Kid-Friendly Food: Easy Bread Machine Pizza Dough

I love having this great recipe in my "Kid-Friendly" recipe arsenal.  And I love that I can literally just throw all the ingredients in my bread machine and let it do the work for me. 

 

It is so simple that I pinky-promise all of the ingredients are sitting right now on the pantry shelves of 99.9% of American homes. 

 

Okay, except maybe the yeast if bread-making isn't a common occurrence in your home. But yeast packets are available at any grocery store, and are fairly cheap for a strip of three.  I even see coupons for it surprisingly often.

 

(However, if you do make bread on a regular basis, I would recommend getting yeast in bulk at Costco.  It literally ends up costing pennies per batch of bread, and lasts forever if you store it in your freezer.  Just sayin.)

 

This is a dairy and egg-free dough, which provides it with a slightly chewier texture than a regular bread or roll dough.  I use it for homemade pizza, as well as for breadsticks or Pizza Rolls. 

 

This recipe makes one large (thick) pizza crust, or two smaller (thinner) crusts.  A lot of times I will make one medium-sized pizza for Mr. Pie and I, and divide the rest of the dough between my three boys to make their own individual pizzas.  They love choosing their own toppings - and being involved makes them more likely to eat their creations.  Mommy Win!

 

Note: This is just the recipe for the dough itself.  I have only made this recipe in my bread machine, so I don't have specific directions for the hand method of making it.  I will give basic baking directions for making a pizza, but if you are using this recipe for Pizza Rolls, refer to the baking instructions in that recipe, instead.

 

 

  

(Easy!) Bread Machine Pizza Dough

 1 envelope (or 2 1/4 t.) granulated yeast

3 c. flour (I use a mix of white and wheat)
1 t. salt
2 t. sugar
2 T. oil (olive oil is preferred, but vegetable oil works just fine) 
1 c. + 2 T. water

Place ingredients in bread machine according to manufacturers directions.

Note: The rule of thumb for bread machines is wet ingredients on the bottom, flour on top of wet ingredients, then yeast on top of the flour, but please refer to your own bread machine's instruction booklet if you have any questions about how to place your ingredients. 

Run the bread machine on the dough cycle. 

My bread machine's dough cycle includes the rising time, running for about an hour and a half from start to finish.  I let the dough stay in the machine the entire time.  However, if your machine's dough cycle runs shorter or differently, or you just don't want to let it rise in the machine pan, you can always take the dough out after the initial mixing and kneading, place it in a greased bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until doubled.

For Pizza: punch down dough, roll or stretch out and place on greased pizza pan (or lightly dust pan with cornmeal).  Top with sauce and toppings of choice and bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

(Recipe adapted from Food.com)

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