Encore post: Make your won Copycat Little Caeser's Pizza Dough!

The following is an Encore post that was originally published in 2010.  It is one of the most popular posts on this blog, so we thought we would share it again for those who may not have had the chance to see it.  Happy baking!

Copycat "Little Caesar's Pizza Dough"

I have your attention with that title don't I?  We are continuing to focus on unique ways to use your flour.  This recipe can make some wonderful things.  It comes from a post from "Savory Seasoning" (See the recipe at the bottom of this post!).  My thanks to this blog for posting this fabulous recipe!

Now, we are not just going to make pizza.  We are going to make this a matter of convenience.  In all seriousness, that is exactly what we are going to do.  Remember that Bread maker we pulled out a few weeks ago, it should still be easy to access at this point.  Get it out.

  

The reason we are going to use this machine, is that it will do all the work.  This is very important to the LRH, and most likely everyone else, because I have a long list of things to do every day.  So, on a day you are home, and still have that long list, you can make up several batches of this and save them for later.

Pour in your warm water.

 Put in all your dry ingredients (yeast, sugar, salt).  Then add your honey, olive oil and flour.

Turn it on your dough cycle and leave!

  

 When the cycle is done, take the dough out and punch it down.

Place the dough into a gallon zip-lock bag.  My sister states that she keeps her bags and uses them over and over to put this same dough in.

This is how it looks just after I zipped the bag.

Put it in the refrigerator overnight.

This is how it looks the next day.

Lessons to be learned:

•  It took me about 3 minutes to put everything into the bread machine
• I only used my Food Storage ingredients.
• I got a lot done while the bread machine did the work for me.....did you catch that?  It did the work for me.
• Convenience:  If you make several batches in a day, you have dough for other days.  How does that work?  Take it out of the refrigerator, punch it down, wrap it in plastic wrap and get about 3 balls of dough into that same zip-lock bag and freeze them.  On the day you want to use it, take it out in the morning and let it defrost in your refrigerator.  By dinner time, it is ready to go.
• It is a lot less expensive to make this from scratch than to purchase dough from the store or from a mix.
• The hands on time was less than 10 minutes per batch.
• You can make more than Pizza dough with this.  The first thought are those wonderful bread sticks that can be made.  Watch the blog for more ideas of how to use it.

Here is the recipe for "Little Caesars Pizza Dough".  

Little Caesars Pizza Dough

http://savoryseasonings.blogspot.com/

1 1/4 cups (9.7 oz) warm water (approximately 120° F)

2 3/4 tsp. dry active yeast

2 TBSP sugar

1 TBSP Honey 

1 TBSP Olive Oil 

2 Tsp. Salt

1 1/2 cups (8 oz.) bread flour or all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups (8 oz.) whole wheat flour (optional, can use 100% bread flour or all purpose flour)

Mix water and yeast in mixing bowl and allow it to proof for 5 minutes. Mix in sugar, honey and oil. Then mix in 1 cup flour and the salt. Continue mixing in all the remaining flour until you get a nice, soft dough. Knead until dough is soft and smooth (approx. 10 minutes). 

Finish kneading on a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Place in the refrigerator in a covered container coated with olive oil for overnight. For the perfect flavor, it is best to time making the dough 24 hours before baking the pizza's (for pizza Saturday at 5pm, make your dough Friday at 5pm). If you are short on time you can sacrifice some flavor and make this dough first thing in the morning and place it in the fridge until dinner that evening. 

3 hours before baking: Remove from fridge and either divide dough in half for two 12” pizzas or leave whole for one somewhat thicker 16” pizza. Work each piece of dough into balls. Allow the dough to come back to room temperature (this process generally takes 3 hours).

45 minutes before baking: With your pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven, preheat your oven to 475° F to allow the stone to get hot enough (this process generally takes 40-50 minutes).

15 minutes before baking: Shape dough into desired pizza crust, sprinkle pizza peel, wooden cutting board or upside down cookie sheet with corn meal, flour or rice flour. Place pizza crust on top, then add toppings. Gently slide pizza onto the hot pizza stone and bake for 9-11 minutes. 

Try it today!

Convenience Food....in your Pantry.!

I glanced at my Facebook page one day and saw a plea from my very pregnant daughter. She was under the weather and posted a plea for homemade Chicken Soup.  She was mostly kidding, but I was in a position to make some for her.

I had everything and didn't have to go to the store....I just love that!!!!!  Having your Food Storage Staples is so very convenient!

I cut the carrots....

Diced the Celery....

I used my "Pantry Gold" (aka Canned Chicken).  I poured the broth into the pan with the vegetables, spices and Bay Leaf.  I also used some of my Chicken Soup base that I use when I need Chicken broth.  This is a shelf stable product.  

I diced the chicken....I personally like to have real chunks of Chicken in my soup.

Instead of Noodles, I put in Barley. I love the texture that Barley gives the soup.

