Mr. H and I have loved having homemade pizza nights for years – it’s fun to devise different toppings to try out and custom make your own pizzas! Now that Miss H is getting a little bit older, we were recently able to add her into the pizza night fun.

We made an individual pizza for each one of us, as we all wanted different toppings. Once I had Miss H’s pizza rolled out and covered with sauce, she was able to help me with toppings! Her pizza featured broccoli (steamed in advance), sliced black olives, and mozzarella cheese. The olives were a new food for her and she LOVED them – she kept on stealing them off of her pizza while we were making it!

Miss H’s favorite activity was sprinkling on the cheese. I put some cheese on a little plate on the counter (ok, let’s be real – I think it was the lid to the cornmeal container, ha!) and Miss H sprinkled the cheese onto the pizza piece by piece. She was very meticulous about her work!

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The pizza looked delicious hot from the oven!

Miss H is always asking us for pizza (even though she’s rarely had it) so she was a huge fan of pizza night! And it proved to be an easy opportunity to sneak in some veggies, especially because Miss H is not old enough to know whether or not broccoli is a standard pizza topping.

I have perfected my own pizza dough recipe over the years, which I’m happy to share! Of course, you can always purchase dough or frozen crusts from the grocery store, but there’s nothing more fun than making  your own. And, to save time just open up a jar of red pasta sauce for the sauce and use the rest for pasta later in the week!

Mrs. Hopscotch’s Perfectly Puffy Pizza Dough
1-2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 package rapid-rise yeast
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup 100 deg. water
coarse cornmeal
toppings and sauce for pizza
Add 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose flour, salt and sugar to large mixing bowl. Mix together.
Add yeast to warm water, stir with a fork and let yeast proof. Add yeast mixture, honey, and olive oil to dry ingredients. Either mix by hand (with hands or spatula) or using stand mixture with dough hook. If sticky add 1/2-1 cup whole wheat flour as needed. If mixing by hand knead lightly on a floured surface. If using dough hook, dough is ready when it comes away from the side of the mixing bowl.
Cover with a dishtowel in a warm spot and let rise for 45 minutes-hour in a bowl lightly greased with olive oil, allowing the dough to double in size. Divide into two parts.
After about an hour of rising time the dough is ready to go. Each half makes approximately a 12″ pizza. Stretch out onto a pizza pan or sheet pan that has been generously sprinkled with coarse cornmeal.
Add toppings to your pizza and bake in a 450 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes, until crust is brown and toppings are fully cooked and cheese is starting to brown up.
Alternative preparation: If you want to make your dough up to a day ahead of time do not allow dough to rise. After making the dough, place it into a well-oiled Ziploc bag and place in fridge (can divide into two parts/two bags if making two pizzas). Remove dough from fridge about an hour before planning to bake and place in oiled bowl(s) and allow to rise in a warm place. After the dough has doubled in size, proceed with rolling out the dough and making your pizzas.
Have fun with your toppings and having your LO join in on the pizza making!