Ok, so I know it's not Halloween yet, but I am hosting book club tonight, so I had to do all of my Halloween prep last night. I baked Halloween cookies, carved pumpkins and roasted the pumpkin seeds, and made homemade pizza (which pretty much has zero to do with Halloween but is fun nonetheless). My kitchen was a disaster zone, but it was so worth it! I thought I would share the recipes I used and some pictures too!
2 1/2 cups flour
In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. Set aside.
Mix (or beat on medium speed) butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and mix until blended.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture in 3 parts, blending to incorporate dry and wet ingredients completely before adding the next round of dry ingredients.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into 2 balls. Wrap balls in plastic wrap and flatten into discs. Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 350F. Generously flour cutting board and rolling pin. Roll dough out to approx. 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough into shapes using lightly floured cookie cutters. Carefully gather dough from around cut out shapes and set aside to roll out again. Transfer cut out shapes to cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes (or until edges just start to brown and cookie centers become firm to the touch). Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute, then use a spatula to transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cookies have cooled completely, decorate with icings and frosting and enjoy!!!
Pizza
Ok, so I cheated and bought pre-made dough. If you are near a Trader Joe's, go there and buy the refrigerated pizza dough for 99 cents - it's awesome! If you are stuck in crappy Utah and there is no Trader Joe's, go to Papa Murphy's and buy dough for around $2 per medium sized pizza.
For the first pizza, I used marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, kalamata olives, baby portabella mushrooms, and basil.
For the second pizza, I used marinara sauce, mozzarella, mozzarella di buffola, chevre, and basil.
As I had forgotten, it is CRUCIAL to place your pizza stone in the oven, set as high as it goes (btwn 500 and 525F) for 45 minutes prior to baking the pizzas. Once the stone and oven are hot, place the pizzas in for btwn 6 and 8 minutes (until crust starts to brown), then cool, and enjoy!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
seeds from 3 large pumpkins
2 tsps melted butter
salt (to taste)
Preheat oven to 300F. Clean most of the strings and pulp off of the pumpkin seeds. Toss cleaned seeds in a bowl with 2 tsps melted butter and salt (to taste). Spread seeds in a single layer on cookie sheet. Bake for approx. 30 mins, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Enjoy!!
Sugar Cut-out Cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter (or margarine)
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Start with all ingredients at room temperature.In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. Set aside.
Mix (or beat on medium speed) butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and mix until blended.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture in 3 parts, blending to incorporate dry and wet ingredients completely before adding the next round of dry ingredients.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into 2 balls. Wrap balls in plastic wrap and flatten into discs. Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 350F. Generously flour cutting board and rolling pin. Roll dough out to approx. 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough into shapes using lightly floured cookie cutters. Carefully gather dough from around cut out shapes and set aside to roll out again. Transfer cut out shapes to cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes (or until edges just start to brown and cookie centers become firm to the touch). Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute, then use a spatula to transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cookies have cooled completely, decorate with icings and frosting and enjoy!!!
Pizza
Ok, so I cheated and bought pre-made dough. If you are near a Trader Joe's, go there and buy the refrigerated pizza dough for 99 cents - it's awesome! If you are stuck in crappy Utah and there is no Trader Joe's, go to Papa Murphy's and buy dough for around $2 per medium sized pizza.
For the first pizza, I used marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, kalamata olives, baby portabella mushrooms, and basil.
For the second pizza, I used marinara sauce, mozzarella, mozzarella di buffola, chevre, and basil.
As I had forgotten, it is CRUCIAL to place your pizza stone in the oven, set as high as it goes (btwn 500 and 525F) for 45 minutes prior to baking the pizzas. Once the stone and oven are hot, place the pizzas in for btwn 6 and 8 minutes (until crust starts to brown), then cool, and enjoy!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
2 comments:
Looks good. Man, now I am so hungry!!
Aha! A pizza stone! This is what I am doing wrong with homemade pizza. Mine never comes out good enough to justify the effort. Looks great :)
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