Letting the soup simmer for a few minutes makes the whole house smell wonderful.

Transporting the soup was a challenge.  I remembered that I had these wonderful jars with a rubber seal.  I usually make my yogurt in these jars.  

I used my canning funnel to spoon the delicious soup into the jar....

I placed the freshly made soup into a bag.

Threw in some crackers.....

And, of course I put "someone's missing Dinosaur Train" in the bag.  You see, not only was my daughter not feeling well, but her little 2-year old son was fussing because he could not find his one of his favorite toys. It had accidentally been left behind during one of his visits to our house.  

What is the 'take-home message'?  Having a well-stocked pantry and Food Storage allows you to do things on the spot.  Yes, I did use fresh carrots and celery, but a well stocked refrigerator is also part of being prepared.  I could have used dehydrated vegetables if I wanted to.  I just decided to use the fresh vegetables.

Ultimate convenience comes from having your Food Storage Staples available.  Yes, Food Storage is absolutely 'convenience food' at your fingertips.  

Would you like the recipe?  It comes from an old Cookbook I have had for a very long time.  

Chicken Rice Soup (The New Pillsbury Family Cookbook 1973)

• 3-4 lbs stewing chicken cut into pieces (I used my canned chicken-1 Pint)
• 3 quarts (12 cups) water
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 6 peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning, if desired
• 2 medium stalks celery, chopped
• 1 small onion copped
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 1/2 cup uncooked brown or white rice  (I used Barley instead)

In large saucepan, combine chicken, water, salt, peppercorns and poultry seasoning.  Bring to boil. Cover and simmer 2-2 1/2 hours or until hours or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken and peppercorns.  Skim off fat. Cut meat from the bone and return to soup.  (Isn't the canned Chicken easier?).  Add remaining ingredients. Continue simmering, covered, 30-40 minutes or until rice (Barley in my case) is tender.    For Chicken Noodle Soup, omit rice and 1-2 cups uncooked noodles.  Cover until noodles are tender.  

Try It On A Cold Wintery Day!

There were a lot of moving trucks across the street...

I came home from the Temple this morning and saw a lot of activity across the street.  "Big deal" you may think.  Well, it really is.  The beautiful home across the street has been vacant for about 5 years.  What happened 5 years ago? The economy and some difficult business issues for the family who lived there. And, as we all have seen across the country, the family just walked away from their beautiful home.  We have seen glimmers of hope over the years.  Folks who say they have purchased the home, but the banks just couldn't find a solution to make everyone happy and thus it was dark again.  

However, I saw moving trucks today with real people moving real furniture into the home!  I thought about what I could take to them as a house-warming gift.  I decided to make one of my favorites.....Pumpkin bread with Chocolate Chips.  It's as good as it sounds....trust me.

I decided to use my Canned Pumpkin that I did a few weeks ago.  

So, I put some of the chunks into my little blender.

One Quart of pumpkin chunks gave me just under 2 cups of pumpkin puree.  Just for your information, a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree yields about 1.75 cups of puree.

This fabulous recipe recommends adding the pumpkin puree and eggs....

Vegetable Oil....

and the Sugar.  Mix well.

In a second bowl, I added the flour baking soda and salt (isn't this little measuring spoon great?  I got it at the recent Build Your Own Blog Conference held in SLC a couple of weeks ago).  I also added the spices as well.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  

Even though this step takes a few minutes, it is totally worth it.  I trace the bottom of the bread pan on to parchment paper.  I cut them out and place them in the bottom of the bread pan (after I have sprayed the pan with cooking spray).  This allows me to easily remove the bread from the pan without it tearing.

This recipe made 6 mini loaves of delicious Pumpkin Bread.

This recipe does not call for Chocolate chips.....but my Ghirardelli chips were screaming for me to throw them in!

After baking, I let the loaves cool.

I took a loaf over to meet the new neighbors.  Then we came home and ate some ourselves....delicious!

The recipe comes from here.

Sooo, what is the take-home message?

• I had everything at home to make this quick and delicious bread.
• I figure that this quart of pumpkin cost be about $.30 versus  $3.33 for a 15 ounce can.
• The pumpkin chunks performed just as well as the commercially packed pumpkin puree.

Just another benefit from canning pumpkin.  I would encourage you to put 'canning pumpkin' on your list next fall.  It is totally worth it!

Pumpkin Waffles....for Breakfast!!!!

Every General Conference, I try to share a recipe that is not only wonderful, but also made from your food storage staples.  Since General Conference weekend is all about being together as a family to hear the words of our Church leaders, why not offer something delicious as well.

This is a Pumpkin Waffle.  That's right, a waffle made with Pumpkin puree.  Can I just tell you that these were awesome this morning!  So, tomorrow, pull out your shelf-stable foods and make it.  (Okay, the whipped cream I did buy...but I couldn't resist!)

The recipe comes from MyRecipes.com. 

