Pizza

One of my favorite things is going over to my older brother's house, to hang out with him and his girlfriend. Admittedly, it's mostly because they always have delicious foods. For Oscar night, they did not disappoint. We made pizza!My roommate was astonished when I told her that I'd never made pizza before, but... it's just something we didn't do when I was little. But hey, we got to make our own dough, so it was as close to baking as I could get!There are three great things about making pizza: 1) It's way cheaper than ordering a pizza, 2) You can make it exactly how you want it, 3) It can be a bonding experience!
My brother was watching the Oscars, oblivious to all but the screen, while his girlfriend and I were in the kitchen, kneading the dough for our pizzas. So fun!

She's a pro at kneading dough

Next time I'm going to make a pizza with provel cheese. According to Wikipedia, it's a processed cheese from a mix of cheddar, swiss, and provolone. The way I know it is a mix of provolone and mozzarella. Either way, it's my favorite!
Pizza Recipe

• 1 envelope pizza yeast (we used Fleischmann's brand)
• 1 c flour
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 c very warm water
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1/2-3/4c flour
• 1 can pizza sauce
• 1 package cheese (ex: mozzarella, or provel)
• Additional toppings

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425
• Grease a pizza pan.
• Combine yeast, 1c flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
• Add water and oil, and mix together until well blended, about 1 minute.
• Gradually add remaining flour until a soft dough ball is formed; it will be slightly sticky. Add more flour if needed.
• Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, or about 4 minutes.
• Press dough into the pizza pan, flattening until it fills the pan. Prick the surface of the dough with a fork.
• Add desired amount of sauce, cheese, and toppings.
• Bake 12-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the crust is brown.

Cheddar Penny Breakdown

I have been defeated. By cheese.
Well, not defeated..I'm just being dramatic. But I had my first failed experiment!
To be honest, I'm glad it happened with the cheddar pennies and not with a different delicious (chocolatey) dessert!

They were supposed to be little crisp things-- According to the picture in the book, anyway. And I was expecting a crispness, sort of like a Better Cheddar.

However, what I got was a big mess. They got HUGE, and spread a lot. The recipe calls for 1/3 cup flour and I admittedly put in a little less, but the dough was getting crumbly already! But that was probably the mistake. Also, despite following the recipe they came out bigger than I expected them to (even at the start, when I was cutting them.)

I'm not sure how to fix them, but the recipe is easy enough that maybe I'll suck it up and make them again one day!

Sigh. Next week will be better!

Cheddar Penny Recipe

• 4 tbsp butter at room temperature, diced
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup flour
• pinch of salt
• pinch of chili powder

Preparation

• Cream the butter with an electric mixer.
• Use a spoon to stir in the cheese, flour, salt, and chili powder.
• Use your hands to form the dough into a ball.
• On a lightly floured surface, shape dough into a "long cylinder" about 1 1/4" in diameter.
• Wrap in waxed paper and chill for 1-2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350°
• Either grease two cookie sheets, or cover with parchment paper.
• Cut dough into 1/4" thick slices and put on the cookie sheets.
• Bake for about 15 minutes.

My tips:
Use all of the flour, and maybe a little more. Mine came out "greasy", so extra flour could cut down on this and also keep them from spreading.

Roll the dough into a slightly thinner rope than you think is good.

Cut the pennies slightly thinner than you initially intend to.

Make a double batch! Even if you have a successful batch, this recipe doesn't make a lot!