• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young

Chasing God's glory down life's unexpected trails

  • About Dorina
  • Speaking
    • Events
  • Books
  • Podcast
  • Running
  • Culture + Travel
  • Blog
    • Freebies

Make cooking into a creative competition for kids (with pizza dough recipe)

The smell of garlic mixing with basil wafted to my nose. Laughter filled the room as kids rolled out billowy pizza dough into creative shapes and ran to the “market table” to retrieve ingredients. In the corner, some oil and Italian sausage were sizzling in an electric skillet.

“What will help thicken our sauce?” one called out.

“How much time do we have left?” another quipped.

Looking for a fun activity for this summer with your kids? How about inviting them into the kitchen to make some memories and some yummy, creative eats?

This past year I helped teach some cooking classes for my daughter’s fifth grade class. Her school is all about hands-on learning and our cooking classes provided great opportunities to discuss healthy choices, math, creativity and more.

For the end-of-the-year celebration, we staged an “Iron Chef Competition” so the kids could show off their newfound skills and creativity.

One of the moms came and showed the kids how to make homemade pizza dough (recipe below). The next day they used that pizza dough as their “secret ingredient.” We divided the students into teams of four or five. Each team had to make an appetizer, main dish or dessert using their pizza dough, a homemade sauce, and at least three other toppings or ingredients.

These kids knocked our socks off with their creativity!

Our judges had a tough time picking the winners because these kids made everything from pesto dough bites to calzones to berry-filled desserts with their pizza dough and ingredients. The winner was the Purple Mountain’s Majesty dessert. So yummilicious! The best part was seeing the kids have the confidence to chop and mix ingredients, and then serve up their creations.

Mamas, it’s often easier to keep the kiddos out of the kitchen but cooking could also provide a fun activity for a summer afternoon or weekend evening. And who knows, maybe one day you can just assign them the task of making dinner while you put your feet up and read a book or relax?! It’s all about training!

Ingredients:

2 cups (9 ounces) unbleached bread flour, chilled

3/4  teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

5 teaspoons olive oil

2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons water, ice cold (40°F)

 

3 cups mozzarella cheese

Other toppings of your choice (ie. black olives, sliced green peppers, fresh basil, onions, pepperoni, Italian sausage)

olive oil spray

parchment paper

pizza stones or pans

 

Directions:

  1. Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a bowl. With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50 to 55 degrees. (The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn’t come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.)
  2. Place a square of parchment paper in a large container with a lid and spray with olive oil spray. Sprinkle (or “dust”) flour over the dough. Transfer the dough to container. Mist the dough generously with spray oil and place cover on the container. Put the container of dough into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough.
  3. Remove the dough from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Make sure your hands are dry and then sprinkle flour on them. Divide dough in three. Lift each section of the dough and gently round it into a ball. Lift the dough up, and have someone else dust three pieces of the parchment paper with flour, and then mist with spray oil. Place the dough on top of the parchment paper. Gently press each ball of dough into a flat disk about 1/2 inch thick. Dust the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and place the cover back on.
  4. Now let rest for 2 hours.
  5. If using a baking stone, place on the floor of the oven (for gas ovens), or on a rack in the lower third of the oven at least 45 minutes before baking. Heat the oven as hot as possible, up to 800 degrees (most home ovens will go only to 500 to 550, but some will go higher).
  6. Place a large (a little bigger than final pizza size) piece of parchment paper on the work surface and dust it with flour. Dust the front and back of your hands with flour. Have a partner lift the dough out by the parchment paper. Have them gently turn the dough upside down across the back of your fists and peel off the parchment paper. Roll dough out to the crust shape you desire.
  7. Lay it on the parchment paper. Lightly top it with sauce and then with your other toppings, remembering that the best pizzas are topped with a less-is-more philosophy. The more toppings there are, the more difficult it is to bake. A few, usually no more than 3 or 4 toppings, including sauce and cheese is sufficient.
  8. Slide the parchment paper and pizza onto the stone and place in oven. Wait 2 minutes, then take a peek. If it needs to be rotated 180 degrees for even baking, do so. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake.
  9. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.

**A huge thank you to Elizabeth Orr who shared the original version of this pizza dough recipe and taught the kids to make the dough. If you’d like to check out more of my recipes shared in community, click HERE.

