The kids are going back to school tomorrow.  No more homeschool for me (is your company hiring?  I need a job).  I made the difficult decision to send the kids off to school instead of keeping them home.  They are very excited about it!  And, I have to admit, I am a little excited about it, too.  So much so, that I’ve been busy this week planning out fun little lunches for them to take to school.

I came across a suggestion to make Pizza Sticks that could easily be made in advance, frozen and tossed into a lunch box with a container of pizza sauce for dipping.  My boys are big fans of pizza so I decided today to try them out.

They are SO good!

I just went searching for a basic and simple pizza dough recipe.  Then once it was risen, I added in some chopped pepperoni and shredded Parmesan.  I think this would be really good with some mozzarella or cheddar tossed in as well!

The dough was really sticky when I was trying to roll it into sticks.  They ended up being big ole fat sticks.  I need to remember to buy some cornmeal.

They baked up nice and golden brown in about 20 minutes.  The house smelled SO good!

I then took a pair of scissors and cut the sticks into pieces instead of logs and let them cool.  I plan on putting them in a tupperware with a side of pizza sauce for dipping.  FUN!

Lunchbox Pizza Sticks

(modified from AllRecipes)

• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 cups flour (I used all-purpose)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 1/2 Tbs Italian (or pizza) seasoning
• 1/2 cup chopped pepperoni
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan

In a mixing bowl dissolve the packet of yeast in the warm water.  Let set about 10 minutes (until creamy looking).  Add flour, olive oil, salt, sugar and Italian seasoning and mix on low speed of a mixer (or by hand) until well mixed.  You don’t need a dough hook here.

Cover bowl with a towel and let the dough rise till about double, approximately 30-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Once dough is risen, add pepperoni and paremesan and mix lightly with your fingers or a spoon.  Dough will be sticky.  Turn out onto a well floured surface and form into sticks.

Now, I was thinking that next time, I might just form the dough into a rectangle and bake whole.  Once baked, I can then cut into strips/sticks.   But this time, I formed four, long sticks (length of cookie sheet) and baked on a floured (or cornmealed) surface for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Once, cool, cut into desired size pieces and freeze.  Sticks can be put into the lunch box frozen in the morning and will be thawed by lunch.  Serve with pizza sauce.