Who doesn’t love pizza? Yes- that age old question. From my experience a pretty good fan base is kids. I know my two are 100% on board with this, and with these rolls even more so. I think part of the enjoyment for them is knowing that they’ll get to sample the fruits of their labor at the end. Over the years I’ve learned that letting kids take ownership of tasks (no matter how small) can yield bountiful positive results and enjoyment all round. But…I’m here to talk pizza (rolls)!
These pizza rolls are perfect on so many fronts – pizza is popular; you can rope the kids in to helping; guests can eat as much as they like; they’re easily transportable outdoor eating in the summer weather. Like I said- the perfect tear and share popular summer bite. For a snack or appetizer I use one, for a main I use two paired with a leafy, summer salad. Let’s not forget it customizable too. If pepperoni isn’t your thing, swap it in for chicken, or ham.
You’ll notice a couple of things with this recipe. The dough can appear wetter than usual when fully mixed, This is what makes the end baked roll so fluffy. It really is a case of “wetter is better”. You also see that I mention cornmeal in the recipe. Whilst this isn’t an ingredient in the rolls as such, dipping their bases in it and baking them results in a wonderfully toasted, crispy bottom with a delightful crunch.
One last piece of advice before I go. These pizza rolls are at their best fresh out of the oven however if there are any left they can be wrapped, stored in the fridge and reheated for enjoying later.
Makes 12
Ingredients
Pizza Sauce
6oz can tomato puree
1 can (15oz) tomato sauce
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon dried thyme
2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
Pizza Rolls
4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons quick yeast
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 egg
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup oil
Filling/ Topping
2 cups pizza sauce, recipe above
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 cup shredded parmesan
1 cup pepperoni, diced/ shredded
1/2 cup cornmeal
Olive oil
Method
Pizza Sauce
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, stir well, cover and set aside on the counter until needed
Pizza Rolls
In the bowl of a stand mixer, with dough hook attachment, combine the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and Italian seasoning
Add the egg and combine on low speed
Add in 3/4 of the liquid and mix on speed 2 to to combine. The dough should come together and start “cleaning the sides of the bowl”. If you dough is still “shaggy” gradually add in some of the remaining liquid until it comes together
Knead on this speed for 7 minutes, until it is uniform and spring to the touch. It will be a bit sticky!
Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (mine usually takes between 50mins to 1 hour)
Line a 9″ x 12″ baking tray with baking parchment, leaving about a 2″ overhang all the way around. This will help fish the baked pizza rolls out of the tin
In medium bowl, combine the mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan and Italian seasoning. Set aside
Spread the cornmeal onto a plate and set aside
Once doubled in size, tip out onto a well-floured counter and knock back the air from the risen dough
Form into a rough rectangular shape 20″ x 12″ with long edge facing you
Spread the surface of the dough with 2 cups of the pizza sauce. Next sprinkle over 2/3 of the cheese mixture, followed by 1/2 of the pepperoni
Taking the long edge, roll the dressed dough up into a long log shape. It’ll get messy- there’s no getting away from it but doing it slow and easy helps keep most of the filling inside
Cut the rolled up log into 12 pieces* and dip the bottom of each piece into the cornmeal. Place the rolls into the prepared baking tray, cornmeal side down in 3 x 4 formation allowing a small gap between each
Preheat your oven to 350F
Cover with some oiled cling wrap and set aside to rise for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. By the end of this time you’ll notice they will have risen again and be quite snug in the baking tray
Brush with some olive oil and bake in your preheated oven for 15 minutes, at which point remove from the oven, sprinkle over the remaining cheese mixture, followed by the remaining pepperoni, return to the oven and continue baking for a further 15 to 20 minutes until the crust is golden, the cheese has melted and the pepperoni is nicely crisped up
Remove from the oven and leave in the pan for 5 minutes. After this time remove from the pan using the baking parchment overhang, serve and enjoy with the remaining pizza sauce for dipping
*A handy trick for cutting your individual rolls is to use some dental floss (unflavored and clean) or some fishing line (again clean!). Cut a length, wrap it it around the long dough log at where you want to cut and pull together. Slices will be clean and you don’t run the risk of squashing them. Repeat to cut more.
“Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light Next year all our troubles will be out of sight”
So I’ve finally ventured into the world of online baking, albeit to a select audience- my kids school. Living in the time of Covid-19 has us all at sea, missing connections and striving for some semblance of normality and familiarity in what has become a very isolated, displaced cyber age. Exchanging hugs and handshakes has become thing of the past replaced with online reactions of ‘thumbs up’ and real-time fleeting grabs at proximity with elbow bumps.