**Check out my children’s picture book, Cora Cooks Pancit, which also includes a recipe in the back to make with kids!

Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
0 Shares

June 28, 2017 Categories: RecipesTagged: back to school, creativity, culture, food stories, Main dish

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Meet Dorina

Aloha, friend! If you love stories, you are in the right place. I write about grief, glory, running, food, and more. I hope these words inspire you to chase after God’s glory in your life today!

Find me on Social Media

Categories

  • Book Reviews
  • Culture
  • Featured
  • General
  • Guest Blogger
  • Navigating Grief
  • Podcast
  • Recipes
  • Running

Recent Posts

  • Our Top 10 AAPI Chapter Books July 26, 2022
  • On butterfly wings: No Shame in Going Gently July 15, 2022
  • 5 myths and 1 important truth about grief July 6, 2022
  • When God meets us in ocean waves June 7, 2022
  • 10 picture books by AAPI authors you should add to your bookshelf May 28, 2022

Popular Posts

  • Celebrating a Heaveniversary: 10 ways to honor a loved one’s death
  • 10 meaningful sympathy gift ideas for widows and families
  • My refuge: Resting under the shadow of His wings
  • 10 creative ways to honor a loved one’s memory (and clean out the garage)

Tags

abundance behold brave christian blog christianity christmas community compassion cooking courage creativity culture death dorina lazo gilmore family life fear finishing well flourishing food stories friendship gifts Grief haiti hope identity Incourage essays inspirational kids laughter Main dish margin marriage parenting passion relationships rest self-care serve sharing faith social justice struggle transitions wonder world travel writing

Before Footer

From glorious summer produce to frozen treats, from spicy Korean wings to colorful charcuteries, these are a few of our fave 2022 summer eats! 🍉 ...

View

Aug 6

Open
From glorious summer produce to frozen treats, from spicy Korean wings to colorful charcuteries, these are a few of our fave 2022 summer eats! 🍉 
What is your fave food or dish to make/eat in the summer?! Share in the comments! #glorychasers #eatprayrun
45 13

Today we are walking through Psalm 95, a praise and thanksgiving psalm!

The people thank God for being the rock of their salvation, a great ...

View

Aug 5

Open
Today we are walking through Psalm 95, a praise and thanksgiving psalm! 
The people thank God for being the rock of their salvation, a great God and high King. My favorite image here is God as our Shepherd. He calls us the “people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand.” 🐑 He is a faithful shepherd who keeps His eye on us, provides food for us, and hears our cries even in the wilderness place. What a comfort!
I hope you will take a little time today to listen and read Psalm 95. Join me in thanksgiving and also heed this warning in v. 8-11 not to repeat the past! 
👉🏾How has God been faithful to you in the past? Let’s not forget who He is and what He has done in our lives!
#psalms #bible #bibleverse #biblestudy #devotional #shepherd #thelordismyshepherd
25 5

✍🏾 I wrote the final lines today. 😮‍💨 Breathing Through Grief, Coming in Fall 2023 from @inkandwillowgifts

View

Aug 5

Open
✍🏾 I wrote the final lines today. 😮‍💨 Breathing Through Grief, Coming in Fall 2023 from @inkandwillowgifts
124 30

🎙 In this episode, we interviewed Latasha Ferguson, who is a speaker, writer, podcaster (Overcome to Become Podcast), and ministry leader. Her ...

View

Aug 3

Open
🎙 In this episode, we interviewed Latasha Ferguson, who is a speaker, writer, podcaster (Overcome to Become Podcast), and ministry leader. Her heart beats for empowering women to do the hard work of heart work so they can get unstuck, overcome, own their story, and live authentically.
🏃🏾‍♀️ We chatted about how running helped her overcome adversity, modeling a healthy lifestyle for her four daughters, and how to get started if you’re a newbie.
Tune in to Eat Pray Run, Season 2, Episode 8 for more goodness from @latashamferguson anywhere you listen to podcasts! 🎧
28 9

📚 Who loves reading aloud?! My 10-year-old read a lot of books aloud to me this summer. ☀️ It was such a fun way to dive into the stories of ...

View

Aug 3

Open
📚 Who loves reading aloud?! My 10-year-old read a lot of books aloud to me this summer. ☀️ It was such a fun way to dive into the stories of characters from many cultures. Here’s our Summer Reading list with our top 10 chapter books featuring #AAPI characters and authors! 
👉🏾Check out our reviews on my blog at www.DorinaGilmore.com!
45 18
FOLLOW @DorinaGilmore

After Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 • Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young • Privacy Policy

Breathing Through Grief Resources
Name(Required)