have an amazing bagel sandwich shop in downtown and it's so hard not to go there all the time.  I've seen a few bagel recipes online and was always discouraged, because they look so complicated.  So when I found this recipe, I was a bit skeptical, because it seemed too easy and that maybe it wouldn't taste like real bagels.  But I was wrong!  This recipe was simple, fun and so freaking tasty!  I think I will make these often, and probably not buy bagels that much anymore.  These are so good.  I got to work on forming them a little bit better, but for my first try, I was impressed with how well they turned out!  We ended up with 4 plain, 2 sesame & 2 cheese.  Delicious!

4 c. bread flour
1 Tbl. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. oil
2 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 c. warm water

1.  Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Don't worry about proofing the yeast, just stir all ingredients until it's well incorporated.
2.  Plop the dough on the table, add some flour and kneed for about ten minutes.  Dough should be firm and smooth.
3.  Cut into 8 equal pieces and form in balls, let rest for 20 minutes.
4.  Roll out a dough ball with your hands until it is a little bit longer than the width of your two hands.  Form into a circle--the website had some technique that I couldn't quite grasp.  I just eyeballed it and formed circles that looked uniform enough.
5.  Let rolled bagels rest for 20 minutes; bring big pot of water to a boil, spray cooking sheet with Pam or something & preheat oven to 425 degrees.
6.  Boil as 3 - 4 bagels at a time, one minute per side.  Once they've been boiled on each side, place on oiled sheet.  If you want to add poppy or sesame seeds, or even cheese, simply have a clean plate ready with the toppings and carefully (bagel will be hot) place on top of the toppings.
7.  Once all bagels are done and toppings have been added, bake for 10 minutes.  Flip bagels and cook another 10 minutes.
8.  Let cool 15  - 20 minutes (however long you can stand it) and then enjoy!

waiting to be boiled

boiling!

into the oven

after first 10 minutes

finally done!

oh the sesame ones were amazing

well, they were all amazing!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

We tried this recipe tonight and it is delicious.  It was pretty simple, with Zak helping me.  He made the pretzels into pretzel-shaped and I boiled them and put on the finishing touches.  We're already thinking of different variations to try -- sweet, with cheese, garlic salt.  I used Alton Brown's recipe and don't really have any major modifications or tips to add.  Except to cook the pretzels for less time.  But anyways, these are delicious and easy to eat!

1 1/2 c. warm (110 - 115 degrees) water
1 Tbl. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
approximately 4 1/2 c. (22 oz.) flour
1/2 stick butter (2 oz.), melted
10 c. water
2/3 c. baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten w/1 Tbl. water
pretzel or sea salt
Crisco or Pam spray

1.  Combine warm water, sugar and salt in stand mixer bowl, with yeast sprinkled on top.  Let sit for 5 minutes or until mixture begins to foam.
2.  Add the flour and butter and mix on low speed until well combined.  Change to medium speed until dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 4 - 5 minutes.
3.  Remove dough from bowl and oil/spray it well and return dough to bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for about an hour or until dough has doubled in size.
4.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Line 2 pans with parchment paper and lightly spray/brush with oil.  Set aside.
5.  Bring the 10 cups of water and baking soda to a rolling boil in a large pan.
6.  Turn dough out onto a slightly oiled surface and divide into 8 equal pieces.  Roll out each piece of dough into a long, 24-inch rope.  Make a U-shape, holding ends of the rope and cross them over each other and press onto bottom of the U to form a pretzel shape.  Make sure the ends are pinched onto the bottom of the pretzel, so they stay put.
7.  Place one pretzel at a time into the boiling water for 30 seconds.  Remove with a large flat spatula.  Return to baking pan and brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture, then sprinkle with salt.
8.  Bake until golden brown in color, about 10 - 12 minutes.  Let cool on a rack for 5 minutes before serving.

before boiling

with egg wash & salt

our prettiest one, fresh from the oven!

cooling

Nutritional Facts
servings per recipe: 8
amount per serving

Calories: 319.5
Total Fat: 7.0 g
Saturated Fat: 3.9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 1.8 g
Cholesterol: 40.8 mg
Sodium: 624.6 mg
Potassium: 79.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 55.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.9 g
Sugar: 1.8 g
Protein: 7.7 g
Vitamin A: 4.1 %
Vitamin C: --
Calcium: 1.5 %
Iron: 18.5 %

Belgian Waffles

This is a family favorite!  We have it a few times a year, and it's always a treat.  Sometimes we have fancy, super waffles with ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream!  But they are also good with plain ol' syrup, or jam.  Or just with butter!  Zak was craving waffles all day, so we had them for dinner, yum!

