Pizza Bread

     This is an awesome from scratch dinner sure to please adults and children alike. Well, as long as they like pizza. But come on, everybody likes pizza, uh? My kiddies just love helping make this from start to finish. It starts with a basic pizza dough recipe, and you can change it up however you see fit. You can change up the cheese in it, or you can add pepperoni or sausage, etc. Make it how YOU like it! Also, it makes two decent size rolls, so you can make one plain cheese and one with meats or veggies. Get creative! :)

Extra dough turned into homemade pizza pockets. YUM!

Pizza Bread:

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tsp sugar (to feed the yeast)
• 2 packets of active dry yeast, or 4 1/2 tsp if you buy in bulk
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp Mrs Dash garlic and herb seasoning
• 5 cups flour plus a bit more (for kneading out excessive stickiness)
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese for bread dough, plus some extra for topping
• 1 egg mixed with 1 Tbsp of water to make an egg wash.
• 1 jar of pizza sauce (I usually just use 2-3 small cans of tomato sauce and season the sauce up myself)
• desired pizza toppings (I love pepperoni or turkey sausage, removed from casings and cooked up)
• Your favorite pizza cheese (I use a  mix of mozzarella and Mont. Jack with a lil cheddar thrown in. I also use about 1 1/2 to 2 cups PER roll)
• 1-2 Tbsp butter, melted, to brush over top after baked

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a fairly large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes to proof. It should get nice and foamy. If it doesn't get foamy, your yeast is more than likely no good.
2. Add salt, oil, the flour, garlic powder, Mrs Dash and the Parmesan cheese. Mix it very well, adding more flour about a handful at a time until the dough does not stick to the side of the bowl and does not feel sticky to the touch.
3. Knead for 5 minutes minutes by hand. When done kneading, place in a deep oiled bowl, covered with a warm, damp towel, in a draft free space for 20 minutes, or until doubled as much as you want it to be. I have let it go for as long as an hour.
4. When risen to your liking, remove from bowl and punch dough down. Divide dough in half, place on a cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray and roll out into a pretty thin rectangle.
5. Brush the egg wash over the dough. Spread some pizza sauce over the dough, careful NOT to cover the edges or the dough wont seal. Place your meat down all over surface (if using),   sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and then sprinkle with Parmesan..
6. With the rectangle of dough horizontally in front of you, roll from the bottom to the top and pinch the seam and ends to seal it closed.
7. Repeat with other loaf. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Cover both pizza rolls and let rise until oven has come to temperature.
8. Bake at 350 for 35- 40 minutes. Remove from oven, and immediately cover each roll with foil for 5 minutes or so. This will help soften the crust up a bit. 
9. Brush the tops with a little bit of melted butter and top with some extra Parmesan. Slice it up and serve. Ohhhh yeeeeah! :)