Recipe Time: The Best Homemade Pizza Dough Ever

Confession: I don't really bake much.  I barely cook at all.  Truthfully, my favorite recipes include mac and cheese from a box and frozen pizza.  So when I give a recipe, I am not talking to all you foodies out there who are looking for the most amazing, unique, and tantalizing recipes.  I'm talking to the regular moms.  You know who you are.  And when I say a recipe is easy to make, I mean it, because I'm seriously just not motivated enough to cook it if it's not easy.

Having said all that, this IS a really great recipe.  I got it from a friend years ago who was teaching me about freezer meals.  This pizza dough recipe was included because it is easy to freeze and use later.  So without further adu, here it is:

The Best Pizza Dough Ever

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs
2 Tbs of yeast
2 tsp of salt
6 cups of flour

In a glass bowl, microwave butter, milk, and sugar for 3 minutes.  You want your  wet ingredients warm enough to activate the yeast, but not so boiling hot that they kill it.  (How do you tell the difference? I have no idea. I just stick with three minutes.)

Mix in eggs and half of flour.  Mix in yeast and salt.  Mix in remaining flour.  Add in additional flour a few spoonfuls at a time until dough is easy enough to handle.
Knead dough ten minutes.  (I don't really know how to knead, so I usually just use my mixer with the dough hook attachment, but I have mixed it completely by hand and it turned out just fine too).

Divide dough into three portions and roll out evenly onto greased baking pans.  Let rise in a warm oven for 10 minutes.  Top one pan with butter and cheese and bake at 400 degrees for ten minutes.  Top the two remaining pans with pizza toppings, and bake at 425 degrees for ten minutes or until cooked all the way through.  Sometimes it's hard to see if dough is cooked through once it's covered in toppings.  Because of this, I often bake the dough first (while it's still "naked" or topping-less).  Once I'm sure the dough is done, then I put my toppings on and broil it for just a couple minutes to melt the cheese.  Yum!

Yeah, I know this isn't pizza crust.... I didn't feel like making pizza, so I used the dough for rolls instead.  Versatility!

There are a couple great things about this recipe:  It can be frozen.  If you don't want to use it right away, just spray a freezer bag with cooking spray, fill it with dough, and pop it in the freezer for later.  When you want to use it, just let it thaw, form it the way you want it, and let it rise as normal.

It can be used for just about any bread type product.  I use the same dough for dinner rolls or a loaf of heavy bread.  It can also be altered for taste.  When using it for pizza or rolls, I often add a half a cup of garlic powder to the mix or occasionally some Italian seasoning.  I've even used it as a base for cinnamon rolls and just added a ton of cinnamon and raisins to the batter. 

There you have it.  Super Dough!  Enjoy.

Marcia