1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
2 c. lukewarm milk
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. sugar
1/2 c. melted butter

1.  Sprinkle yeast over warm milk; stir to dissolve.
2.  Beat egg yolks and add to yeast mixture with vanilla.
3.  Add in flour, sugar and salt.
4.  Stir in melted butter and combine thoroughly.
5.  Beat egg whites until stiff, carefully fold into batter.  Let stand in warm place for about 45 minutes.  Use 1/2 c. mix per waffle.

Makes about 11 waffles.

perfectly golden brown!

so delicious!

Zak had this idea to mix in a few pieces of crumbled bacon into the batter.  We put in about 2 1/2 pieces of bacon, and it seemed to be the perfect amount.  It's mostly waffle, with hidden bacon explosions, delicious!  With syrup they are pretty perfect.  Zak also wanted to have two over-easy eggs on his, and have the yolk be like the syrup for the waffle.  I had a bite, it was pretty good.  We have so much leftover batter that we're just going to freeze the rest of the batter, and have them again with some scrambled eggs with cheese.

Zak's first plate

close-up, maybe that's a bacon piece?

Garlic Cheese Bread

The other day I saw this recipe and not only did I immediately salivate, but decided I had to try it.  Yesterday we had our friends over and I made it with spaghetti; it was a hit!  I was surprised at how simple the recipe was, and how good.  I used half of the amount of cheese (about 2.5 oz.) and made my own garlic butter, but only used about 3/4 of the stick, not the whole thing.  But anyways, it was delicious and I'm sure I'll make it again.  Yum!

Bread
1 c. warm water
1 Tbl. honey
1 envelope active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
1 tsp. salt
3 c. bread flour
1/3 lbs. any cheese (I used 2.5 oz. of just regular block cheese)
1/2 c. garlic butter (I used 3/4 of a stick of butter)

Garlic Butter (I made this up, so add garlic and salt to taste)
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1.  In a large bowl, stir water, honey & yeast together.  Let yeast proof 5 - 10 minutes, until bubbly and active.
2.  If using a stand mixer, do not set speed higher than a 2 or 'stir'; stir in salt and flour in 1/4 c. increments.
3.  Once dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl, set a timer for 5 minutes and let machine knead the dough.  Dough should be smooth and tacky, but when touched, shouldn't leave any dough on fingers.
4.  Grease the bowl and dough.  Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise 1 hour in a warm area or until doubled in size.
5.  Punch down dough and cut into two equal portions.  Form into two long baguettes the length of the cookie sheet.  I twisted them so they looked neat, but I guess it also helps it keep the length and not shrink.  Cover with plastic wrap and rise 30 minutes.
6.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Once bread has risen and oven is heated, bake
for 15 - 20 minutes, until lightly golden.
7.  While bread is baking, slice the cheese into thin slices and melt the garlic butter.  Pull loaves out of the oven and brush with melted garlic butter (I put some foil under the bread so it wouldn't get all over the pan.
8.  Bake another 5 - 7 minutes, or until bread is a nice golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes.)
9.  Cut 1-inch slices three-quarters of the way through the loaves.  Brush garlic butter in between each slice and fill each with a slice of cheese.  Bake another 3 - 5 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.  Serve immediately!

with garlic butter and cheese

look how yummy

so delicious!

Nutritional Facts
servings per recipe: 24
amount per serving

Calories: 96.9
Total Fat: 4 g
Saturated Fat: 2.5 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 10.7 mg
Sodium: 136.2 mg
Potassium: 20.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 12.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
Sugar: 0.8 g
Protein: 2.4 g
Vitamin A: 2.4 %
Vitamin C: --
Calcium: 2.5 %
Iron: 4.2 %

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com.  I don't know where the idea to make cinnamon rolls came from, but I decided it'd be nice to do when Kenny & Delaney were here.  This recipe was delicious and pretty simple to do.  Next time we have company stay with us, I'll probably make them again.  But we don't need a whole pan of these in the fridge, they will get eaten much too quickly!

rolls
1 c. milk
1/3 c. butter
1 (.25 oz.) package active dry yeast
1/2 c. sugar
4 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs

filling
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 Tbl. cinnamon
1/2 c. raisins (optional, I didn't include them)

glaze
1 tsp. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 c. sifted powdered sugar
2 Tbl. half & half

