Cheesy Garlic Pizza

For the past few years I have used the same pizza crust, it's one that we all enjoy and I'm kinda iffy when it comes to dough especially for pizza, if I like something I stick with it just because I fear trying something that will be a total fail.

While on Pinterest the other night, I came across this Fail-Proof Pizza Dough recipe and I thought "well, I'll try it".

I'm so glad I did because it's amazing and it's now our favorite.  I'm sure I'll still use my old recipe but this one is just too good to pass up.

The recipe comes from Lauren's Latest, and I can't wait to see what other goodies she has on her site :)



Basic Pizza Dough
yield: 2-12 inch pizzas, approximately 1 lb. of dough

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
3 cups bread flour {give or take 1/2 cup…depending on the heat & humidity}

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix.

Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn’t stick to your hands.

Once you reach this stage, turn the mixer on high to knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. It should look something like this when it’s done!

The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean!
Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn’t dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That’s it!



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For the Cheesy Garlic Pizza, I also used Lauren's recipe for the cheesy garlic bread sticks, just tweaked it a little. I used romano, cheddar, colby and monterey jack.

Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks
yield: 1- 12 inch pie

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe Fail-Proof Pizza Dough
2 tablespoons softened salted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese {use the real stuff!}
1/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese
{salt & pepper, if desired}

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside. {If you don’t have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet}



Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.

Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}

Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough



and top with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.



Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired. {That step is totally optional!}