This has been an extremely busy month for my little family. Between my husband’s work schedule, birthdays, graduations, anniversary parties and my oldest daughter’s last days of Kindergarten (and all that comes with it), T-Ball, dance class and gymnastics, we’ve been running in a million different directions. Dinner has become almost an afterthought lately…let’s just say there have been a lot of turkey sandwiches and cereal for dinner this month. I know, I know. Bad food blogger.
Today, I noticed we were on the same path – it was a busy day and I had absolutely no plan for dinner and I just couldn’t face another turkey sandwich. A block of mozzarella cheese and a package of turkey pepperoni in my fridge meant just one thing – pizza. And, this pizza recipe is relatively quick and pretty darn easy. Perfect.
I’ve used this crust recipe a couple of times and it’s a good one – especially because it takes just over an hour to prepare and rise. It’s thick and chewy, and perfect for holding all of your favorite toppings.
I used my Dad’s homemade, canned pizza sauce which is always amazing. Of course, you can use store bought sauce or you can {make your own}. Do your pizza a favor and grate your own cheese or use fresh mozzarella pearls because the bagged, grated cheese is coated with a chemical to keep it from sticking so it doesn’t melt as smoothly. We use turkey pepperoni around here, and I honestly can’t tell the difference once the pizza comes out of the oven.
And, if you really want to do it the right way, dip your crust in some honey. Sounds strange, but it’s fantastically amazing. Sweet, salty, yes. YES.
Hope you enjoy this one!
- 2¼ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 and ½ cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 1 and ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 and ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 6 mozzarella cheese sticks
- Olive oil, for brushing crust
- Pizza sauce, cheese and toppings as desired.
- (I used about 1 cup of pizza sauce, 8oz of grated cheese and turkey pepperoni.)
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine warm water, yeast and brown sugar.
- Stir, then allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Add flour, salt and olive oil to yeast mixture.
- Knead with dough hook until the dough comes together and forms a tacky ball, but does not stick to the bowl.
- If needed, add a Tablespoon of flour at a time until correct consistency is met.
- Form the dough into a ball and place in a well-oiled bowl in a draft-free, warm space.
- Allow to rise for one hour or until doubled in bulk.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Roll the dough out to slightly bigger than the size of your pizza pan.
- Place a mozzarella stick around the perimeter of the crust, then roll the edges of the crust around the cheese stick.
- Pinch dough to close.
- Poke holes in the crust with a fork, then par-bake for 5 minutes.
- Remove crust from oven, then top with your favorite toppings.
- Brush crust with olive oil.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.
- Enjoy!
OMG! This looks absolutely delicious! I’m saving this recipe so I can try this out! ^_~
This looks amazing! I love that it only takes a little over an hour to prepare and rise! Bookmarked. 🙂
Oh how I love a stuffed crust!
We love, love, love homemade pizza…in fact, we grilled one tonight! The use of brown sugar in the recipe is really interesting! I can’t wait to try it next time!!
Hey, great pizza. It would be great if you linked it in to Food on Friday Series which is all about pizza this week.
This looks amazing! I love stuffed crust pizza but have always made my own pizzas so don’t get it that often! Will definitely be trying this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Rebecca @ heronscrafts.blogspot.com
We’ll be trying this…we love stuffed crust! We are so glad you joined our “Strut Your Stuff Saturday”. We love to see all of the great recipes and ideas!! Thanks and we hope to see you again next week! -The Sisters
This looks very tasty, will definitely try it soon, thank you for sharing such a great recipe.
That looks sooo good! I pinned this for my next measl plan:) I came over from How to Nest for Less!
Being a pizza snob this looks AMAZING!!! Bravo!
yum
How would you do this if you do not have a stand mixer? Really want to try it but I don’t have one!
I use my hands or if u have a hand-held mixer u can buy a attachment for it
Our new family favourite!!!! That pizza dough is lovely 😀
I’m curious what diameter is your pizza pan?
I have a standard pizza pan, but used a half-sheet pan for this recipe. 🙂