Lazy (and Amazing) Pizza Dough

We make a lot of homemade pizza, but we've never had a good from-scratch dough for the crust.  I just don't like having to work the dough for awhile and letting it rise, etc, etc.  Ugh, too long to wait and it just doesn't appeal to me.

Well, thanks to Smitten Kitchen (love that blog), we now have the only pizza dough recipe we need!  Why is it so wonderful, you ask?  You barely have to do anything.  Mix together the ingredients.  Let it sit overnight/all day.  No kneading at all, just pat it in the pan and you've got a chewy, crispy, tasty pizza crust.  Could you ask for anything easier?

It starts simply enough, with the usual suspects: flour, yeast, salt, and water.

Cover, and let rise overnight and/or all day.

Dump it out on a floured mat/board.  It will be very soft - don't worry, that's perfect.  Dust it lightly with flour, cut it in half to create two balls.

Gently pat/stretch it into two pans.

Top with your favorites, bake as directed, and then you have an amazing pizza!

My veggie-licious vegan pizza on the left and the husband's traditional sausage, green pepper and onion on the right.  This crust works perfectly for any pizza!

If you need a topping idea, here's one for Shaved Asparagus Pizza and Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Pizza (this one is my go-to with a pesto base).


Lazy Pizza Dough
(from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 2 medium pizza crusts

Options:
1) Overnight Dough Schedule: Begin between 8 and 9 p.m the evening before for dinner between 6 to 8 p.m. (approx. 22-hour dough)

2) All-Day Dough Schedule: Begin between 6 and 8 a.m that day for dinner between 6 to 8 p.m. (approx. 12-hour dough)

3) Part-Day Dough Schedule: Begin around noon that day for dinner between 6 to 8 p.m. (approx. 6-hour dough)

Ingredients:
3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour (bread flour works too)
Slightly heaped 1/8, 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast (for Overnight, All-Day, or Part-Day Schedules respectively, above)
1 1/2 teaspoons sea or kosher salt
1 1/4 cup water, plus an additional tablespoon or two if needed (updated)

In a very large bowl, mix all ingredients with a spoon. The dough will be craggy and rough; this is fine, but if it feels excessively so, add another spoonful or even two of water.  Cover bowl with plastic and keep at room temperature for approximately 22 (for Overnight schedule), 12 (for All-Day schedule) or 6 (for Part-Day schedule) hours, or until the dough has more than doubled. This takes longer in a chilly room and less in a very warm one, but don’t fret too much over this, as the dough is generally forgiving of a loosened schedule.

Prepare pizza pan with a very light, thin coat of olive oil or a nonstick cooking spray. Heat oven to its highest temperature, usually around 500 degrees F.  I know it seems high, but I promise it's fine!

Flour your counter very well. Scrape dough out of bowl onto floured counter; in the time it has risen it should change from that craggy rough ball to something very loose, soft, sticky and stretchy. Flour the top of the dough, and divide dough in half (or more pieces, if you’re making smaller pizzas). Form them into ball-like shapes. Grab first round with floured hands and let the loose, soft dough stretch and fall away from your hands a few times before landing the dough on your prepared baking sheet/paddle. Use floured fingers to press and nudge dough into a roughly round or rectangular shape. Add desired fixings and bake pizza for 10 to 15 minutes, rotating if it’s baking unevenly, until the top is blistered and the crust is golden. Repeat with remaining dough.

Whole wheat variation: Feel free to replace up to half the flour with whole wheat without altering any other ingredients.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Overnight Crockpot Porridge

It seems Polar Vortex Version 3.0 is on the way across the nation, so we need all the warming foods we can get!  (I will admit that our winter weather out here in the Pacific Northwest is nowhere near the nastiness that the rest of you are enduring.)  So let me offer you an amazing breakfast!  After the Gingerbread Waffles in December, I thought I'd translate that flavor into my favorite breakfast of overnight porridge.

A decadent tasting breakfast if there ever was one.  Yet it has all sorts of healthy things in it - bonus!