It was this want for maintaining connectivity that led me to the small cyber-screen. My kids’ school has a pretty close-knit community of parents and an active parents council. The sundering of this by the Corona virus and the resulting division between “in life” and virtual schooling presented a challenge- how to keep “everyone in the loop”? Both parents and kids missing school-yard friendships and school-gate gossips. Nearly 9 months of following covid-responsible protocols, vastly reduced personal interactions and hyper-vigilant hygiene routines have taken it’s toll on us all – I know they have on me and my family. Now there are feelings of covid-fatigue playing tug-of-war with impending excitement for festivities, all the while trying to hold some together some semblance of normality for ourselves and our children.
Yes, all of this might seem like an overly dramatic preamble to a few festive themed recipes. However, I think it’s in times like these that maybe were forced to look at things differently. Everyday habits and tasks becoming life-buoys helping to navigate the way. We look inward and discover dormant strengths. Especially when it come to our kids. Let’s face it as much as we might complain about them sometimes (oh, I’ll openly admit I do!) there is no judge, jury or executioner that will harm a hair on their heads will we draw breathe. So if distracting them for thirty minutes with cookie making and hot chocolate gives them a well needed little spark of festive joy; a diversion so they aren’t so down about missing playdates or such- then I’m in. I also know as a parent that in times like this when the children are otherwise occupied, you can breathe. Finally exhale and exchange a look with your significant other that says “You okay?… We got this.” Thirty minutes to centre and steady yourself.
A friend of mine said of our current times, “We are not all in the same boat. We are all in the same storm.” There is no cookie-cutter (forgive the pun) or one-size-fits-all way of dealing with this. But we’ll find ways to make it through. It’s what we do as humans and as parents. It’s what we’ll do this holiday season…look for and create some tinsel-tinged spark of festive joy to light the encompassing winter nights. If baking some cookies helps do that then you go ahead and break out those mixing bowls and fire up the oven. I know I will be.
The segment I “zoomed” (?) was just for making and decorating vanilla cookies, along with making peppermint candy cane hot chocolate. I’ve included a couple of other recipes that you can try out if you feel like it. All suitably festively themed and can be made by one or all. Whatever you make or do I hope you and your family have fun. Enjoy the time, the flavors…heck even enjoy the mess.
Wishing you all a happy, safe and healthy Christmas and holiday season. Enjoy the cookies!
“Someday soon we all will be together If the fates allow Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow So have yourself a merry little Christmas now”
Photograph: J Lee Frank
Vanilla Sugar Cookies
*Chilling the dough for at least 2 hours is required or else its too tricky and unworkable. I prefer to chill it overnight.
You can’t really go wrong with sugar cookies. Well you can actually. In my experience store bought sugar cookies err on the side of fudgy staleness enrobed in the tooth-aching sweetness of excess icing. This is definitely a case of “homemade is better”.
The only thing to bear in mind with these is the chilling time. I’ve seen various recipes suggesting 30 minutes, whilst others have up to overnight recommended. I’ve found that longer works better so I follow the overnight direction. If you find the dough becoming too soft, gummy and hard to work, wrap it back up in clingwrap and pop it back in the fridge for 30mins or so.
Makes approximately 48 cookies (this depends on your choice of cookie cutters)
Ingredients (all at room temperature)
Cookies
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
Glaze/ Icing
1 ½ cups icing sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp light corn syrup
½ tsp almond extract
Food coloring (your favorite festive colors) *see note on coloring
Nonpareils; sprinkles; dragees (take your pick!)