Pumpkin Waffles:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup 1% low-fat milk 
• 1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten 
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (flour through cloves) in a large bowl, and make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk and next 4 ingredients (milk through egg) in a bowl, and add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist.
2. Coat a waffle iron with cooking spray; preheat. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter per waffle onto hot waffle iron, spreading the batter to the edges. Cook 5 to 7 minutes or until steaming stops; repeat procedure with remaining batter.

You should really try this wonderful Fall Breakfast....it's great!!!!

Natural Leavening....

Natural Leavening....what is that?  Well, I have been attending classes to learn more about it.  Initially, as I learned about this, I was reminded of "sourdough". However, it's not.....there is no yeast.  That's right, no yeast.  You may wonder how it works.  Well, I will try to give you a simple answer as I have learned about it.  Grains have bacteria on them, and; by essentially fermenting the whole grain flour, you too can have Natural Leavening.  There is more to it than that, and I will give you links and information to you later in the post.  

The above photo shows the starter that has been 'working' on my counter for about 12 hours.  See the bubbles in my 'starter'?   

Here is a 'lovely' view from the top of the jar.  I really like symmetry and 'clean' photos, but I figure you need to see it for what it is....just bubbly.  It smells pretty sweet with a tinge of sour.  I decided to make pancakes for dinner.  I used a recipe from Natural Leavening. Here is the recipe from the Natural Leavening Website...

Initially, you put a measure of leavening in your bowl.

Add some sweetener (I chose to use Xagave).  See the starter in the bowl?

Add some Oil,

Add salt,

Add Baking Soda,

Next, add the egg.  I chose to use my "ReddiEgg".  This is not required, just what I chose to use.

Spray your griddle or pan.

Look at how pretty the bubble-up and cook. Really fluffy.

Now this is the best part....the tasting.  

Now think....what did you 'not' see me add?  What is traditional?  Okay....let me help you.....I didn't add flour.  That's right.....no flour.  I used the starter that is feeding on freshly ground whole wheat.  I fed these pancakes to Rooster Sr.  He said they were really good....which is high praise for a guy who really doesn't go for pancakes!

Now, here is the rest of the story....

I have 2 different jars with starter in them....from the same source but just prepared differently.  The jar on the left was created from dried starter which was fermented for 3 days before feeding it.  The jar on the right was made from a fresh-wet start that I received from my class last night.  I fed it this morning and let it sit on my counter all day.  The levels are the same.  Please note the residual amounts on the sides of the jar.  This shows how high the starter can get.

Know that if you don't have time to use the starter after you get it all nice and  bubbly...no worries!  Just put it into your refrigerator.  It seems to stop the process. When you are ready to use it, just pull it out of the refrigerator and let it sit on your counter for about an hour before you use it. It has to warm.  

These courses I am attending are taught by Dr. Matt and Amy McClean.  He is a Chiropractor and she is a Registered Dietician.  Here is a quote directly from their site:

"During the 1800s and before, grain was usually fermented using a natural leavening process.  Natural leavening is several strains of yeast and several strains of beneficial bacteria that grow harmoniously together in an acidic environment.  Around the early 1900’s most of society began baking bread using isolated yeast strains.  This yeast isolation was ideal for the bread industry to reduce leavening time and improve reproducibility.  However, the absence of the bacterial portion of the leaven has been detrimental to our health.  Yeast works very well to create a tall airy loaf of bread, but beneficial bacteria in the natural leaven neutralize phytic acid to release minerals.  The bacteria also break down enzyme inhibitors, gluten and difficult to digest substances.  Amino acids are altered to produce flavor and aroma; and B vitamins are produced.  Many of the nutrients released are found in high quantities from whole grains when naturally leavened.

Although our ancestors ate whole grains in abundance, it is important to note that they usually soaked or fermented grain before making breads, porridge, or cakes.   Avoid the harmful effects of grain by using natural leavening in your whole grains."

The McCleans have a book that reportedly coming out in the Fall.  Please go to "Natural Leavening" site to learn more and to see their products.  You can purchase dried starter made from a variety of grains.  The McCleans also teach that this process if very beneficial for a number of Gastro-Intestinal issues.  

I plan to finish the series of classes and also let you know about my experience with this product. Just so you know, I work a bigillion hours a week...and have found time to do this.  Don't let time be your barrier.

Please go here:  Natural Leavening link 

Chef Brad is coming back to Utah...........

If you have been following this blog at all, you will note that I really like Chef Brad. I first saw him at Education week a couple of years ago and quickly made sure that I had an electronic pressure cooker and his books.  He has a series on BYUTV entitled Fusion Grain Cooking.  I have also attended his smaller classes taught at Bosch Kitchen Centers.  There is a charge, but you learn a lot and eat very well.

He returns to Utah in August.  Here is a link to his August Calendar.  Find a location near you....and pay the money!  It is really worth it!