Quick and Easy Pizza Dough

I love how you can connect with others on social media particularly on twitter. A recent follower on my twitter account is David from Old Fat Guy (@DiscoDavid9)  He lives in Canada and likes to cook. He has lots of great recipes on his site but the one that caught my eye recently was this recipe for Quick Pizza. I'm not a huge lover of pizza and will almost always choose pasta over pizza if we eat at an Italian restaurant. Over the Easter weekend, we did a lot of work around the house and wanted something quick and simple for dinner. Instead of ordering a takeaway pizza, I decided to give David's recipe a try as it seemed so quick and simple. 

It was also a good chance to make use of ingredients in the fridge to use as pizza toppings. I was terrible at shaping the pizza so mine looks quite 'rustic'. Let's just say that was how I intended it to look in the first place :) I rolled out the dough quite thinly as I prefer a thin base pizza and made 2 different ones. The first had a tomato and pepper pesto as a base and was topped with pepperoni, mushrooms, tomatoes, grated cheese and mozarella cheese. The second one had a bbq sauce base and was topped with ham, cheese and tomato. I baked them on my pizza stone and they tasted absolutely delicious! The pizzas were ready in about 35 minutes from start to finish! That's quicker than some pizza deliveries particularly on a busy weekend. This is definitely going on the regular menu plan and it would be great for parties or when I have guests round. 

I'm sending this to Bready, Steady, Go! hosted by Jen from Jen's Food and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families. Both Jen and Michelle are keen bread bakers so they've decided to host this challenge together. 

I'm also sending it to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. I bookmarked this and a few other recipes whilst going through David's blog.

It's also perfect for Credit Crunch Munch guest hosted by Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. The challenge is run by Camilla from Fab Food 4 All and Helen from Fuss Free Flavours. Making your own pizza is definitely more cost effective than ordering one for delivery even if you bought all the ingredients from scratch. Hopefully you will have some of these ingredients at home. The bonus is you can custom make your own pizza and not have to pay extra! As mentioned I used up leftovers from the fridge for toppings. 

 

 mix until the dough starts to clump on the hook

 almost ready - you can see that the dough is smoother and sticks to the dough hook 

 my 'rustic' pizza 

 spread base of pizza on dough 

 add your toppings and bake 

 first pizza - tomato and pepper base with pepperoni,mushroom, tomato and cheese 

  second pizza - bbq sauce base with ham, tomato, mushroom and cheese 

Recipe adapted slightly from Old Fat Guy

I used bread flour instead of plain flour as I'd run out of plain flour (shocking but true) 

My pizzas only needed 8-9 minutes to cook as the dough was very thin and I used a pizza stone. 

240g bread flour (or plain flour), divided into 120g x 2

2.25 teaspoon easy bake yeast 

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

160ml very warm water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Pizza toppings of your choice 

• Place a cold pizza stone in the oven and pre heat the oven to 220C or as high as your oven will go.  
• Mix 120g flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
• Add the water and oil to the mixture. 
• Give it a quick stir then add the remaining 120g flour and place on the stand mixer with a dough hook.
• Mix until the dough starts to clump on the hook and continue mixing for another 7 minutes. Set a timer and let the mixer do all the work! 
• Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes. 
• Roll out the dough in a circle and toss the pizza if you know how! Otherwise, roll it out thinly into a rustic shape like mine.
• Transfer the pizza to the hot pizza stone and spread pesto sauce, bbq sauce or pizza base on top of the dough then add the toppings. I found it easier than transferring a ready made pizza to the hot pizza stone. Alternatively you can use a cake lifter or pizza paddle to transfer the ready made pizza to the hot pizza stone. 
• Bake for about 8-9 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and the dough is brown on the edges. You may need to bake it longer if your dough is thicker. 
• Slice and enjoy! 
• Note: If you don't have a pizza stone, you can bake this on a pizza pan which has perforations to ensure a crispy base.

Hot Cross Buns

If you read my blog regularly you will see that I love baking cakes, cupcakes and cookies. I've started to bake more with pastry recently which includes trying different types of pastry and I even had a go at hot water pastry but that's for another post. Bread baking is a different matter and I've tended to stray away from baking bread or dough.  

J has been asking for hot cross buns since before Easter. It's traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the UK and in many other countries. Unfortunately I didn't get round to baking it and Easter flew by in the blink of an eye.  A week after Easter and J was still asking for his hot cross buns so I decided to give it a go. 

I used a Paul Hollywood recipe from BBC Good Food and followed it exactly. As it's my first time baking hot cross buns I decided not to stray from the recipe. The dough needed to prove 3 times and by the time I finished baking this it was almost dinnertime! Luckily we had a busy day doing some home improvements and did not have a chance to have lunch so these were a welcome treat with a cup of tea. I also gave some to our lovely neighbours next door and to our new neighbours who moved in a few weeks ago. 

They were very impressed with the homemade hot cross buns and so were we. The buns were soft and fruity and tasted so much better than the shop bought ones. We had them warm from the oven with lashings of butter and they tasted heavenly. We also had them toasted the next day with some homemade marmalade (from a friend) and it tasted just as good. 

I'm sending this to Bready, Steady, Go! hosted by Jen from Jen's Food and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families.  Both Jen and Michelle are keen bread bakers so they've decided to host this challenge together. I think it has a great challenge name which was chosen by one of Michelle's daughters. 

It's also going to Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Food Year Link Up hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book. These are of course for Easter.

Finally to Let's Cook for Easter hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

 bread flour with salt, yeast and sugar 

 the dough is soft and crumbly...

 ...but becomes smooth and glossy after kneading 

 adding in the fruit after allowing the dough to prove 

 looks delicious!

