cooking ala mel

Quick and Easy Pizza Dough

February 26, 2011

Alex and I were both hungry, and I couldn’t come up with any ideas for dinner. Alex mentioned making pizza, but I was lamenting in the fact that we had no yeast, so we couldn’t exactly make a pizza dough. Alex dismissed it, saying we had flour, and we’d figure it out. Remembering I had a recipe for pizza dough that I used to use at home occasionally, we decided to make it without yeast. It was much quicker, and although you could tell that it wasn’t a yeast crust, it was still pretty tasty!

I halved the dough and made two smallish pizzas so that we could each personalize it the way we wanted.

I topped my crust with marinara, Garlic Garlic and Onion Onion seasonings and a tiny bit of Red Hot, sprinkled it with mozzarella and parmesan, and then added baby bella mushrooms, spinach, a tiny bit of broccoli, onions and pepperoni. I then sprinkled the top with a bit more parmesan for an extra boost of cheesy goodness. Alex was still creating his at this point, and I was getting pretty impatient with him due to the amount of layers he added, so I didn’t capture a picture of his before we baked it.

I love how pretty it ended up looking. Pepperoni really makes pizza look nice..

Alex topped his with marinara (although you’d never know it) with italian seasonings, a few splashes of Red Hot, parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar, baby bellas, onions, spinach, broccoli, and then MORE cheddar and mozzarella. He then sprinkled Garlic Garlic around the crust.

This was extremely filling and tasty!

No Yeast Pizza Crust

1 1/3 cups flour (I used white whole wheat)

1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

2 T olive oil

1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk and oil until a soft dough forms. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough about 10 times. Shape the dough into a ball and cover it with a bowl; let it stand for about 10 minutes. Place the dough on a cookie sheet, and flatten and roll it into a 12-inch round. Bake for about 8 minutes.

Top with your pizza ingredients and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until crust is light golden brown and cheese is bubbly/brown. Cut into wedges and serve.

For smaller pizzas, halve the dough, flatten and roll the same as you would for a large one, but reduce the baking time to 5 minutes for the initial baking and about 8-10 minutes with the toppings.

Chocolate Chip Brookies

February 25, 2011

Back in high school (as if it were SO long ago), my friend, Lex, and I used to make all sorts of goodies for our movie nights – we made many cookie cakes, popped our own popcorn and made different flavor concoctions, and we made several batches of chocolate chip brookies over the years. For those of you that don’t know what a “brookie” is, it’s exactly what it sounds like. A chocolate chip cookie/brownie combined. Absolutely to die for. Lex and I used to top it with chocolate frosting as well, but I chose not to this time.

I decided to make the cookie dough a bit healthier than usual, to counter the amount of butter in the brownies.

Back when I used to make this, I never was able to spread the cookie evenly over the brownie layer. I always just had random drops of dough in the brownie. I was so excited I was able to spread it nicely this time!

Yum yum layers!

Chocolate Chip Brookies

yields about three dozen brookies

For the brownie layer:

adapted from Baker’s Chocolate One Bowl Brownies

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup oil

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 t vanilla

1 cup white whole wheat flour

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line 13×9 inch pan with foil, allowing it to drape over the edges.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl until butter is melted (about 1 minute 30 seconds). Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add flour and mix well. Pour into pan and spread evenly with spatula.

For the cookie layer:

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup unsweetened applesauce (or 1 cup butter)
1 t vanilla
1 egg
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 cups chocolate chips (I used 1 1/2 cups)

Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon over brownie layer and spread evenly to cover the entire layer with spatula. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Dark Chocolate Mocha Ice Cream

February 23, 2011

I’m pretty bad at mixing it up when it comes to ice cream. The first fives times or so of using my machine, I made the same chocolate oreo ice cream. I know what I like, so I never see the need to change it. I tried out using the same recipe but mixing in some graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate chunks to make a s’more variety, which was good, but I still liked the oreo better. I also attempted coffee, but my machine got angry at me and shut off before any of it churned enough to freeze, so it ended up being a frozen coffee, pretty much. Definitely tasty, though, so I may have to try that one again soon!

I followed ALMOST the same basic recipe for the chocolate oreo, but I used Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder rather than regular cocoa powder, and I opted for brown sugar and a bit of truvia for sweetness. Add in some instant coffee powder, and you’re golden! I ended up mixing a brownie into mine..but plain or with just a little bit of chocolate syrup would be nice, too!

Dark Chocolate Mocha Ice Cream
yields 4 6-oz. servings
2 cups light cream or half-and-half
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 packets truvia
1/4 + 1 T Special Dark cocoa powder
2 T instant coffee

Mix the brown sugar, truvia, cocoa powder and instant coffee in a bowl. Add in half the cream and whisk until thoroughly mixed; add in the other half of the cream and the vanilla. Mix until smooth. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.