1.  Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles; remove from heat.  Add the butter and stir until melted; let cool until lukewarm.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in the milk mixture.  Add sugar, 3 c. of flour, salt and egg.  Stir well to combine.  Add the remaining flour, 1/2 c. at a time, stirring well after each addition.
3.  When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed until smooth and supple, about 8 mins.
4.  Lightly oil a larger bowl and place dough in it; coat with oil.  Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
5.  Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 10"x14" rectangle.  Lightly brush the far edge with water.
6.  In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and brown sugar and sprinkle over the rectangle evenly.  The sprinkle raisins, if using.  Roll up the dough into a log and seal the seam.
7.  Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces; place in a greased 9"x13" pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rise overnight.
8.  The next morning, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Let the rolls stand at room temperature for 30 mins. before baking.
9.  Once at room temperature, bake for 25 - 30 mins., or until golden.  Meanwhile, combine corn syrup with vanilla in a small bowl.  Whisk in the powdered sugar and enough cream to make a thick glaze.  Drizzle glaze over the rolls and serve warm.

before going in the fridge at night

big rolls the next morning

out of the oven, yum!

Cheesy Potato Bread [Bread Machine]

I made this on a whim, and it turned out pretty well! It's great with eggs or for a sandwich. I made the 1 1/2 pound loaf, but I suppose I'll include both...

for 1 1/2 pound loaf:

3/4 c. water

1/2 c. chopped, peeled potato

1/3 c. milk

1/3 c. shredded cheese

2 tsp. butter

3 c. bread flour

1 Tbl. sugar

3/4 tsp. onion salt

1/4 tsp. caraway seeds, crushed (optional, I didn't use them this time)

1 tsp. active dry yeast or bread machine yeast

for 2 pound loaf:

1 c. water

2/3 c. chopped, peeled potato

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. shredded cheese

1 Tbl. butter

4 c. bread flour

4 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. onion salt

1/2 tsp. caraway seeds, crushed (optional)

1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast, or bread machine yeast

1. Select desired loaf. In a small saucepan, combine the water and potato. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer covered, about 10 minutes (or until tender) and do not drain.

2. Mash potato in the water, measure the mixture. If necessary, add water to equal 3/4 c. mixture for 1 1/2-pound loaf or 1 c. mixture for the 2-pound loaf; discard any excess mixture. Cool slightly.

3. Add the potato mixture and remaining ingredients to a bread machine according to the manufacturer's directions. Select the basic white bread cycle.

4. Remove hot bread from machine as soon as it's done and cool on a wire rack.

Caraway-Rye Bread

This bread is really delicious with a hearty / heavy soup in the fall and winter.

4 - 4 1/2 c. bread flour (real flour is fine as well)
1 package active yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
2 c. warm water (120 - 130-degrees)
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 Tbl. cooking oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. rye flour
1 Tbl. caraway seeds
cornmeal
2 tsp. milk

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 3/4 c. bread flour and yeast. Add the warm water, brown sugar, oil and salt. Beat with electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of the bowl constantly. Beat on high for 3 minutes.
2. Using a wooden spoon, stir in rye flour, caraway seeds, and as much of the remaining bread flour.
3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 - 8 minutes). Shape dough into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl, turning dough once to grease entire dough.
4. Cover, let rise in warm place until double in size - about 1 hour.
5. Punch down dough, divide in half on lightly floured surface. Cover, let rest 10 minutes.
6. Lightly grease a baking sheet, sprinkle it with cornmeal.
7. Shape each dough half by gently pulling it into a ball, tucking edges under. Place dough rounds on sheet. Flatten each round to about 6 inches in diameter.
*If you want to, shape the dough halves into loaves and place in loaf pans.
8. If desired, lightly score each top with a sharp knife. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size, about 30 - 45 minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 375-degrees. Brush loaf tops with milk. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until tops and sides are deep golden brown and bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
10. Immediately removing from baking sheets (or pans) and cool on wire wracks.

White Bread

I started making homemade bread this past fall because I thought it'd be fun, and for the most part, I was right! Eating warm bread out of the oven is one of the most satisfying experiences I've had with cooking. This is just the recipe from the Home and Gardens cookbook, but I love it and it's not very difficult to make. Because this bread turned out so well, I ventured into making a few more varieties of bread, soon to be posted on this here blog.

