Pizza Dough

1 1/3 c. Warm Water (100-110 degrees F)

3 tsp. Active Dry Yeast

1 tsp. Sugar

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 1/12 tsp. Kosher Salt

3 1/2 c. Bread Flour

1. Stir together 1 1/3 c. warm water, 3 tsp. yeast, and 1 tsp. sugar. Wait ~5 min until the mixture is foamy. 

2. Starting with the paddle attachment of the stand mixer, begin blending in the bread flour 1/2 c. to 1 c. at a time (~3 1/2 c. total). Mix the 1 1/2 tsp. salt into the flour as you mix it into the yeast mixture (salt can kill yeast if added directly). 

3. Switch to the dough hook when the dough hooks together and knead on medium speed for 5-7 min.

4. Turn the dough out onto a table, kneading lightly into a nice, round ball. Clean the mixer bowl and coat with oil. Return the dough ball back to the bowl and cover loosely with a towel. Allow to rise until doubled in size (1-2 hours).

Easy Halloween Treats!

My hubby's office had a Monster Mash Dessert contest today, so I whipped these up with my Mom-in-Law, who was visiting from out of town, last night.  Although the results of the contest haven't come in yet, I think they came out great (especially for the short amount of time they took!). 

I made a batch of basic brownies. I wanted them to be extra-thick, so I made 1 1/2 times the recipe on that post in a 9x13 pan.  While the brownies were cooking/cooling in the freezer, I made a basic buttercream frosting with 3/4 cup of softened butter and 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar beaten in my stand mixer for about 6-7 minutes.  I split the frosting in half, and added 7 oz. of marshmallow creme to one half.  The other half got 2 Tbsp. of Creme de Menthe liquor (similar to the Crème de Menthe Brownies posted here).

When the brownies were completely cool, I cut them into 24 squares and placed them on the serving dishes. Then, I piped (but you could spoon) white frosting on half and mint on the other half. For the ghosts, I used a combo of mini and jumbo chocolate chips for the faces.  I actually held the chocolate chips while pointing a long handled lighter to the back to melt the chocolate, which made my MIL nervous.  If you can think of a method that's less hazardous to your health, by all means, use it.

For the goblin eyes, I used mini Oreo cookies that I had sitting around for use as a treat in potty training our son.  Apparently they weren't working so well, since he's still in diapers and the Oreos were on the verge of going stale.  If you didn't have those, you could use more of the jumbo chocolate chips or some dark chocolate candy melts.  For the red, I dyed a bit of the white frosting.  I spooned it into a sandwich bag, cut a teeny bit off the end, and piped it onto the brownies.

The Used Ogre Q-Tips were just bamboo skewers that I cut in half (I would have preferred to use lollipop sticks, but I wasn't able to get the two kiddos to Jo-Ann Fabrics yesterday).  The cotton is mini marshmallows, and the ear wax is peanut butter. 

Happy Halloween!