No Rise Pizza Dough

I'm back...It's spring...and look what I got!

I love spring flowers!!!

Don't you?

So bright and sunny looking.

They brighten my day!

Well I had the daddy of all computer router problems this week.  My power went out during our rain storm last Sunday and my surge protector didn't protect!  So I had no access all week.  Wow! It's amazing how life depends on being able to being on-line.  I was truely lost without it.  Even my smartphone just didn't cut it...it's not the same and not as user friendly as being on the old laptop!  All is well now...thank you!

I've been experimenting with different types of pizza dough lately.  I've even taken a class on how to make homemade pizza dough which made the best that I've had so far!  But that is not what we will be exploring today.  Today's recipe is for a pizza dough that is an everyday dough.  It's quick and doesn't need to rise.  Sounds strange huh?  That's what drew me to it as well!  Can you imagine coming home from work and making fresh pizza dough in a matter of minutes on a weeknight?  That's just what I did, and it worked!

I got this recipe from my sister's food processor reference guide.  So the dough is actually made in the food processor.  You could do this by hand as well, but it's much easier and quicker in a food processor.

 

This makes a really soft dough which is easy to roll out without much pull back.  Don't you hate it when you are rolling out dough and it keeps shrinking back!!  It's all in the formula, (flour type) which helps to make a pliable dough for rolling.

So you just mix it up, roll it out.  Let it rest a few minutes, then dress it up with your favorite toppings.  Simple as that!  I rolled mine thin cause I like it best that way.

Bake away and you have fresh homemade pizza on a weeknight!  The result?

It was good.  Not the best I've had, but not the worst either.  I would say this is a good basic recipe that will suffice in a pinch when you are in a hurry and don't have the time for allowing the dough to rise.  As I like my crust thin, I rolled this thin.  It still rose a little during the baking however, this a more dense crust.  Not crispy and airy like stone fired pizza crusts.  

Here's a better view of the crust...

I would make this again if I'm in a rush.  But if you have time maike the dough the regular way.  I've got my favorite pizza dough recipe coming up soon!

Oh, and as for the sauce...I have a killer recipe for pizza sauce that I'll share with you next!

Try this dough out for yourself and let me know what you opinion is.

No Rise Pizza Dough

Makes 1 pizza crust

1 pkg instant yeast

1 t sugar

2/3 c warm water

1 2/3 c flour

¾ t salt

2 t canola oil

1 ½ T cornmeal

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix yeast, sugar, and water in a small bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. 

Pour flour and salt in processor.  Turn on.  Pour yeast mixture through the feed tube.  Mix for 45 seconds until dough pulls away from the sides.  Add oil through the tube and mix another 60 seconds.  Dough should pull away from the side of bowl.  If it doesn’t pull away add another tablespoon of flour. 

Roll out dough to desired shape and thickness.  Sprinkle cornmeal on one side of the dough evenly and pat down so that it sticks to the dough.  This will be the bottom of your pizza.  Flip the dough over and place in pizza pan.  Top pizza with sauce and desired toppings.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.

stay tuned! computer problems...posts will resume soon!

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

I love banana bread!

What better use of over-ripe bananas than to put them in a quick bread, muffins, or a smoothie!  So I happened to have a few extra bananas laying around and wanted to try something a little different than the average banana bread.  So I found this recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, Healthy Calendar Cooking, which not only added some zip to the banana bread by adding mini chocolate chips, but they also made it low in fat!  How cool is that!  Yippee!

So this bread will provide 16 servings.  Each serving has 3g of fat...very good...and 24g of carbs.  Well if that's that not too bad if add some proteins with it for breakfast or eat it as a dessert.

So off I went to try this recipe.  Boy was I happy!  If came out really good.  The gooey chocolate compliments the banana so well, and when it's hot...or warmed up...HEAVEN!  Nothing better than warm chocolate in my book!

So if you enjoy a good banana bread, break out and try this spectacular banana bread.  I know you have bananas lying around too!

Here are some step by step pics to help you along.

 
 

 

Doesn't this look yummy?

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

16 servings

1 ½ c ripe bananas, mashed

2 T canola oil

¼ c low fat buttermilk

4 egg whites

1 ½ c flour

½ c oats

½ c sugar

2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

½ t salt

1/3 c mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus more for garnish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray and 8x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl combine bananas, oil, buttermilk, and egg whites.  Mix well.  In another large bowl combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the banana mixture.  Mix well.  Stir in the 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips.  Pour batter in the loaf pan.  Sprinkle a few extra mini chocolate chips on the top.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.  Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.  Remove loaf from the pan and continue to cool on cooling rack 15 minutes.  Serves 16.  

source:  Healthy Calendar Cooking