5 3/4 - 6 1/4 c. flour (I've been using bread flour lately)
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
2 1/4 c. milk or buttermilk (I use milk)
2 Tbl. sugar
1 Tbl. butter, margarine, or shortening (I use butter)
1 1/2 tsp. salt

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/2 c. of the flour and yeast; set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat and stir milk, sugar, butter and salt until warm (120 - 130-degrees) and butter almost melts.
3. Add milk mixture to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixture (if using a stand mixer, use dough hook) on for 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl. Beat on high for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in remaining flour - as much as you can.
4. Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface.
5. Knead dough until it's a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 - 8 minutes). Shape dough into a ball and place into a lightly greased bowl, turning to grease surface of dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place (I usually put it in the oven with a bowl of hot water on the rack below) until double in size, 45 - 60 minutes.
6. Punch dough down, turn dough out on lightly floured surface, divide in half. Cover, let rest 10 minutes.
7. Grease two 8"x4"x2" loaf pans.
8. Shape each dough half into a loaf by patting or rolling.
-patting: gently pat or pinch dough into a loaf shape, tucking edges underneath
-rolling: roll dough into a 12"x8" rectangle
9. Tightly roll up, starting from a short side, sealing the seam with fingertips.
10. Placed dough halves in pans, seam sides down. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size, about 30 minutes.
11. Preheat oven to 375-degrees. Back for 35 - 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
12. Immediately remove bread from pans, cool completely on wire racks.

*To store in freezer, tightly wrap in plastic wrap, place in two gallon zip-lock bags. Breads are freezable for 3 months.

Pizza! (+ dessert pizza)

If you were around me and Zak last year before we were engaged, you'd know about our fabulous Pizza Fridays. The dough recipe is Zak's mother's recipe (he grew up having Pizza Fridays); the sauce recipe comes from my family's huge cookbook...Although we have tweaked it, per usual.

Dough
5 c. flour (the last time I made the dough, I did about 3 c. white flour, 2 c. whole wheat..it worked alright, but I think I shouldn't have added so much wheat dough--I need to work on it)
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. yeast (1 packet is a little less than 1 Tbl.)
2 c. water
5 Tbl. olive oil
*sometimes we add a few Tbls. of honey

Sauce
1 6-oz. can tomato sauce (most are 8 oz.)
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
*this is the base, we usually add all or any of the following, until it tastes perfect:
-minced garlic (fresh or other)
-garlic salt (instead of normal salt)
-onion salt (ditto)
-black pepper
-garlic powder

All you have to do is mix the dough ingredients together and let it rise in a warm place, about 45 - 60 minutes, or until it looks like it's doubled. Punch it down and then roll it on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. This recipe makes 2 - 3 pizzas, depending on how big your pizza pans are. We have a HUGE pan, so we usually make one huge pizza and a normal 9" one.

Then mix up the sauce until it tastes perfect to you. Some toppings we use include:

-pineapple
-red onion (good on our BBQ chicken pizza)
-black olives
-tomato slices
-red pepper
-green pepper
-ham
-bacon
-pepperoni
-onion
-sausage
-chicken marinated in BBQ sauce

We use a pizza three-blend of cheese, which we've found works better than just straight up mozzarella. Make the pizzas with whatever combination you see fit and bake at 550 or 500 degrees (however high your oven will go) for about 8 minutes. The important thing is to make sure the crust is a golden brown and that it's cooked underneath. With our huge pan, that's hard to determine; we've taken it out of the oven and cut it up, only to discover it wasn't as cooked as we would have liked.

Some other fun hints: if you want to make a stuffed-crust pizza, buy 4 or 5 string cheese sticks and quarter them. Make the dough a little bigger than the pan, place the cheese around the edge and fold the crust over. It works so much better than shredded cheese.

Also, running a stream of honey around the edges makes the crust very tasty. We have done that with our BBQ chicken pizza, yum!

our first time making pizza, the crust was huge

our BBQ chicken pizza we made when my best friends visited

the way I like Hawaiian pizza: with LOTS of pineapple and the ham barely visible 

 

pepperoni, black olives and chopped onion

Dessert Pizza

Crumb topping

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. quick oats

1/2 c. firm butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

Vanilla glaze

2 c. powdered sugar

3 Tbl. milk

1 Tbl. melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 can apple, cherry, or blueberry pie filling.

1. Using a portion of the dough (since it makes 2 - 3 pizzas), roll it out.

2. Spread pie filling over it.

3. Mix crumb topping well and spoon over filling.

4. Bake 10 - 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown (at 550-degrees, it was about 5 minutes)

5. Once removed out of oven, drizzle with glaze.