Puff Pastry Dough

This dough is what you would use to make cream puffs. It is surprisingly simple and quick to make it yourself!

Ingredients:
1 c. water
1/2 c. butter
1 c. flour
4 eggs

Directions:
Bring water and butter to a boil. Add flour. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. To make cream puffs, roll dough into small balls and lay on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 min or until lightly golden. Cut in half and fill with chicken salad, pudding, cream cheese, and cool whip, etc. Enjoy!

Yeast Tips

When making anything with yeast in it, here are a few tips that my wise mother finally shared with me a few years ago:

1. Make sure the water is very warm - not hot, but not lukewarm either.
2. Sprinkle a little sugar in with the yeast
3. It should poof up like crazy. Look at that!

Fast & Easy Pizza Crust

Courtesy of Maren

Ingredients:
2 1/4 tsp yeast
2 1/2 c. flour
1 c. warm water
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbl oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk yeast in warm water and add a sprinkle of sugar. Let sit untill dissolved and fluffy. Stir in flour, oil, and salt. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for 20 strokes. It will be very sticky! Let rise while you prepare your pizza toppings. Roll out dough onto pizza stone or baking sheet. Add sauce, cheese, and toppings. Bake 10 min or until crust begins to brown.

Notes:
I love this recipe because there are so few ingredients and it takes so little time to make. You can make it early in the day and refrigerate it until you are ready to use it or make it right before dinner. Simple!