Gramma's Pitzele (sweetened fried pizza dough)

Today we were totally snowed in for the first time in years. We were notified of today's imminent school closing last night via a mass phone call from the principal of The Kid's school, which was followed by a very boisterous Woo Hoo! The Kid slept in while I got up at my regular time watching the news and figuring if I was going to make it to work or not (decidedly not when the buses were running around 45 minutes late).

I decided today would be a good day to make pizza dough. Then I decided that I would make some Pitzele to quell this monster sweet tooth that I've been having since giving up Chocolate for Lent.

My grandma used to make Pitzele for us when we were kids after dinner on Saturday. It's essentially pizza dough that is flattened in little rounds, fried and sprinkled with sugar while hot.

The dough is very basic and this recipe is good for 2 pizzas or 1 large pizza and breadsticks or whatever else you want to make with it.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

2 1/4 teaspoons fast rising yeast
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 1/2 cups flour


Directions:

1. In large bowl, dissolve yeast and brown sugar in the water.
2. Let sit for 10 minutes.
3. Stir the salt, oil and italian seasoning into the yeast mixture.
4. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
5. Turn dough out onto a clean, dry surface and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
6. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth.
7. Let the dough double in size.
8. Should take about 1/2 hour if in warm spot.
9. Punch down and let rest a minute.
10. Roll out, and prepare your favorite pizza.
11. I use a pizza stone sprinkled with a bit of corn meal.
12. Once I have the dough shaped I bake it plain for about 5-10 minutes, then pull out of oven and add toppings, just seems to work better every time.
13. Bake in preheated oven 425 degrees until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 20 minutes.

To make Pitzele you tear off 1Tbs of dough and flatten it with your hand on a cutting board or piece of parchment paper and add it to a pan of hot oil (not too much oil though, you don't want deep fried) after a minute or so carefully flip and brown the other side and then place on a plate of sugar and serve... Mmmm!!!