Easy Homemade Garlic Knots

I don't know what took me so long to try this. We are in trouble now.

I stole some pizza dough and made garlic knots out of it, before rolling out the rest into pizza crusts. They were amazing and I'll have to triple my recipe forever now so I have enough extra dough to make garlic knots.

Garlic Knots

Make pizza dough as usual. I'll include the recipe below, and here is the link for the full directions in case you haven't read them before. The preheated pizza stone is the key to the pizza crust.

Preheat oven (I used a toaster oven) to 350*. 

When the dough has risen, pull off bits and roll into a snake between your hands until it's about 6 inches long. Then tie into a knot and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush with Garlic Herb Butter and bake for about 20 minutes or until light brown on the bottoms. The tops of mine did not brown much at all. Brush with additional butter, if desired, and serve.

Garlic Herb Butter

1/4 cup Butter
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Parsley
2 cloves Garlic, minced

Mix all ingredients well. I recommend making extra for dipping your garlic knots, and your pizza crust, and really you can just put it on top of your pizza....


Pizza Dough

1 tsp Active Dry Yeast
2/3 cup Warm Water (not hot)
2 cups Flour (white, whole wheat, or combo - if 100% WW I recommend whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

If you like a thicker crust, just double the recipe.  My pictures show a double batch.

Combine ingredients in mixer with dough hook, lock it down if your mixer has a locking mechanism, and let it go at low speed for 15 minutes.   Spray with olive oil and cover with a towel.  

Let rise for 1 hour in a warm area.  If your house is cold, go ahead and heat your oven, and set the bowl on the stovetop.  If you have laundry drying in the dryer, that's another place you could let it rise. I usually just leave mine in the kitchen but I'm in Florida and it's rarely cold in there.

White Sauce Pizza with Basil and Tomato

The family was having homemade pizza, but I wanted something different. One of the many things I love about making homemade pizza dough is that you can divide the dough into individual pizzas, and even make more dough ahead if you have more people to feed.

I took my ball of dough and rolled it out. Then I topped it with a homemade white sauce, fresh basil leaves, sliced tomato, and mozzarella of course. So good!

White Sauce for Pizza

3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3-4 (or more) cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Barbecue BBQ Chicken Pizza

Pizza is a really common dish in our house because it's so easy to make and everyone likes it. I had the idea to try something a little different and it turned out SO good.

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Pizza Crust - see recipe and full instructions here

Cooked Chicken, chopped or shredded
Barbecue Sauce (you can make your own but I used a bottled sauce)
Shredded Cheese
Veggies for topping (I used onion and bell pepper)

Plan ahead by an hour and make the crust (you can make freeze the dough if you want to make it way ahead!)

Preheat oven to the highest setting it will go (mine is 550*)

Roll dough into a circle on parchment paper.

Mix chicken and sauce in a bowl, and spread over pizza crust.

Top with shredded cheese and any veggies you like.

Bake for about 9 minutes until cheese is bubbly and bottom of crust is brown.

Pizzadillas

I had one of those quick moments of genius that occasionally strikes.  Tortilla, pizza sauce, cheese, stick it in the toaster oven, then fold it in half and cut it into wedges.  That's it! :)

Pizza Crust - Gluten Free and Low Carb

I discovered this pizza crust recipe when I was on the HCG Protocol to lose weight.  It's so good I've kept making it!  I make this version for my kids, and I sub half the coconut flour for a Tbsp of flax meal when I make it for myself.

Tonight I split the recipe and made my kids each their own  Heart Pizza for Valentine's Day.

Coconut Flour Cheesy Pizza Crust (personal pizza size)

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

1 Egg

2 Tbsp Coconut Flour

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/4-1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1/4-1/2 tsp Basil

Preheat oven to 350*. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well and you can cut your baking time in half.

Mix cheese, egg, coconut flour and baking powder and spices until well combined. You'll have to use your hands so just go ahead and get them messy.

Press out on a piece of parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thick. Pick up parchment and stick it in the oven on the hot stone. If you don't use the stone method, put the parchment on a baking sheet and into the oven.

On the stone, 15 minutes should be enough to cook both sides of the crust. On a baking sheet, bake about 15 minutes, then flip the crust over to bake the other side for another 15 minutes or until it's golden brown.

Remove from oven, top with sauce, cheese and toppings (meats should be precooked) and return the pizza to the oven to melt the cheese and warm up the toppings.

This is the one I made for myself - Coconut Flax Cheesy Pizza Crust (with heart-shaped pepperoni, of course)

Easy Pizza Sauce

My husband made up this recipe and it's awesome!

Pizza Sauce

2 cups Tomato Sauce (1 14oz can is fine)
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Basil
2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
10-15 drops Liquid Stevia, or a dash of sugar or agave, optional



If you like your pizza spicy, you can add a dash of red pepper, too.


Mix all ingredients well.  You can mix it up ahead of time and the flavor gets even better.

This makes enough sauce for several pizzas (depending on how saucy you like your pizza), and freezes well.

Pizza Crust

If I can manage to plan ahead by an hour, I can a have delicious homemade pizza made for a fraction of the cost of ordering delivery.  Hooray!

Pizza Crust

1 tsp Active Dry Yeast
2/3 cup Warm Water (not hot)
2 cups Flour (white, whole wheat, or combo - if 100% WW I recommend whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

If you like a thicker crust, just double the recipe.  My pictures show a double batch.

Combine ingredients in mixer with dough hook, lock it down if your mixer has a locking mechanism, and let it go at low speed for 15 minutes.   Spray with olive oil and cover with a towel.  

Let rise for 1 hour in a warm area.  If your house is cold, go ahead and heat your oven, and set the bowl on the stovetop.  If you have laundry drying in the dryer, that's another place you could let it rise.

Preheat your oven (and pizza stone) as high as your oven will go (mine is 550*). 

Stretch out the dough on parchment paper, and dock it with a fork to (hopefully!) prevent bubbles.

Top with sauce.

 
Add shredded cheese and toppings.

Carefully slide pizza onto the hot stone in the oven (parchment and all). Bake about 9 min or until cheese is bubbly and bottom of crust is brown. Cool 5 min before serving.

This is how my family's pizza looks - pepperoni and veggies for the grownups, just pepperoni and cheese for the boy and only cheese for the girl.  Sigh.

Pizza Sauce is coming up tomorrow but if you must have it for dinner today, here it is - original recipe by my husband:


Pizza Sauce

2 cups Tomato Sauce (1 14oz can is fine)
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Basil
2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
10-15 drops Liquid Stevia, or a dash of sugar or agave, optional