Pizza Day in Beachwood Cooking Camp

Pizzas made by kids in camp

We started off the week making pizza. The kids made the dough from scratch and rolled out their own pizzas. We made extra dough, so they made calzones, too. Later, we also made sugar cookies in pizza pans and decorated them with melted semi sweet chocolate and M&M’s. To finish  off the day we made 96 cupcakes that will be decorated tomorrow. Great start to the week. The youngest kids in class this week are 8 years old. I was so impressed at how well they all did. One of them asked if we could make croissants- so we are making them later in the week. Here are some more pictures, and the recipe for the pizza.

Homemade Pizza

1 packet active dry yeast
1 t. sugar
1 2/3 c. warm water
4-4½ c. flour
2 t. salt
3 c. pizza sauce
16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
Cornmeal

In bowl combine 2 cups of the flour with the yeast, sugar and salt. Add the water and stir to blend. Add flour gradually and keep stirring. Stir until soft dough forms. Place dough on floured surface and knead until stretchy and smooth, about 10 minutes. Allow dough to rest 3 minutes and knead a few more times. Place in bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
Punch dough down. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 12-inch circle. Dust back of baking sheet with cornmeal and place dough on cornmeal, pressing down a little. Slide dough off sheet and onto a clean baking sheet. Place half of the remaining ingredients on the dough and repeat with remaining half of dough. Add more toppings, if you like and bake in a preheated 450-degree oven for 13-15 minutes. Cool a few minutes before cutting. Makes 2 pizzas.

Mini Pizzas: You can also divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll them out into 6-inch rounds. Then let each person make his or her own pizza. Bake a few minutes less than the big pizzas.

Kneading dough

Smiley Face Pizza

Calzones

Cookie “Pizza”