I have tried a lot of pizza dough recipes, but this one definitely takes the cake (or should I say pie). It requires some advance planning, but the taste and texture is far superior to any other crust I have tasted. Plus, if you freeze the extra, you have dinner all but prepared for another day.
Note: I never buy bread flour, so I just add a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten to each cup of regular flour (you end up only using 3 3/4 cups of flour). I have substituted one cup of the white flour with wheat, which worked fine.
The Best Pizza Crust
from Annie's Eats
1/2 cup warm water
2 1/4 t instant yeast
4 cups (22 oz) bread flour
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/4 c water, at room temperature
2 T extra virgin olive oil
Measure the warm water into a 2 cup measuring cup and sprinkle the yeast on top. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, mix and flour and salt until combined. Add the room temperature water to the yeast mixture then pour into the mixer with the oil. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed, then switch to the dough hook and knead for five minutes.
Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover and let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Deflate dough and divide in half. If freezing one, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. Cover the other with a towel and let rest for 10-30 minutes.
Preheat oven with pizza stone inside to 475. Shape dough into a circle on a pizza peel covered with parchment paper or cornmeal. Brush edges with olive oil then top pizza as desired and slide onto hot stone. Bake for about 10 minutes or so until crust is golden.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Wheat Bread
As I believe I mentioned before, I used to avoid yeast breads because I don't especially care to proof, knead, double rise, etc. Then I was gifted a KitchenAid for my birthday and delved into making my own bread. I don't think Preston will ever let me go back. Incidentally, bread is really the only thing I make with the KitchenAid. Also, incidentally, I am trying to eat less wheat. Nevertheless, I thought I would share not one, but Three recipes for whole wheat bread. I always use white wheat, which I am currently buying from Trader Joe's for 2.99/bag, which is the best price I have found; however, a wheat grinder (and wheat) are high on my wish list.
This first recipe is the one I make most often. It uses sugar and oil, so is easier on the bottom line, it only has to rise once, and even when it doesn't rise quite as much as I would like, it always tastes good.
Standard Wheat Bread
from Everyday Reading, which she adapted very slightly from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
2 3/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 T instant yeast
1T salt
1 T vital wheat gluten (I usually add 2 to help with the rise)
1 T instant powdered milk
1/2 cup white flour
5-6 cups whole wheat flour
Mix together everything but the whole wheat flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Then add two cups of flour and knead with the dough hook, adding additional flour until the dough comes together, the sides of the bowl are mostly clean and the dough is not too sticky. Knead for 10 minutes. Divide the dough in half, shape into loaves, and place in greased 8.5x4.5 bread pans. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for about 90 minutes until the bread has crowned about an inch over the top of the pan. I usually turn on the oven for a minute or two to get warm, then turn it off and place the pans in the oven to rise. When the bread is ready, turn the oven on to 350 (remove the towel if there is one) and bake for 38 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove loaves from pan and cool on a wire rack.
This next recipe is my personal favorite. It uses better ingredients (costlier), but I love the taste. I have made it with honey and molasses and have also used coconut oil and melted butter. I would probably make this my standard bread if I could. You can find the recipe here.
The third recipe is a little different in approach and definitely takes more time. It is soaked wheat bread. Supposedly, soaking grains make them easier to digest (so you don't get the dreaded leaky gut), and unlocks more nutrients. The blogger says it can combat a gluten sensitivity or intolerance, but I don't think that's very sound advice. Anyway, you soak the flour in water and a bit of apple cider vinegar overnight, then mix the dough and let it rise three times. It is definitely more labor intensive and my loaves usually end up looking kind of funny, but it is certainly tasty bread. You can find the recipe and instructions here. Just a note, though. I think it turns out better to only soak five cups of flour and proceed with the recipe from there.
There you go, bread.
This first recipe is the one I make most often. It uses sugar and oil, so is easier on the bottom line, it only has to rise once, and even when it doesn't rise quite as much as I would like, it always tastes good.
Standard Wheat Bread
from Everyday Reading, which she adapted very slightly from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
2 3/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 T instant yeast
1T salt
1 T vital wheat gluten (I usually add 2 to help with the rise)
1 T instant powdered milk
1/2 cup white flour
5-6 cups whole wheat flour
Mix together everything but the whole wheat flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Then add two cups of flour and knead with the dough hook, adding additional flour until the dough comes together, the sides of the bowl are mostly clean and the dough is not too sticky. Knead for 10 minutes. Divide the dough in half, shape into loaves, and place in greased 8.5x4.5 bread pans. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for about 90 minutes until the bread has crowned about an inch over the top of the pan. I usually turn on the oven for a minute or two to get warm, then turn it off and place the pans in the oven to rise. When the bread is ready, turn the oven on to 350 (remove the towel if there is one) and bake for 38 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove loaves from pan and cool on a wire rack.
This next recipe is my personal favorite. It uses better ingredients (costlier), but I love the taste. I have made it with honey and molasses and have also used coconut oil and melted butter. I would probably make this my standard bread if I could. You can find the recipe here.
The third recipe is a little different in approach and definitely takes more time. It is soaked wheat bread. Supposedly, soaking grains make them easier to digest (so you don't get the dreaded leaky gut), and unlocks more nutrients. The blogger says it can combat a gluten sensitivity or intolerance, but I don't think that's very sound advice. Anyway, you soak the flour in water and a bit of apple cider vinegar overnight, then mix the dough and let it rise three times. It is definitely more labor intensive and my loaves usually end up looking kind of funny, but it is certainly tasty bread. You can find the recipe and instructions here. Just a note, though. I think it turns out better to only soak five cups of flour and proceed with the recipe from there.
There you go, bread.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)