Snack recipes are a great way to serve foods when you are having people over for a special event. You don’t have to prepare full meals to satisfy your guests. Snacks prevent your guests from feeling hungry and put everyone in a festive mood. There are many snack recipes that you can make ahead of time and heat after your guests arrive. Cheese and walnut pizza is a great example of combining typical recipes with unusual ingredients. These recipes will have your guests asking for more than one serving. They are also easy to make and take only a few minutes to prepare.
Cheese and Walnut Pizza
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp. olive oil for skillet
- 1 tbsp. olive oil for crust
- 2 tbsp. butter or margarine
- 2 lbs. yellow or white onions
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1/8 tsp. black pepper
- pizza dough for 1 pizza
- 1 c. toasted walnuts
- 4 oz. blue cheese
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and salt while stirring frequently. Cook the onions until tender and slightly browned. Add sugar and cook while constantly stirring the skillet. This should take approximately 15 minutes. Don’t let the onions burn. Season with black pepper.
Spray your pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray or lightly grease the pan. Press pizza dough into the pan while building up the edges. Brush with tablespoon of olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and spread cooked onions on top of pizza crust. Top with walnuts and blue cheese. Bake for another 10 minutes. Serve while hot. Recipe makes four to six servings.
Homemade pizza dough is not difficult to make and only requires a few ingredients. Once you make your own dough it will be hard for you to buy prepared dough. You can also substitute one of the cups of flour for whole wheat flour to increase the nutritional value. The following recipe takes only minutes to prepare. However, you should let your dough rise for at least 30 to 45 minutes. This recipe will make enough dough for two pizzas. Either freeze one of them or double the above recipe.
Classic Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
- 1 pkg. yeast
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 c. warm water
- 4 c. all-purpose flour
The first step is to combine yeast, brown sugar and water in a small bowl. The mixture should set for at least 10 minutes. Add 2 cups of flour in either an electric stand mixing bowl or a large bowl. Add salt and oil to the flour. Wait for the full 10 minutes to combine the water mixture with the flour mixture. Use the mixing bowl attachment or use a hand mixer to mix for two or three minutes. If you are using a stand mixer, then change attachment to dough hook.
If you will be kneading your dough with your hands, then flour a sheet of waxed paper on the counter. Dump the mixture out onto the waxed paper. Stand mixers will start mixing with the dough hook for five to seven minutes, gradually adding the last two cups of flour. Hand knead the dough for the same amount of time if you are not using a mixer. Knead the dough until it cleans the sides of the bowl for a stand mixer. If you are hand kneading, then the dough will be soft and pliable. Grease or lightly oil another bowl. Turn the dough once to cover the top with oil.
Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes. One trick is to turn your oven on its lowest temperature for 60 seconds. Turn off the oven and slide your bowl in so it will rise. Check the dough after 30 minutes. It is ready when you can place two fingers on the dough and the marks stay. Press your dough into your pizza pan except don’t pre-bake homemade pizza dough. You will add your ingredients and cook the entire pizza for 15 minutes.