Method
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter and vanilla until mixture is creamy, about 5-7 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. The mixture should become pale, fluffy and not feel grainy when you rub some between your fingers
Whilst your mixture is beating, in a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt and stir to combine. Set aside until needed
To your sugar/ butter mixture, add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, until fully incorporated. If you notice your mixture starting to split, add teaspoon of your flour mixture to bring it back together
Once the eggs have been added, beat in the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, until well combined. Increase the speed until the mixture comes together in a soft dough
Remove the dough from the bowl and divide in to four even balls, flatten to discs and wrap in cling wrap
Chill in the refrigerator for a least 2 hrs, or overnight (I personally find overnight works better
When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F
Remove your chilled dough from the fridge, one ball at a time, and leave to become pliable whilst your oven heats to temperature. When your oven reaches temperature, roll out the dough to 1/4″ (0.6 cm) onto a well floured surface. (Avoiding rolling the dough too thin as it may stick and tear). Flour is your friend here – make sure you amply dust everything- counter surface, rolling pin, your hands, cutter
Use cookie cutters of your choice for a variety of different shapes and sizes. Using a palette knife, or spatula, place cookies on your lined cookie sheets
Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes or until the edges are just turning golden brown
Remove from oven and leave to cool on their trays for 5 mins before using a spatula to transfer to cookies to racks to cool completely
Glaze
Combine icing sugar with milk; corn syrup and extract to reach desired spreading consistency. It should be quite thick. If it is much too thick, add 1/2 Tablespoon more milk. If it is much too thin, add 2 more Tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar. If you drizzle a little of the icing with the whisk, the ribbon of icing will hold for a few seconds before melting back into the icing.
Stir in food coloring or leave icing white. You can pour some icing into different bowls if using multiple colors
You can pipe the icing on to the cookies using a piping bag or squeezy bottle, or using a pastry brush, paint frosting over cooled cookies and decorate with your choice of sprinkles
Allow to set for at least 30mins before eating (note: the icing will still be a little soft at this point. If you want the icing to be fully hard for gifting, leave the decorated cookies to air-dry on a rack overnight
*A note on adding coloring: I prefer to use coloring gels when coloring the glaze. They are a concentrate which with very little will pack a real punch of color without affecting the consistency of your glaze. If you’re using the squeezy tube color dyes be aware that because they have a more form you are adding more liquid to your icing mix.
Enjoy!
Rudolph Oreo Cookies
Now these look like SO much more work than they are. At worst they can be a little fiddly but that just means there’s more “mis-shapes” for the family to enjoy. This is a great recipe to get the little ones involved in. Once the chocolate is melted you can pretty much give them free reign! Step back and enjoy some chocolate covered chaos.
“And now,” cried Max, “let the wild rumpus start!”
Ingredients
24 Double-stuffed Oreo cookies (if you can find “Mega-stuffed” even better
Large twist pretzels
48 White chocolate chips (or candy eye decorations)
24 red candy shell chocolates (M&Ms are ideal)
160z chocolate (sweet or semi-sweet, to taste)
Method
Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment or silicone baking matt
Start by cutting up the pretzels. Use a sharp knife to cut them in half, then carefully cut away the center section where the pretzels were joined until to have a vaguely “antler” shape. This bit can be a bit fiddly as the pretzels can break easy but do remember they don’t have to be exact – all reindeers antlers are different after all! Repeat until you have 24 sets of pretzel antlers
Melt the chocolate in a medium bowl set over a pan of water OR in the microwave, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Once it’s melted and smooth, using two forks or a confectionary dipping scoop dip and coat an Oreo cookie until it is full coated. Remove using your chosen tools, then place the dipped cookie on the prepared baking sheet.
While the chocolate is still wet, press a red candy chocolate into the center of the cookie- there’s your nose!
Make your eyes using two white chocolate chips or candy eye decorations
Create two pretzel antlers by pressing them between the cookies and into the space where the cream filling is. You may need to use a fork to hole the top cookie layer pressed in place while you poke the “antlers” in. Once you’ve assembled one reindeer this way, repeat until all of the cookies are dipped and decorated
Lastly to give your reindeer more “eye appeal” dip a toothpick in the melted coating and give each reindeer two black dots in the center of the white chocolate chip eyes
Refrigerate the tray to set the chocolate completely, for about 20 minutes. Store Oreo Reindeer Cookies carefully in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for several weeks, but for the best taste and texture, enjoy them within a week
Candy Cane Hot Chocolate
Well…we need something to wash those cookies down with don’t we? If you want to REALLY treat yourself, dip the rim of your mugs into some melted chocolate and then some crushed peppermint candy canes for a stress-free, festive finishing touch.
Ingredients
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
4oz semisweet chocolate, broken in to pieces
4 peppermint candy canes, crushed
Optional decorations
1 cup whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks
Mini marshmallows
Crushed peppermint candy canes
4 small peppermint candy canes, to stir
Method
In a saucepan, combine the milk and cream and heat over a medium heat until hot, but not boiling
Whisk in the chocolate and the crushed peppermint candies until melted and smooth
Pour hot chocolate into four mugs, and garnish as preferred. Serve each with a candy cane stirring stick
Enjoy!
