Monday, January 30, 2012

One of my favorite pizza dough recipes

This is just one of three favorite pizza doughs that come to mind and yes, we eat a lot of homemade pizza around here. It makes us happy. Well, most of us anyway. Apparently when you're two little appeals to your very limited palate. Said the mother who is trying EXTRA hard to not be the mom who cooks two dinner every night.

This pizza dough is pretty easy and I think could be made ahead and frozen if you're that ambitious.

The cool thing about this dough is that you bake it in a pizza pan on a heated pizza stone. You add a generous layer of oil to the pan and then the heat of the stone almost fries the dough right in the pan and it gets all brown and crispy and delicious.

This recipe was ever-so-slightly adapted from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3.

Pizza Hut Pan Pizza
(don't judge until you've tried please!)
(no wait, judge away, I already know how delicious it is ;-)

3 C. bread flour (yes, it needs to be bread flour)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I use the instant yeast from the jar that says good for bread machines)
1 1/4 tsp salt

Mix all these ingredients in a large mixing bowl (I use my stand mixer) and then add:
1 1/3 C. warm water - NOT hot, directions on the yeast said 80 degrees was optimal

You can mix with the paddle and then switch to the dough hook or just go for it with the dough hook like I do. I mixed it for 3 -4 minutes after it came together in a ball. Then tuck into a ball and place into a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap, to rise. I actually set the covered bowl in the microwave with the door close to hold in the heat because our kitchen has proven chilly for rising dough.

Let rise 2-3 hours.

I use a large (14") deep dish pan from Kitchen Kapers or you could make two smaller pizza using 9" cake pans. (I think this pan from Sur La Table seems like mine). Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. GENEROUSLY grease your pan(s) and spread your dough in, then top with whatever floats your boat. This was BBQ sauce, mozzarella and grated smoked gouda. With one quarter left sauce-less for you-know-who. Bake for 10-12 minutes and if you've done it right (and I know you will!) the crust will slide around in the pan when it's done and be oh so easy to get out. Mmmmm.

Even sauce-less and called cheese bread instead of pizza she still didn't eat it. But you already knew that didn't you?


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