Baking Sunday: Pizza Dough {With Herbs} using the KitchenAid

'Tis the season for...Advent, food, parties and many other things. I love this time of year. I love advent;  I love celebrating; I love food; I love parties; I love people and family. The list could go on and on. I have been doing so much extra cooking lately, I hardly know where to begin or what to share with you! On Saturday night, I made some excellent stuffed mushrooms. I was really excited because I made the recipe up by going off of some awesome stuffed mushrooms I once had. It's great how your taste buds can lead you in the right direction sometimes, isn't it? Sunday, we followed suite with the rest of our village and stayed in due to icy roads, so I spent the morning listening to Church of the Resurrection Online and making Strawberry Napoleans for a "Sip and See." Then, last night, for Baking Sunday, Jenny and I made homemade pizza! Asbury was supposed to host an Advent Vespers Service, but cancelled it due to the ice. Last year, after the Advent Service, we ate with friends and it's one of my very favorite memories. This year, I decided the same tradition must be appropriate. So, Baking Sunday and the After-Advent-Service-Meal-Gathering collided. It was too good.

With that said, enjoy the pizza dough recipe below. This recipe is so versatile. I've made it so many times. Sometimes I make it plain; sometimes with garlic and herbs. My grandma has made it with wheat flour, by hand; I allow my Kitchenaid to do all the work. The thing I like most about it, though, is that you know exactly what's going into your dough. And, there's just something about bread that's intriguing to me. The world lives on bread, it's a simple food that we all have in common. I like to make my own because it makes me feel like I'm holding something in common with people around the globe. Is that weird? Maybe. I'm getting spiritual on you. Ok, really, enjoy the dough!

Recipe adapted from A Couple Cooks. 

Homemade Pizza Dough (Makes two medium pizzas)

What you'll need:

•  3 cups of flour
• 1 packet (or two teaspoons) of highly active, fast rising yeast
• 1/2 Tablespoon of oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/3 cups of warm water

To Add Garlic and Herbs to the dough (if you prefer, if not, skip this step):

• 1-2 cloves of garlic (depending upon preference and size of the clove)
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano

Directions:

1. In your KitchenAid bowl, combine flour, yeast, oil, salt, and about a cup of the warm water.

2. Using the dough hook on your Kitchenaid mixer, stir until a loose dough begins to form. Add in the remaining water as the dough begins to form. If the dough appears too dry after you add in the water, add a little bit more; if it appears too wet, sprinkle in a little bit of flour. The dough should start pulling away from the side of the bowl and begin forming into a ball after 30 seconds or so.

3. When the dough forms into a ball, gradually increase the speed of your KitchenAid to medium. The dough ball should remain intact on the dough hook. If it's not hooking, turn your mixer off and help it hook and gradually increase the speed again. This happens to me, every so often. Otherwise let the mixer knead the dough on medium speed for 8 minutes.

4. While the dough is kneading, prepare a floured surface for the dough to rise on. Then, prepare a damp towel to cover the dough. I normally use a spray bottle to dampen my kitchen towel.

5. When the dough is finished kneading, use floured-hands to remove the dough from the bowl. Divide the dough in half and form into two boules. Set them on the floured surface to rise. Rub a tiny bit of olive oil on top of each of the doughs so they don't dry out. Then, cover both boules with the damp cloth. Let the dough rise for 45 minutes - 1 hour. About 15 minutes into the rise time, preheat the oven to 500 F.

6. When the dough is finished rising, gently shape the dough into circles on pizza pans/stones. Do not overwork the dough.

7. Prepare the dough with your favorite toppings and cook for 6-8 minutes.

- I normally use an Airbake pizza pan (it has holes) and it cooks well on the top rack, and my normal pizza pan cooks better on the bottom rack, closer to the burner.