Fail Proof Pizza Dough and Garlic Cheesy Bread

Recipe and Pictures from Lauren's Latest

Basic Pizza Dough
yield: 2-12 inch pizzas, approximately 1 lb. of dough

1 cup warm water (baby bath warm)
2- 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 TBS honey (or sugar)
2 tsp salt
2 TBS olive or canola oil
3 cups bread flour (give or take 1/2 cup…depending on the heat & humidity)

Directions:
1.  In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive.

2.  Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix.

3.  Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn’t stick to your hands.

4.  Once you reach this stage, turn the mixer on high to knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes!  It should look something like this when it’s done!

5.  The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean!

6.  Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn’t dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. 

7.  Now you can turn this dough into pizza or garlic cheesy bread.



Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks
yield: 1- 12 inch pie
Ingredients:
1/2 recipe Fail-Proof Pizza Dough
2 TBS softened salted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese  (use the real stuff!)
1/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese
salt & pepper, optional

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 500℉ with pizza stone inside. (If you don’t have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet.)
2.  Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
3.  Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. (This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.)  Leave the parchment paper underneath when baking.
4.  Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired.

5.  Bake 9-10 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Remove from oven and cool 1-2 minutes before cutting. Serve hot, with marinara.