The Charm of Home: handmade

Showing posts with label handmade. Show all posts

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Pizza Dough From Scratch

We used to buy a lot of brand-name frozen pizzas every week at the grocery store. With a house of guys we ate a lot of them, but I quit cold turkey and started to make my own pizza. It is way cheaper and so much healthier. Today, I will share with you my homemade pizza dough. Years ago, I shared this, but I have changed the recipe a lot since then, so it was time for a redo. This is a picture of the activated yeast before I mix it with the flour.

I mix my dough in this bread bowl. I bought it years ago at a flea market.

I have tried this recipe in the bread machine, but it seems to make the dough too tough, so I prefer to hand-knead it for around five minutes, and then it is ready to proof.

Some of the equipment I use to make pizza is a pizza stone, a pizza peel, parchment paper, a kitchen scale, a digital cooking thermometer, and an air fryer with a proof setting to proof the dough. You wouldn't have to have these things to make the pizza, but it does help to make the pizza turn out more like your favorite pizzeria. In this picture I am covering the dough to place in the proofer.

In this picture, the dough has proofed for an hour and risen nicely.

I will now make six equal portions of the dough, and put them in a labeled baggie, and place them in the freezer or refrigerator if using therm right away.

I have tried several flours for this recipe. The best and most widely available flour that will give you

pizzeria results is bread flour. I have tried 00 flour, but it isn't absolutely necessary to go to the expense of buying that flour for that light, airy, crisp crust.

Here is the dough out of the freezer. I have put it in the microwave on defrost for 1-2 minutes, or maybe a little longer, until it is no longer frozen.

I place it on parchment paper and roll out a 12-inch pizza. Dimple the dough with your fingers to get that airy crispy crust.

Here is the veggie pizza, ready for the oven. I bake it on a pizza stone in a preheated 485°F in a oven.

My pizza has evolved over the years. It is getting easier to recreate a takeout pizza without the expense. I am prefecting our favorite sauce and will share that soon, as well as a recipe for cheesesticks.

Pizza Dough from Scratch Yield: 6-12 inch pizzas

Ingredients:

600 gm bread flour (4 3/4 cups)

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cup of water, warm (100°F)

1 teaspoon sugar placed in the water to dislove

2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Combine flour, salt, in a large bowl. Weighing the flour will be more acurate. Add the water, yeast, and the sugar to a measuring cup set in a warm place and wait to see the yeast activate. (As in the first picture above.) After the yeast is activated add the olive oil to the water and yeast mixture. Add water mixture to the flour mixture and combine till liquid is dispersed. Turn the dough onto your preferred kneading surface and knead the dough around five minutes. Cover the dough with a tea towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm area to rise for an hour or use proof setting on an air fryer.

When fully risen cut dough into 6 equal parts and freeze or use right away.

To cook preheat oven and pizza stone to 485°F.

Roll out dough to a 12-inch crust and top as desired. (Use only enough sauce to cover.) Bake on the hot stone 11 minutes. Remove from oven and serve hot.

Pizza at home can be made rather easily and much cheaper and healthier for you than the frozen store brands. I have not bought another store pizza since making this dough. It has been around five years now.

In Victory,

Sherry

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Cranberry Sauce

Every year, when the fresh cranberries come to the grocery stores, I buy up a supply of them and make this homemade cranberry sauce. I can it and keep it on the shelf for when the need arises and we want some.

Cranberries are one of my favorite things to can. They set up perfectly and look so good when served compared to their jelled store-bought cousins.

From Scratch Cranberry Sauce

Yield 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon orange zest

3/4 cup orange juice (juice of 2 large navel oranges)

1/2 cup honey

12 oz. whole fresh cranberries

In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat combine the orange zest, orange juice, and honey. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer and stir in the cranberries. Cook the berries until they burst, about 15 minutes. Spoon the sauce into a half pint jar and refrigerate for up to 6 hours, then serve. OR:I hot water bath can mine with the hot pack method and spoon the sauce into a half pint mason jar with 1/4-1/2 inch headspace and then process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. Take the canner off of the heat when done and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes then remove them to counter to be undisturbed for 24 hours. Check seals and store for a year on shelf. Half pint yield: 4 jars

Recipe from: The Prairie Homestead Cookbook

Canning information from: Putting It Up with Honey

In Victory,

Sherry

Sunday, December 10, 2023

My Favorite Sugar Cookie

My favorite sugar recipe is a little crisp but chewy in the center. You can shape these cookies into anything, but for this post, I have used a moon cake mold that I received years ago when I was being sponsored. (2013)

This is my favorite sugar cookie. I have adapted it a little from The Martha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes for Everyday.

Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons of Hazelnut Kahlua (optional: This can be substituted with almond flavoring)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Technique:
Sift together the dry ingredients. In an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, until well mixed then add the egg, Kahlua, and vanilla and continue mixing until light. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and mix until well blended.
Wrap and chill dough for at least 30 minutes. You cannot skip this step (with the mold you must),chill the dough. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

If not using a mold just roll out to about 1/8 inch thick and cut out as desired. Place on a greased cookie sheet or on parchment paper. Bake 6-10 minutes. The edges should be just starting to brown and the cookie have a golden color.

The cookie mold design, the holder it fits in, the rolling pin, the work surface all must be lightly floured. All work surfaces must stay lightly floured between each cookie. Roll out the dough to about 1/8- inch thick. When you insert the design disk in the baking mold holder and press down, press hard with this handle I am holding onto in this picture and give it a tiny twist, like you are making biscuits. Make sure you have gotten to the work surface with your effort. Then push down on the spring loaded handle to make the cookie design, pressing hard.

Place your cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 6-10 minutes. It is not recommended to get these cookies too brown. Okay here is my first tray of cookies. You can see that with some of the cookies I pressed hard enough to create the design and with some I didn't. So press hard to make these cookies. After this tray I was getting the hang of it.

Here they are right out of the oven! Aren't they gorgeous with this design pressed in them! I just love how they turned out! With this recipe they are crispy on the edges and soft in the center a great texture in a sugar cookie.

All you need is a cup of tea and your set!

In Victory,

Sherry

Friday, December 1, 2023

Easy Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

There is nothing more cozy for the bleak, cold days ahead than a cinnamon roll. I have been trying out recipes, and this is the one I really like. It takes about an hour, and they turn out fantastic!

I have all the ingredients on hand in the pantry. The dough rolls out easily and is no trouble to make.

Here I am measuring out the size of the dough with my husband's tape measure. You will want the rectangle to be 14 inches by 18 inches and 1/4 inch thick.

After spreading the cinnamon-sugar mixture, I made the log shape to form the rolls.

In this step, I am marking my cutting points on the dough with dental floss.

Using dental floss to cut the dough makes the rolls come out really nice.

I got one roll too tall, so I ended up with 13 rolls instead of 12, but no one complained.

Here are the finished rolls right out of the oven; they only cook for 20-25 minutes, and they smell so good!

Now for the fun part: ice them hot!

Cinnabon® couldn't do it better! They have cream cheese icing, of course.

Easy Homemade Cinnamon Rolls: Yields 12

Ingredients:

Dough

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 1/4 teaspoons (or 1-0.25 oz. packet) of active dry yeast

1/4 cup granualted sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cinnamon Sugar Filling:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

Cream Cheese Icing:

4 ounces of cream cheese, softened

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-4 tablespoons milk (add 1 tbsp. at a time)

Instructions:

Dough: melt butter in a small microwave safe plate or bowl for 40 seconds, or until melted and pour into a medium size bowl and set aside. Heat milk in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds. Add to butter mixture, and stir in sugar and yeast until dissolved. Cover with a tea towel/cloth or plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes to make sure yeast will activate.

Preheat your oven on lowest setting (around 160-170°F). Instead of doing this I use a toaster oven on proof and warm it up.

After 10 minutes, remove towel and add in egg, salt, and vanilla extract. Then begin adding in the flour 1/2 cup at a time. Fold it in with a spatula until combined. The dough will be soft and slightly tacky, but not too sticky.

Form dough into round ball and place back in the bowl, and cover with a tea cloth. Place it in the oven to proof. Turn your oven off when you place your bowl in the oven, the heat will make the dough rise.

While your dough is proofing , make the cinnamon sugar filling. In a medium-size bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix until well combined with spatula. Set aside.

Once the dough has proofed for 10 minutes, remove the towel and place the dough onto a pastry mat or cloth that has been lightly floured. Roll it out to form a 14-inch x 18-inch rectangle at 1/4 inch thick.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Use a spatula to spread the cinnamon, sugar, and butter mixture almost to the edges of the dough rectangle.

Start with the short side of the rectangle and tightly roll it vertically away from you to form a log. See picture above.