Baileys Edible Cookie Dough
Because even the grown ups need a li’l something in the festive season. This can easily be made kiddie-friendly by omitting the Baileys liqueur. Looking for that gift that’s a bit different? Then look no further! Place in mason jars, decorate and tag accordingly et viola! Cookie dough can be stored (in jars or other air-tight containers) in the refrigerator for up to a week. To enjoy at it’s best remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature.
Ingredients
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 cup light brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup butter, softened
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp Baileys liqueur
Extra Fixings
(added to taste but I usually keep it to including 2-3)
Festive Candy Sprinkles
Dark Chocolate Chips
M&M’s
Crushed Oreos
Crushed Peppermint Candy Cane
Method
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl of a stand mixer and stir to combine.
Add in extras and stir until well incorporated. Enjoy! (A note here – I usually keep the extra fixings to a maximum of 3, or else your cookie dough is in danger of becoming an over-sweet mess).
Store in the refrigerator for up to one week. Before eating, remove from refrigerator and let come to room temperature for a softer texture.
We’ve now been resident here in Toronto for 5 months and things have pretty much settled. My husband has found his pace with his job, our kids have made a smooth transition to a new school, heck we even seemed to have navigated the whole “Daylight saving hours” thing without too much trouble. The only fly in the ointment is me trying to start Mr. Mom’s from scratch again. Whilst a brand new audience awaits from my take on baked goods, it also means a whole bunch of people who no NOTHING about you. And that’s an uphill climb! (If you do happen to work in the foodie sector and would like a food writer, or baker to work with please do check out my Collaborations page here.)
Anyhoo I digress! As I mentioned above, our kids have (surprisingly) takenthe move to a new country in their stride with little or no tears and tantrums. This week had them on their “March Break” from school- seems to be the equivalent to a UK mid-term break. As well as taking them to the obligatory art galleries and museums (I don’t know who enjoyed it more!) I decided to introduce them to the world of baking. Now I’m not talking anything major- they’re not quiet ready for the cook’s torch or bain maire yet! However you’d be amazed how some simple stirring, cutting, and participation can ignite eagerness.
Here are some of the recipes that took place in Mr. Mom’s kitchen this week. Whilst they range from the sweet to the savory, they are all big on fun, flavour and involvement from little flour-caked hands. I’ve also included some tips on getting kids involved in the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong- I’m not including this because I consider myself some kind of childcare expert and these are rules by which you should abide. They’re simply meant from the point of my being a dad who wanted to get his children involved in baking and these ways worked for me. I’ve left where to get your kids involved to your discretion as you know them best after all.
Some tips/tricks:
Put on some music. Not loud enough that you have to shout over it but loud enough for background. It helps to have something to pass lengthy tasks like kneading or blending. Also think sing-along or random exclamations of “Knead to the beat!”
Get the children to find and fetch the ingredients. Framed as a “Baking Treasure Hunt” I’ve seen it help reading skills and memory.
Weighing is a surprisingly enticing activity which always draws willing volunteers. If they overshoot the mark when pouring, it’s no biggie (despite their possible panic!)
So now on to the fun stuff- the recipes! These are a selection of what ended up on the cooling rack…
No Bake Chocolate Cookies
Pumpkin Bread
Sugar Cookies
Simple White Loaf ( and how this can be used to make Pizza)
Mud Puddles (aka No Bake Chocolate Cookies)
Ingredients
200g caster sugar
125ml semi-skimmed milk
115g salted butter
4 tablespoons cocoa, unsweetened
1 tablespoon good quality vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
120g gram crunchy peanut butter
225g Jumbo Oats
225g Quick Oats
Method
Line baking sheets with baking parchment
Bring the sugar, milk, butter and cocoa to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, then keep on a rolling boil for 1 minute
Remove from the heat. Add the oats, peanut butter, vanilla and salt, and stir to combine
Drop spaced tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet
Leave to cool at room temperature for min 1 hour. After this they’ve set enough tp pick up and eat. I find they usually taste better and are easier to handle the next day
These can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days
Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
250g all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
400g caster sugar
170g unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 can (425g) pumpkin (make sure it’s 100% pumpkin puree)
Method
Preheat your oven to 160c or 325F.
