Pizza and Pancakes

My husband is typically in charge of homemade pizza and pancakes. I've managed to make pizza crust once. And pancakes once. Here are our favorite recipes for both. I will go for pizza crust first. Although I don't remember exactly how its all done. I may have to consult the expert on this post. The instructions for pizza crust are directly copied from Barefoot Contessa on food network. We've been using this recipe exclusively since 2008.

Pizza Crust

• 1 1/4 cup warm Water
• 2 pkg Yeast
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp kosher salt

Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of whole wheat flour, then 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Dump the dough onto a board and divide it in half and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Press and stretch each ball into 2 big sheet pans lined with parchment paper or coated with a little oil (If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)

Add your toppings. My favorite is green peppers, onions, black olives and mushrooms. Bake 10 to 15 minutes at 500 degrees. Yum!

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I do hope you know how to cook pancakes, so I'm just going to post the recipe without the steps of cooking and flipping pancakes. And I have absolutely no idea where or how we came up with this recipe. With help from the pancake chef of the house I found the original recipe on the Gold Medal website. Breakfast for dinner happens a couple times a month plus a couple weekend mornings as well. It's a definite dinner that my husband, Chuck, can pull off without any help or ideas from me, and its always perfect.

Pancakes

• 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt 
• 2 Eggs 
• 2 cups Milk
• 1/4 cup Oil

Cook on a hot griddle, they are ready to flip when you see bubbles.
We make a huge batch of these and freeze them. We fold them up in wax paper, then pop them in freezer bag them the freezer and reheat in the microwave for breakfast.

*I  just saw from the original recipe that you can substitute melted butter for the oil and make waffles. We haven't found the perfect waffle recipe yet, so this one we have got to try.