Once rolled, use dental floss to mark your cut lines for the size of the rolls, as above in pictures, and then use the dental floss wrapped around the log to actually cut the rolls. It works great and doesn't flatten out the rolls for baking.

Place the rolls with swirl design up in a 13-inch x 9-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in oven at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until they are light golden brown.

Let cool on wire rack 10 minutes once they are done.

While cooling make the icing. Use an electric hand mixer in a medium sized bowl, combine softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk (adding 1 tablespoon at a time). Whip until reaching desired consistancy. Add more milk or less for thicker icing.

Spread cream cheese icing over warm cinnamon rolls and serve.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Kindly Unspoken

In Victory!

Sherry

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Homemade Blueberry Jam

This time of year, I take all of the berries and fruit I have frozen and make jam. This past week, I made blueberry jam. This recipe will work on any berry, but strawberry. It is wonderful to have a cupboard full of jams for winter when you can't get fresh fruit.

Homemade Blueberry Jam

Ingredients:

9 cups of crushed berries (4-5 pounds)

6 cups of sugar

Mesure out blueberries and add to a medium large (mine was 6 quart) stockpot. Coarsley crush berries as they thaw (if frozen) with a potato masher. Measure out 9 cups of crushed berries.

Combine crushed berries and suagr back in stockpot and bring mixture slowly to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and cook rapidly to gelling point (220°F), stirring to prevent sticking. Skim off foam if necessary. I test my gelling point with a few large spoons placed in the freezer. I pull them out and dip the spoon into the berries and when I can swipe down the spoon and the fruit mixture separates and doesn't cover back where I swiped my finger I know the jam is ready.

Fill the hot jam into a hot jar that you have already prepared as per water bath canning instructions. Leave 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Clean jar rim. Center jar lid on jar and place band on that at fingertip-tight. Place jar on rack of hot water bath canner and when all are full lower jars into to the canner. Make sure the water covers the jars by an inch. Adjust heat to mediium high cover canner with lid and bring to a rolling boil. Process half-pint jars or pint jars 15 minutes. Turn off heat and remove cover. Let jars set in canner 5 minutes. Remove the jars from canner, do not retighten bands if loose. Cool 12 hours. Check seals. Label and store jars. The proper way to store is without the band at all.

Recipe from: Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving

Enjoy!

In Victory,

Sherry

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Home Sweet Home #344

Spiritual Warfare: My God is a God who Saves!

Hello and welcome to Home Sweet Home! This week I shared a story from the Bible that demonstrates Spiritual Warfare and how My God is a God Who Saves!

May the (real) Force Be With You: The Charm of Home

Then get a spiritual upgrade in your life with the knowledge in this post, May the (real) Force be With You.

There are so many wonderful posts here each week, here are a few I enjoyed.

Adopt a Simple Amish Lifestyle by Our Simple Homestead.

Country Roads and Pretty Teacups by Rose Chintz Cottage.

Pressure Cooker Pasta and Meatballs at The Bearded Hiker.

Sherry

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Party Guidelines

Would you please share anything related to your home in the spirit of Proverbs 31 (such as recipes, Christian encouragement, DIY's, gardening, home decoration, sewing, crafts, etc.)
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Thursday, April 6, 2017

Home Sweet Home #317

Have the Attitude of Christ: The Charm of Home

Hello and welcome to Home Sweet Home! This week I shared Have the Attitude of Christ.

Faith or Works of the Law: The Charm of Home

Then I shared what Paul taught us in, Faith or Works of the Law.

There are so many wonderful posts each week, here are a few that I enjoyed.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake by Home Cooking Recipe Box.

Adding a Touch of Spring Small Flower Ideas by Fjolla's Table.

Garden Plants for Bees from Comfort Spring.

Sherry

Follow me on Twitter

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Party Guidelines

*New* Would you please share anything related to your home in the spirit of Proverbs 31 (such as recipes, Christian encouragement, DIY's, gardening, home decoration, sewing, crafts, etc.)
Please don't link up giveaways and advertisements.

Follow and or subscribe to The Charm of Home.

Please include a link or my button in your post.

*If you are pinning a post submitted here, please pin from the original source.

* Please note that posts on this party come from other bogs also and that they may not agree with my own personal faith. Take this into consideration when viewing links and use your own discernment using the Holy Scriptures as your guide.

An InLinkz Link-up