Saturday, April 26, 2014

Fail-proof Pizza Dough and Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks


I love cheesy garlic bread sticks... I love to eat them dipping in marinara sauce, or dipping in soup, or as a side for a dinner salad... YUM!! Today I made these to go with Pasta Fagioli and Chicken Gnocchi Soup...it's been raining all day and it's a bit chilly. Good day for Soup! I got this recipe here, it's one of my favorite recipe blogs. I followed the recipe as it was written, Thanks Lauren! Enjoy!

Fail-Proof Pizza Dough and Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
3 cups bread flour {give or take 1/2 cup...depending on the heat and humidity}
1/2 recipe Fail-Proof Pizza Dough from above
2 tablespoons 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 and pepper, if desired}
DIRECTIONS:
For the pizza dough--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 and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix. 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. Once you reach this stage, knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean! {*This is the point when you could freeze your dough!! Divide into portions, place into freezer bags, seal removing all air and freeze. To use, remove from freezer and let sit out to get to room temperature and double in size; 6-8 hours. Then use as you'd like.} Lightly grease the bowl and the dough so it doesn't dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That's it! Use as desired.
For the Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks-
 Preheat oven to 475 degrees with pizza stone inside. {If you don't have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet...}
Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}
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. {That step is totally optional!}

Bake for 8 minutes! Enjoy!

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