TIP GARDEN: Bread Machine: Garlic Bread Pizza Dough

Every Saturday night is homemade pizza at my house. It's a standing movie date at home for my hubby and me. Any child (they are teenagers and older) that happens to be home is welcome to join us. Some nights we have a quiet night to ourselves, and other nights, we have a house full. It's become a fun tradtion for us.

Let me give you a disclaimer. I can not make bread. Seriously, that and Jello. (I know Jello?) but, with my handy dandy bread maker I've gotten pretty good at Pizza dough. I know your thinking, wait, Tip Garden is supposed to be about quick and easy ideas. Home made pizza dough is not quick nor for some of us, easy. But using the bread machine for most of work is easy and it is a super money saver for sure!

Over the years I've developed my own recipe for a Garlic Bread pizza dough that my family says puts any pizza, calzone or stromboli over the top. Finally, I thought I'd share it with you. It makes enough for two pizza's. Hubby & I like thin crust and this recipe can be rolled out to make 2 ~~stinkin' large~~ (16 inch) pizza's, so if you make smaller ones you'll get a thicker crust.

Printable Recipe

Bread Machine: Garlic Bread Pizza Dough

This recipe is for a machine with a 2 lb. loaf capacity.

Fill bread machine pan in the following order:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cup. Warm Water

3 Tablespoon.vegetable oil

1 tsp. salt

4 Cups all purpose flour

1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 tsp. granulated garlic or garlic powder

2 Tablespoons. Italian seasoning

2 tsp. bread machine yeast. (fast acting)

Directions:

Start bread maker on the dough cycle. Watch dough as it begins to mix and add a tablespoon or two of water if you feel it is too dry. You want all the dough to mix into a ball with out being too dry or too sticky. Mine mixes and rises for 1 1/2 hours and looks like this when it's done:

Remove from pan onto a floured surface

and knead a few times to deflate the dough and make it workable.

Divide dough into two even pieces and shape into a ball. (It's easier to roll out a circle by starting with a circle!)

Roll out pizza dough, using rolling pin and extra flour as needed to keep it from sticking as you work with it. Don't be afraid to pick it up, flip it over, sprinkle more flour front and back and keep rolling. I tend to turn it a 1/4 turn constantly as I'm rolling it.

From here you can make it into pizza, stromboli's (or calzone's).

To transfer the dough to a pizza pan here's my trick:

Fold dough in half to make a half circle and then in half again to make a small triangle. Pick up dough and transfer it to the pan, placing the point of the triangle in the middle of the pan, then simple unfold the dough.

Ok, I think you can take the pizza from here! I bake mine at about 400 degree's for about 15 -17 minutes.

To make a stromboli or calzone, fill the bottom half of the rolled out dough with filling (sausage, cheese, etc.) leaving an inch of dough along the edges.

Sprinkle water along the bottom edge of dough (to help the folded over edge seal together with the bottom edge and fold the top half of dough over the filling. Pinch the two seams together to seal the stromboli.