Overnight porridge like this has become my daily breakfast, and it hasn't gotten old since there are so many flavor options!  Like I've said before, it's mostly been apple-cinnamon.  But other favorites are zucchini-bread and carrot cake (great way to sneak in veggies in the morning).  We've also tried banana bread, pumpkin pie, peach-blueberry, and strawberry-banana.

Any other ideas on flavors we should try??  I'm open to suggestions.  :-)

Want another similar recipe?  Here's one for Overnight Crockpot Carrot Cake Porridge.


Gingerbread Overnight Porridge
Makes ~ 6 servings

1/2 cup steel-cut oats
1/2 cup whole oat groats (found in Whole Foods bulk bin, or just add more steel-cut oats)
1/2 cup short-grain brown rice (barley or farro work here too)
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
Pinch salt
¼ cup molasses
1 cup pumpkin
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
~5 cups water

To top off:
Milk of choice (if desired)
Chopped walnuts or pecans
Brown sugar/maple syrup to taste

Before going to bed, prepare your porridge.  Place a Slow Cooker Liner in your crockpot (Reynolds makes them, by the Ziploc bags).  If you don't want to spend an eternity scrubbing your crockpot - use one of these!  Trust me.  They're amazing.

In your lined crockpot, pour in your ingredients.  Stir.  Cover and set your crockpot to low and cook overnight.

In the morning, stir the porridge before serving.  Top off your bowl with milk of choice, chopped nuts and sweetener.  Enjoy!

Kettle Corn Cupcakes

The Oscars are coming up in just over a week, and if you're going to a party, this would be a perfect treat to contribute!  Or make them for yourself and enjoy them at a party of one.  Or for any movie night... Really, any excuse will do.

After snacking on some kettle corn one day, I thought it might be an interesting flavor to try in a cupcake.  Well, it turned out to be an amazing flavor to try in a cupcake!  I've made them a few times now, and each time people tell me how tasty the salty-sweet flavor is.

Surprisingly, I didn't find an exact cupcake recipe already in existence.  I wasn't looking for caramel corn, or cupcakes topped with marshmallows made to look like popcorn.  But I found a cupcake recipe that worked well, and I played around with the frosting and toppings to find the perfect balance.

To top off this popcorn-y cupcake, I used a simple vanilla buttercream, sprinkled on some chunky sea salt, and then topped it off with some store-bought kettle corn.  (If I were hardcore, I would have made the kettle corn myself.  But alas, I am not.)   The chunky sea salt is what really ties it all together by adding the perfect amount of saltiness to the buttery, sweet cupcake.

A creative cupcake that is salty-sweet perfection - give this a try!  Your friends...family...strangers will thank you.

Kettle Corn Cupcakes
(from Little Ivy Cakes)
Makes 24 cupcakes

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup popcorn flour (use air-popped popcorn, and blend in a Vitamix until it's a flour)
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp is best
1/4 cup pureed cream corn
2 eggs, room temp
2 egg whites, room temp
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin pans with cupcake liners.  In a medium bowl, whisk both flours, baking powder, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until a pale color and majorly fluffified in your stand mixer (3 minutes?)  On a low speed, add purred creamed corn, vanilla extract, and eggs one at a time.

Alternate adding half the flour mixture, then half the milk mixture in two additions. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix well but don't over beat.  Pour batter into cupcake liners a little more than three-fourths full.

Bake about 15 minutes until cupcakes are golden brown and when gently pressed with fingers, springs back.   Remove from oven, and let them cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing them from the pans and transferring them to a cooling rack.


Vanilla Frosting - You can use your favorite recipe, but I used this vegan version just to try it out.
(from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine (I used Earth Balance)
3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted if clumpy
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 plain soy milk

Beat shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy.  Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.  Add the vanilla and soy milk, beat for 5 to 7 minutes, or until fluffy.  It seems like a long time, but it really makes a difference.  You'll see how fluffy it gets!

  
To finish
After piping or spreading some vanilla buttercream onto the cooled cupcake, sprinkle on some chunky sea salt.  Top with store-bought or homemade kettle corn.

Dig in, and enjoy!