Barbecue Chicken Pizza

This pizza will always remind me of Prague. The first time I ever had it was at our friends' the Brummitts when we were living there (in Prague, not at the Brummitts). I have to admit I was pretty skeptical the when Andrea told me what was on the menu for dinner. You see, my only experience with pizza had ever been with the kind that involves tomato sauce and mozzarella (just call me old fashioned). I called it adventurous when I tried ham and pineapple for the first time. I was just always afraid that trying something new on pizza would be such a waste of a good pizza-eating experience. Boy, was I wrong. This definitely makes my top 3 pizza topping choices. Okay, enough reminiscing, let's get to it!

pizza dough for 2 pizzas

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 - 1 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 medium red onion, sliced thin

2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed

2 cups cheese (your choice!)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a medium skillet, brown chicken. When chicken is cooked through, pour about 1/4 cup barbecue sauce over and toss to coat. In a small skillet, saute onion and garlic in a little olive oil until tender. Roll your pizza crust onto a pizza pan or stone. Top with half of the remaining sauce and use the back of a spoon to spread around.

Top with onion mixture and chicken and then cheese. (I used colby jack cheese for the first pizza and mozzarella for the second. We really prefer the colby jack.)

Repeat for second pizza. Bake pizzas for 15 minutes or until crispy and cheese is bubbling.

Delicious Dinner Rolls

1 cup warm milk (about 110 degrees F)

1 egg

1/4 cup butter

3 1/2 cups flour (bread flour is best but all purpose is fine)

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast into milk with the sugar. Mix in salt and butter. Mix in flour in small amounts until the dough comes together in a ball. Dough will be slightly sticky. Turn out onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

IF YOU HAVE A BREAD MACHINE: Skip the above steps and put ingredients in according to the machine's directions. Put machine on "dough" setting and walk away!

Punch dough down. Shape into balls and place in greased muffin pan.

Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. If you like, you can spread butter over the top after they come out of the oven.

Makes 12 to 15 rolls.

Pizza Rolls

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough (or use Our Favorite Pizza Dough recipe)

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon olive oil or melted butter

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning (this is usually just a combination of basil, oregano, thyme and marjoram)

mozzarella cheese

pizza toppings of your choice: canadian bacon and pineapple, pepperoni slices, italian sausage, etc.

marinara or pizza sauce

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package. Usually it's 400 degrees. If you make your own dough, 400 is usually a good heat as well. Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 1/4 inch thick and as close as you can get to square. Cut into about 20-25 squares.

Top each square with your topping of choice and about a tablespoon of cheese. You may have to just eyeball it but make sure leave enough space to bring the corners together to close up the roll.

When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift and pinch the corners together. Pinch the sides also to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish).

Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil and sprinkle with the garlic powder and Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Serve warm with warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

Our Favorite Pizza Dough

3 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees F)

Combine sugar, water and yeast in measuring cup or small bowl and set aside. Combine flour and salt in large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour yeast mixture and oil into well and mix until you have a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. If dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. Place in an oiled bowl and cover until double in size.

IF YOU HAVE A BREAD MACHINE: Skip the above steps and put all ingredients in according to the machine's directions and use the "dough" setting.

After dough has risen, punch down and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll out to desired thickness and top with your favorite pizza sauce and toppings.

Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes or until crispy and cheese is bubbling.

Makes 1 deep dish or 2-3 12-inch pizza crusts, depending on the thickness of your pizza.

Scones

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into pieces
2/3 cup buttermilk
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (This prevents the bottoms of the scones from over browning during baking.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.

I probably should have worked it a little longer to get smaller crumbs but they tasted fine.

Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat or roll the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick.

Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 3 pie-shaped wedges (triangles).

Place the scones on the baking sheet.

Make an egg wash of one well-beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk and brush the tops of the scones with this mixture.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and then turn your broiler on high.

Sift confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar heavily over the tops of the scones and place them under the broiler.

Broil for just a few seconds, turning the pan as necessary, until the sugar has melted and turns golden brown. Make sure to watch the scones carefully as the sugar will burn very quickly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 6 scones.

*borrowed from Joy of Baking

Cinnamon Rolls

Matt's eyes actually roll back in his head when he eats these. The recipe is from Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Recipes and is suppose to be Cinnabon's recipe. It's been so long since I've had a Cinnabon cinnamon roll, I can't remember what they taste like to compare. Regardless, these are delicious. And even easier if you have a bread machine with a dough setting.

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups flour

Filling
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup butter, softened

Icing
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar and 1 cup of the flour. Stir gently, cover and set aside to rise until double in size, about 30-45 minutes.



Add butter, salt, eggs, and remaining flour, mix well.



Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 5 minutes. Dough will be slightly sticky.



Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place (I put mine in the microwave) about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.



IF YOU HAVE A BREAD MACHINE: Skip the above steps and put ingredients in according to the machine's directions. Put on the 'dough' setting.

Punch dough down and roll out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide. It should be approx 1/4 thick.



To make filling, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and flour in a bowl.



Spread the softened butter over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar mixture evenly over the surface.





Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough into a cylinder.



Place seam-side down on a flat surface. Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan (I usually don't measure the slices, I just cut it into 12 even pieces). You want the rolls to be barely touching, not too crowded. If you're pan isn't big enough, just put some in another pan.



Let rise until almost double in size, about 30 minutes (If not baking immediately, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Allow to return to room temperature before baking).

Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes or until just golden.



While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy. I suggest you make the icing fresh so it's smooth and fluffy. I made it the night before and stored it in the fridge and I ended up having to add milk and mix again for it to soften up.



When the rolls are done and cooled slightly, spread generously with icing.



Makes 10-12 rolls.

Cinnamon Bun Bread

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp active dry or rapid rise yeast
2/3 cup warm milk (100-110F; low fat is fine)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

Filling/Topping
3 tbsp butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cardamom

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp milk or cream

Lightly grease an 8×8-inch square baking pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup filled with the warmed milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until very smooth.

Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.

While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl using a fork until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly.

Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips (or swirl in with a spatula.)

Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350F. Bake for about 30 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Some of the sugar mixture on top may still be bubbling. (I've made this 3 times now and every time it looks different; maybe it has something to do with how far I push the filling down into the dough.)

Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread.

Serve warm. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.

Serves 8-12.

From Baking Bites.