Cinnamon Streusal Pizza

Ah yes, another pizza post (Can you tell that I love pizza?)

The inspiration comes from an old childhood favorite, Godfather's Pizza. It used to be that we would frequent Godfather's often, especially for their pizza buffet. I would fill up with hot pepperoni pizza but made sure to always leave room for one of the best desserts of all...Cinnamon Streusal Pizza.

Godfather's Streusel Pizza from their website...Mmm Mmm

I don't remember when this memory popped into my head but I do know that I have made it quite a few times since then. I would say that it's definitely served best warm and is a great way to use up excess pizza dough. It's also super easy to make (to my surprise).

I used yet another pizza crust recipe but didn't bother taking photos since once you make a pizza crust, the process is all pretty much the same. I'm sure you could use any pizza crust though and it would work out great. (Well except for maybe deep dish..) The recipe I used for the crust, I will put at the very end of the post. Also, the directions say to put it in a pizza pan, I just used my pizza stone and once on a cookie sheet and it still turned out well.

Godfather's Streusel Dessert Pizza
from Savory Seasonings

Pizza Dough
1 TBSP butter, melted or 1 TBSP oil (I used butter...oil just didn't seem right to me)
Cinnamon

Streusel (makes enough mix for 3 pizzas)
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup bread flour (I used All Purpose Flour and it still turned out great)
1/3 cup white sugar
1/8 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP solid shortening
2 TBSP olive oil

Icing
1/2 - 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 TBSP water
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Mix together streusel ingredients then side aside.
2. To make pizza, pat dough into a 12 inch pie pan that has been sprayed with oil, then brush with 1 TBSP melted butter. Sprinkle cinnamon all around buttered crust. 
3. Top pizza crust with 1/2 - 3/4 cup streusel mix (freeze remaining streusel mix for another pizza). Bake at 450 F for 8 to 9 minutes depending on the thickness of the pizza. 
4. Cover with aluminum foil halfway through to keep streusel from burning. 
5. Mix icing ingredients until it is of a drizzle consistency. If it is too thick, then thin with a small amount of water until you have reached your desired thinness. 
6. When finished baking, top with icing in a circular pinwheel pattern. (As the original poster points out, this can be done easily with the icing in a sandwich bag with the corner trimmed)

 

*************************************************************************************************************
Now a note about this recipe. This is the dough that Savory Seasonings used in her Cinnamon Steusal Pizza so I did as well. And because I rarely plan ahead, I usually don't get the opportunity to allow the dough to develop overnight. Sure, not ideal but hey, it still works for the most part!

Little Caesars Pizza Dough
from Savory Seasonings

1 1/4 cups (9.7 oz) warm water (appox. 120° F)
2 3/4 tsp. dry active yeast
2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP Honey
1 TBSP Olive Oil
2 Tsp. Salt
1 1/2 cups (8 oz.) bread flour or all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (8 oz.) whole wheat flour (optional, can use 100% bread flour or all purpose flour)

• Mix water and yeast in mixing bowl and allow it to proof for 5 minutes. 
• Mix in sugar, honey and oil. Then mix in 1 cup flour and the salt. Continue mixing in all the remaining flour until you get a nice, soft dough. Knead until dough is soft and smooth (approx. 10 minutes).
• Finish kneading on a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. 
• Place in the refrigerator in a covered container coated with olive oil for overnight. For the perfect flavor, it is best to time making the dough 24 hours before baking the pizza's (for pizza Saturday at 5pm, make your dough Friday at 5pm). If you are short on time you can sacrifice some flavor and make this dough first thing in the morning and place it in the fridge until dinner that evening.

3 hours before baking: Remove from fridge and either divide dough in half for two 12” pizzas or leave whole for one somewhat thicker 16” pizza. Work each piece of dough into balls. Allow the dough to come back to room temperature (this process generally takes 3 hours).

45 minutes before baking: With your pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven, preheat your oven to 475° F to allow the stone to get hot enough (this process generally takes 40-50 minutes).

15 minutes before baking: Shape dough into desired pizza crust, sprinkle pizza peel, wooden cutting board or upside down cookie sheet with corn meal, flour or rice flour. Place pizza crust on top, then add toppings. Gently slide pizza onto the hot pizza stone and bake for 9-11 minutes.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Have I told you lately that I love blueberries? ^_^ They are by far the best fruit that God created.

Brad and I went blueberry picking again for my birthday this year and unfortunately, I wasn't able to control myself as well this year and ate a good majority of them before we ended up freezing them. Whoops! ::looks innocently:: By the way, what is the best way to freeze blueberries? Well let me tell you. Place your fresh blueberries on a cookie sheet or shallow pan in a single layer. Set berries in the freezer until frozen (this will take an hour or so). Once frozen, pour into a freezer bag and viola! Individually frozen blueberries that are much easier to remove and use in a recipe. Love it!

Anyway, I had wanted to make some fresh blueberry muffins and I didn't want my precious fruit to go to waste on some bland recipe so I went straight to Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen. I have never been disappointed with any of the recipes that I have gotten from them and I had remembered seeing blueberry muffins being featured on the cover. However, of course I couldn't find my CI magazine. I did find a recipe on their website though but it called for jam, which I didn't want to do. So I did some more searching and what I found was a recipe from Cook's Country, another branch of America's Test Kitchen. I liked what I saw so I decided to give it a go.

Guess what? Another winner! I have to admit there were some muffins that had more berries than others, as well as some where the blueberries were more towards the bottom but I honestly think that was my mistake. Either way, I'm keeping this recipe around.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins
from Cook's Country

Makes 12

To prevent a streaky batter, leave the blueberries in the freezer until the last possible moment. Wyman's brand frozen wild blueberries are our first choice, but an equal amount of fresh blueberries may be substituted.

Streusel
1 1/4	cups all-purpose flour
1/3	cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3	cup granulated sugar
1/2	teaspoon ground cinnamon
	Pinch salt
7	tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
Muffins
4	tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for preparing muffin tin
2	cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for preparing muffin tin
1	large egg
1	teaspoon vanilla extract
1	cup granulated sugar
1	teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2	cup buttermilk
1	tablespoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon salt
1 1/2	cups frozen blueberries

1. For the streusel: Combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt in bowl. Drizzle with melted butter and toss with fork until evenly moistened and mixture forms large chunks with some pea-sized pieces throughout.

2. For the muffins: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 12-cup muffin tin. Whisk egg in medium bowl until pale and evenly combined, about 30 seconds. Add vanilla, sugar, and zest and whisk vigorously until thick, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in melted butter; add buttermilk and whisk until combined.

3. Reserve 1 tablespoon flour. Whisk remaining flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Fold in egg mixture until nearly combined. Toss blueberries with reserved flour and fold into batter until just combined.

4. Divide batter in muffin tin and top with streusel. Bake until light golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out with few dry crumbs attached, 23 to 27 minutes. Cool muffins in tin for 20 minutes, then carefully transfer muffins to rack to cool completely. (Muffins can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.)