Hard-to-Fail Pizza Dough

[because I make no guarantees, haha.]

Growing up, we rarely, if ever, ordered delivery pizza. Chalk it up to a father who liked a culinary challenge, we ate homemade pizza that was always satisfying.

Here's his recipe that is hard to screw up, but I'll be honest, I just learned how to cook rice, so maybe we're not always as great in the kitchen as we think.

This recipe will serve two adults, for a bigger pizza, you can just double it.

Pizza Dough

1/2 C warm water
1.25 tsp dry active yeast
1.5 C flour, divided
3/4 tsp salt
1/4-1/3 C milk
1 T olive oil

The morning of, combine the yeast and water in a large bowl, allow to proof for a few minutes, then cover with half of your flour.

Cover your bowl and place in a warm, draft-free place. You will notice after an hour or two the yeast will start to "eat" the flour and bubble and rise.

An hour before cooking time, add the rest of the flour, salt and olive oil to the yeast mixture. Either by hand, or in a Kitchenaid/Bosch fixed with a dough hook, bring the dough together adding the milk a little at a time until dough comes together and is very sticky.

Remove the dough to a large prep surface and form into a ball, sprinkling flour when needed. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise slightly for 1/2 hour.

Preheat your oven to 500

Remove the dough to your prep surface and press it out into a  rough circle [or a rectangle, whatever you prefer] about 1.5" thick.

Where you go from here is completely up to your taste. I've cooked my pizzas on baking stones, on lined cookie sheets, and in cast iron skillets, but you can plan on your pizza dough being cooked in about 15-20 minutes.

Good luck! And, as always, enjoy!

Mexican Cafe Sopapillas

Sopapillas.

Mexican Beignets.

Donut Triangles.

Perfection.

These little pillows from heaven are a favorite dessert at my local Mexican Cafe. Served warm, they are the perfect deep-fried bite to end a meal.

Here is the easiest recipe I've ever seen for them. They're great to share! 

Or not.

Sopapillas

2 C all purpose flour

2 T shortening

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 C water

Oil for frying

Cinnamon Sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Mix the flour, shortening, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the mixture and slowly add the water a little at a time until the dough comes together. It should not be too sticky. 

Cover the dough and let it stand for 20 minutes.

Roll the dough out to 1/8"-1/4" on a floured surface. Cut into squares/diamonds/triangles.

Bring your frying oil to 375 degrees F. 

Fry your sopapillas 4-5 at a time, until golden on both sides (abt 2 minutes a side)

Drain excess oil on paper towels and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Unabashedly stuff your face.

Cinnamon sugar. honey. why not?

honey drizzle/rolled in cinnamon sugar

oh my gatos

Coffehouse Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping

If your mornings are anything like mine, sometimes I wish my kitchen were a coffeehouse and I could just pick out a muffin from behind the glass and return to the havoc. Muffins are a great one-handed breakfast. Easy to scarf down while you're feeding the baby, brushing your teeth, and pulling your pants on all at the same time. Here's a delicious recipe for that coffeehouse style muffin, you'll find that the lemon zest really sets off the flavors!

Ingredients

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons butter, chilled in freezer 5 min then grated with microplane
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

Muffins:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

To make the topping, in a medium bowl, mix together the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.


In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the melted butter. Add the buttermilk and lemon zest and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just to combine. (Batter will still be somewhat lumpy; do not overmix.) Gently fold in the blueberries so the berries do not break open and pour into the prepared muffin tin.
Crumble the streusel topping over the muffins and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.


Let cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then remove and cool on wire racks.

Southern Living Scones

I am always daunted by the task of baking pastires. They seem so light and delicate.


I'm not good at light and delicate.

So imagine my relief when I found this recipe in Southern Living for scones that even I couldn't mess up!
They can be made with sweet or savory additions. They make for great appetizers or a simple dessert.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup whipping cream, divided
• Wax paper

Directions

• 1. Preheat oven to 450°. Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly and mixture resembles small peas. Freeze 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. cream, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
• 2. Turn dough out onto wax paper; gently press or pat dough into a 7-inch round (mixture will be crumbly). Cut round into 8 wedges. Place wedges 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush tops of wedges with remaining 2 Tbsp. cream just until moistened.
• 3. Bake at 450° for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden.

Sweet Variations

• Chocolate-Cherry Scones: Stir in 1/4 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped, and 2 oz.coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate with the cream.
• Apricot-Ginger Scones: Stir in 1/2 cup finely chopped dried apricots and 2 Tbsp. finely chopped crystallized ginger with the cream. Drizzle with Vanilla Glaze after baking.
• Cranberry-Pistachio Scones: Stir in 1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries and 1/4 cup coarsely chopped roasted salted pistachios with the cream.
• Brown Sugar-Pecan Scones: Substitute brown sugar for granulated sugar. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans with the cream.

Savory Variations

• Bacon, Cheddar, and Chive Scones: Omit sugar. Stir in 3/4 cup (3-oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup finely chopped cooked bacon, 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives, and 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper with the cream.
• Ham-and-Swiss Scones: Omit sugar. Stir in 3/4 cup (3 oz.) shredded Swiss cheese and 3/4 cup finely chopped baked ham with the cream. Serve warm with Mustard Butter: Stir together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard, and 1 Tbsp. minced sweet onion.
• Pimiento Cheese Scones: Omit sugar. Stir in 3/4 cup (3-oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese and 3 Tbsp. finely chopped pimiento with the cream.
• Rosemary, Pear, and Asiago Scones: Omit sugar. Stir in 3/4 cup finely chopped fresh pear, 1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese, and 1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary with the cream.

Festive Touch

• Bite-Size Scones: Pat dough into 2 (4-inch) rounds. Cut rounds into 8 wedges. Bake as directed for 12 to 13 minutes.

Alton Brown's Southern Biscuits

These are a great side for fried chicken. I love them with a little butter and honey, but they are great alone as well. Simple, affordable, delicious!

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.