Prepare two 1lb loaf tines with cake release or grease with butter
In a bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices
In a stand mixer combine the sugar, butter and eggs and mix for at least 10 mins
Add in the pumpkin puree and mix on slow until just combined
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in the flour mixture by heaped tablespoon at a time. Keep the mixer going until just combined – make sure there are no white flour pockets
Remove the bowl, pour the mixture equally between the prepared tins and level the top
Bake in the oven for 60-70mins until a skewer comes out clean
Remove from the oven, remove from tins and leave to cool on a wire rack. When cool wrap in clingfilm until needed.
These loaves get better over time. After a couple of days wrapped they develop a fudgy, sticky texture which goes really with the warming spicy flavor (similar to McVities Jamaican Ginger Cake for those of you who know it?)
Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
350g unsalted butter, softened
400g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract
620g all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Icing sugar for dusting and rolling
Method
Preheat oven to 200C or 400F
Line cookie sheets with baking parchment
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl
In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth (mix for at least 10 mins)
Beat in eggs, one at a time,and vanilla
With the mixer on a slow speed, stir in the flour mixture one heaped tablespoon at a time until well combined and a dough formed
Tip the dough onto clingfilm and wrap tightly
Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight)
Dust a surface with icing sugar, sprinkle the dough with icing sugar and roll out the dough to a thickness of apx 5mm (*use icing sugar to prevent sticking to surface and rolling-pin)
Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and transfer to prepared baking sheets
Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 mins
Remove and use a wide spatula or palette knife to transfer the soft cookies to wire rack to cool. They’ll firm up upon further cooling.
* I made 50/50 blend of vanilla and chocolate sugar cookie by removing half the dough when refrigerating it and leaving half in the bowl. To this I added 50g unsweetened cocoa powder and 100g unsweetened chocolate chips. Mix until well combined then refrigerate and make as per the rest of the recipe.
Simple White Loaf
Ingredients
500g Bread flour
12g fast action yeast
10g salt
40ml light olive oil
320ml warm water
Method
In a bowl combine the flour, yeast (to one side) and salt (to opposite side)
In bowl combine olive oil and water
Pour the water/oil mixture into the flour bowl in a steady stream
With your hand in a “Claw” shape mix from outside of the bowl towards to centre. Continue until all the mixture comes together into a dough ball and the bowl sides are clean
Lightly oil a surface with olive oil and tip out the dough onto it
Knead the dough for 10 mins until it becomes smooth and elastic
Transfer the kneaded dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with some lightly oiled cling film. Leave to rise until doubled in size
Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and dust with bread flour
Again lightly oil a surface and tip out the risen dough
Punch and knead the dough, for about 5 mins, until all the air has been expelled from it (called “Knocking Back”)
Shape with your hands into a long oval shape and transfer to the prepared baking sheet
Cover loosely with some damp kitchen paper or oiled cling film and leave for 40-60 mins until risen
Preheat your oven to 225c or 435F
Once the dough has risen, lightly spray with water, slash the top of the loaf, dust with all-purpose flour and place it in the preheated oven. After doing this place a dish filled with 1 pint of water in the bottom of the oven (this creates a crust)
Bake for 25mins, at which point reduce the temperature to 200c or 390F and continue to bake for a further 15-20mins
Remove the loaf from the oven (careful of the steam!) and leave to cool
Pizza adaptation
I’ve also used this recipe to make pizzas which the kids absolutely go crazy for. I’m not sure that it’s as much for the taste of it as it is for the whole “I’ve made this!” boost to their confidence. To use this for pizza making follow the steps until the “Knocking Back” stage.
After knocking back the dough divide into equal pieces (I usually get 4-5 good size pizzas from this quantity of dough).
Preheat your oven to 250C or 475F (with baking sheets or pizza stones in)
Sprinkle a surface with a 50/50 combination of all-purpose flour and semolina
Dust the dough with some of the flour/semolina mixture. Flatten and stretch the dough until thin into which ever shape works best for you- circle, oval or rectangular. It just depends on what fits with your oven
Dress to your (and your kids!) taste with toppings. All of the following are good- tomato passata (as sauce); cheese shreds; bacon; tuna; pepperoni; chicken; fresh herbs; fresh mozzarella; thinly sliced figs…thre list can go on!
Carefully remove and dust your baking sheets or pizza stone with flour/ semolina mixture
Transfer your pizza(s) to baking sheets or pizza stone and bake for 10-12 mins until ready
Remove from oven, brush the exposed sides with extra virgin olive oil and serve
So there’s a brief selection of some o the tasty goods from my kitchen. I hope you enjoy baking them, getting your kids to pitch in and tasting them as much as we have.
Crumbs In My Beard 