Personal Pan Pizzas

It's a cloudy, humid day here in Evington, and the cicadas are singing outside.  It's the sort of day when you just don't want to do much of anything, so I piddled around on Pinterest, looking for new recipes to try.  I came across this recipe on how to make a personal pan pizza in the style of Pizza Hut's.  It was delicious!  It was scrumptious!  The kids actually cleaned their plates!

This particular pizza is not exactly the healthiest food ever, as it does have a lot of oil, but I tweaked it a bit to try to make it not so terrible for you.  There are other tweaks you could make (whole wheat instead of white) if you so choose, but I tried not to deviate too far from the original recipe this time.

To make these pizzas the way I did, you will need:

For the crust:
1-1/3 cups warm water (about 105 degrees F; usually the warmest comfortable temperature from the faucet is about this temperature)
1/4 cup dry milk
1 tbsp sugar (I used turbinado)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil (I used olive, but any should work)
4 cups all-purpose flour (you can use a mix of whole wheat and white if you wish)
1 pack yeast (about 2-1/4 tsp)




For greasing the pan:
5-6 tbsp oil (I used corn; the original recipe called for 6 tbsp, or 3 oz, per pizza but that seemed like entirely too much)

For the sauce:
8 oz tomato sauce
1/3 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil

8 oz mozzarella, shredded
Any other toppings you want!

To make the crust, mix all ingredients in a large bowl and mix to form a dough.  You can also do this in a bread machine or stand mixer.  Knead at least 5 minutes.  Let your dough rest for 5 minutes to make it easier to rollout.

While dough is resting, pour about 2 tbsp oil in each of 3 9" cake pans.  I used 2 9" and an 8".  Make sure the oil coats the bottom of the pans.

Divide dough into 3 equal portions and roll each to a 9" circle (or 8" if you're using that size pan; just match your circle to your pan!).  Place a dough circle in each pan and brush with a little oil.  Let rise for at least an hour.  I only let mine rise 30 minutes because I was impatient, but the longer rise time helps the crust to be a bit lighter.

As your dough is finishing its rise, preheat your oven to 475F/240C.

You can also prep your sauce and toppings now.  For the sauce, simply mix all the ingredients.  For my pizzas, I just used the mozzarella.  You could add veggies, other cheeses, or whatever your heart desires!

When your oven is preheated, put about 1/4-1/3 cup of sauce on each pizza (depending on how saucy you like it) and sprinkle on your cheese.  I found that 8 oz of cheese was perfect, but if you like more, go for it!

Bake in the preheated oven till the crust is browned and cheese is melted and starting to brown.

Transfer to a cooling rack to cool and then cut in the desired number of pieces.  Enjoy!