Our Homemade Pizza

We love pizza in this house. Even the baby.

When we first got married and didn't have much time to cook, Warren and I ordered pizza or heated up the frozen kind at least twice a week. Luckily we have similar tastes and are open to lots of veggies and a variety of meats. Our only disagreement involves crust - I like thin; he prefers thick. Last fall I found the solution to our crust-issue and a way to fulfill our desire for lots of toppings.

When she came to visit us last October, Henry's Grandma Deb bestowed upon me her AMAZING bread recipe.

With some simple ingredients and the magic of my Kitchen-Aid Mixer, Deb taught me the basics for a delicious artisan bread. I have now experimented with it and created baguettes, loafs, bread sticks, and, of course, pizza dough. With a few easy tweaks I can make whole wheat, flaxseed, raisin, garlic, egg, or just yummy white bread. I am eternally grateful for Deb taking the time to teach me her recipe.

My beloved pink mixer that my Grandma gave me when I got married. She has the original red one in her kitchen, and it is her wonderful baking skills that first sparked my interest.

The only ingredients required for Deb's Bread:

Letting the mixer do all the hard kneading!

The "extras" Warren and I like when we make pizza dough:
(Disclaimer: this was the first time we used the HEB brand Pizza Sauce and it, sadly, was not up to par. We prefer Ragu pasta sauce with mushrooms or garlic, or making our own.)

We like to bake chicken and tear it into pieces to put on top, along with black olives, mushrooms, and a variety of cheeses (mozzarella, asiago, parmesian). Sometimes we add pineapple and/or barbeque sauce.

Here's a sample of our finished product:

Warren has helped me figure out how to make the edge of the crust higher and more puffy (like he likes it), but I prefer thinner so sometimes I leave my side less "puffy". :) It has taken several months for me to figure out how much to roll out the dough before letting it rise, but I think I've gotten it down pretty well.

Deb's recipe makes enough dough that I either make 2 pizza crusts and freeze one for later, or I make some garlic bread to munch on before dinner. As you can see, I don't have time to use a knife this is so good! :)

And here is "the" recipe...

Deb’s Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

Water

Salt

Active Dry Yeast

White, unbleached flour

Egg, oil, butter, flaxseed, wheat germ (if desired)

Use the KitchenAid Mixer with a dough hook.

Add 2 cups warm water (warm with sink tap, not in microwave. Bath temp).

Sprinkle 4 tsp yeast on top.

Add 2 tsp salt.

Then, add 3 cups flour (white, unbleached).

Turn mixer on (speed 2) and watch for texture. Do NOT use a spatula!! You want the dough to get itself off the sides of the bowl- this is how you know if you’ve added enough flour.

If you want to add wheat germ, flaxseed or another type of flour this is where you can add ½ cup (you adjust the flour amount then). Or, for different tastes/textures you can add an egg, oil, or butter (again, use less flour then).

Add another cup of flour (if you haven’t added a different ingredient), and slowly mix until all of the dough stops sticking to the bowl. Use speed 2 for 5-10 minutes to fully knead.

Spray a large mixing bowl with Pam.

Ball the dough and place it in the bowl.

Spray the dough with Pam.

Cover with a dish towel and place in the oven. Set oven to 350 and let dough rise for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, turn the oven off and leave dough in oven for 20-30 minutes, until the dough has risen to 2x its original size.

Remove dough from oven and punch it down!

Make one big loaf, 2 small baguettes, pizza crust, etc.

Press out the air as you shape.

Place dough on baking sheet and cover again with towel. This time set the bread on a counter in a warm area (or cooler area if you want to leave it rising for a longer time). Let dough rise for 15-20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 425.

Cook time depends on size/type of bread you are making.

For 2 baquettes- about 30 minutes.

For pizza crust- 5 minutes, then add toppings and cook some more.

Thank you, Deb, for letting me share your recipe with the blogger world! 
This is what she said when I asked for her permission: 
"I would love for more people to see how easy baking bread and homemade pizza can be!" 


So, come one friends- try out Deb's recipe and see for yourself how easy baking bread can be!