 I weighed each bun as suggested to ensure even cooking 

 The cross is made from a flour and water paste 

 The glaze gives it a really nice shine 

 Lashings of butter! 

Recipe from BBC Good Food 

Chorizo and Manchego Cheese Hot Cross Buns

When I was brainstorming ideas for Stork's Hot Cross Bun challenge, J came up with this chorizo and manchego cheese combination. As my savoury hot cross buns were a surprising succes, I decided to give these a go as well and we both agree that this is much better. The bread is soft with a lovely crumb texture and the chorizo really gives it an added depth of taste and flavour. The manchego cheese is quite mild and you could probably get away with a stronger cheese like cheddar which I am planning to try next week. I tried making the cross out of grated cheese which worked a bit better than melted cheese piped on to the buns. 

I'm sending this to The Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... which has the theme of 'fun' this month. These were fun to create and tasted absolutely delicious.

I'm also sending this to Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from the Baking Explorer. The theme this month is 'Spring into Easter' and these are perfect to serve at Easter breakfast or brunch.

And to the Easter Bake & Make Competition hosted by Ruth from The Pink Whisk and Two Little Fleas 

And Calendar Cakes hosted by Rachel from Dolly Bakes. The theme this month is Easter Bakes.

 paprika, white bread flour, butter, chorizo sausage, manchego cheese, yeast 

 adding grated cheese and cooked chorizo 

 before proofing 

 ready to bake 

 add the grated cheese after baking for about 10 minutes 

 fresh from the oven 

 delicious served warm with butter 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

1 cup warm water
7g dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
450g strong white bread flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons paprika
75g butter, melted
1 egg
130g cubed chorizo sausage
1 teaspoon paprika
100g manchego cheese, grated + extra to create the cross on top

For the egg wash

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

• Start by placing warm water in a jug. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar and set aside for at least 10-15 minutes. It will become frothy when it's ready. 
• Lightly pan fry the Chorizo cubes with 1 teaspoon of paprika and allow to cool slightly. 
• In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sea salt, paprika, butter and egg.
• Add in the fried chorizo and grated cheese and continue mixing.
• Stir in the yeast mixture. 
• Knead the dough until firm and smooth. 
• Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film.
• Leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size (preferably overnight).
• Punch the risen dough and knead for a few minutes.
• Divide into 12 even pieces (I weighed the dough then divided by 12)
• Place on a baking tray spaced apart and cover with cling film that has been sprayed with cooking oil or non stick spray. 
• Leave for about 30 minutes or so until the dough has risen further.
• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Using a pair of kitchen scissors, make a small 'x' shaped cut on top of each bun.
• Brush with egg wash and then bake for about 10 minutes.
• Take the buns out of the oven and sprinkle grated cheese on top in the shape of an 'x'. 
• Return to the oven and continue baking for a further 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack or eat warm straight from the oven with some butter. 

Savoury Hot Cross Buns

Easter is fast approaching and I've been thinking about what I want to bake this year. I've never made my own hot cross buns mainly because I'm not too keen on eating them. However, Stork have a blogging competition at the moment looking for Hot Cross buns with a modern twist so I thought I'd give it a go. 

My secret to better Easter Baking with Stork is giving Hot Cross Buns a modern twist by making them savoury! I decided to use pancetta, mixed herbs and cheddar with herbs. I made the cross for the bun using cheddar cheese flavoured with herbs and it worked really well. This is my first time baking a yeasted dough and I was really impressed at how well it turned out. The buns were really tasty and were best served slightly warmed with butter. You can clearly taste the herbs and cheese and the hidden bits of pancetta were a bonus. The bun was light and had a good texture to it.

 adding yeast and sugar to warm water 

 lightly fry pancetta with some mixed herbs 

 this smelt amazing! 

 activated yeast, after about 15 minutes

 cheddar with herbs 

 dough ready for proving 

 it really did double in size! 

 ready to bake 

 trying to create the cross - slightly messy! 

 savoury hot cross bun 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

1 cup warm water

7g dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

450g plain flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

75g stork, melted

1 egg

130g cubed pancetta 

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

50g cheddar cheese with herbs, grated

100g cheddar cheese with herbs (to make the cross for the buns)  

• Start by placing warm water in a jug. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar and set aside for at least 10-15 minutes. It will become frothy as shown in the picture above.
• Lightly pan fry the pancetta cubes with 1 teaspoon of dried mixed herbs and allow to cool slightly. 
• In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sea salt, dried mixed herbs, stork and egg.
• Add in the fried pancetta and herbs and grated cheese and continue mixing.
• Knead the dough until firm and smooth. 
• Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film.
• Leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until the  dough has doubled in size. 
• Punch the risen dough and knead for a few minutes.
• Divide into 12 even pieces (I weighed the dough then divided by 12)
• Place on a baking tray spaced apart and cover with cling film that has been sprayed with cooking oil or non stick spray. 
• Leave for about 30 minutes or so until the dough has risen further.
• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Using a pair of kitchen scissors, make a small 'x' shaped cut on top of each bun.
• Brush with egg wash and then bake for about 10 minutes.
• Place the cheddar and herb cheese in a ziplock bag and melt in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds until soft and pliable. Snip off the end of the bag.
• Take the buns out of the oven and pipe a cross on top of each bun with the soft cheese. 
• Return to the oven and continue baking for a further 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. The cheese would have melted and should leave the shape of a cross.
• Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack or eat warm straight from the oven with some butter. 

Disclaimer: I was sent some basic baking ingredients from Stork to help create this recipe. I paid for all additional ingredients to make a modern twist to my hot cross buns.