Yesterday, it seemed like everyone was talking about pizza all day. Well, my stomach definitely has ears. With that said, guess what we had for dinner...

Now, we really wanted to make our own crust this time instead of the usual one we buy from Whole Foods. The only problem with that is we didn't have a baking stone for maximum pizza crust enjoyability. It must have been "in the stars" because when we contacted our local Pampered Chef representative, not only did she have a pizza stone but she had a model that hasn't even been released yet! She delivered it to our place that night. We were so happy since we didn't have to go to Williams-Sonoma. We love it but HATE the mall.

I also have to mention that we had to make 40 cupcakes last night, so we wanted something easy. The moment we got home, we tossed the pizza dough ingredients in the breadmaker, set it on the "dough" setting, and let it do its thing. We then made cupcakes and went to the store for ingredients. We still had to stop by Whole Foods for some vegan cheese. We usually buy Follow Your Heart soy cheese because of it's meltability (no, we haven't ordered Teese yet) and even at that, it doesn't really ever melt...without broiling. However, they were out of FYH cheese! We had to buy our old friend VeganRella. We set our expectations low for meltability and went on our way.

After we pulled the pizza out of the oven, we were shocked because after only 15 minutes on 375 F the VeganRella was melted.  I'm not sure if they improved their soy cheese or the stone is just that good, but we were pleased. This pizza dough is the only one that's really worked for us so I'm sharing it. It's unconventional but it tastes like a hand-tossed pizza. More thick than thin and very addicting - even for people who pass on the crust. Add more spices, if you like. I always do something different.

Here's the dough rolled out after kneading and rising twice (I was buying time). This is a 15" stone, by the way.

PIZZA DOUGH INGREDIENTS

• 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Hot Water
• 3 1/2 cups Flour
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Oregano
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• 2 1/4 teaspoons Fast Rising Yeast
• 1/4 cups extra Flour

BREADMAKER DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve sugar and salt in hot water.
2. Add flour, olive oil and spices to water mixture.
3. Make a well in the flour and add yeast.
4. Start on "Dough" setting.
5. After rising, transfer your dough to a mixing bowl (this is best by turning the dough pan upseide down, as it's very sticky).
6. Add in 1/4 cup flour, mix with hands or spatula.
7. When manageable, roll out onto baking stone or pan.

MANUAL DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve Sugar and Salt in Hot Water.
2. Add Flour, Olive Oil, Oregano, Garlic Powder, Crushed Red Pepper and Yeast to water mixture.
3. Knead until smooth.
4. Rise for 1 hour minimum (max 1 hour 30 minutes).
5. Add extra Flour and mix/knead until smooth.
6. When manageable, roll out onto a baking stone or pizza.

PREHEAT oven to 375 F and blind bake for 10 minutes.

TOP with ingredients.

BAKE at 375 F for 25 minutes.

After the dough is finished blind baking, you can add whatever toppings you'd like. We topped our crust with the following ingredients:

• Pizza Sauce
• Soy Cheese
• Tomatoes
• Black Olives
• Mushrooms
• Yves "Pepperoni"
• Onion

Straight from the oven.

This pizza fed two hungry vegans for 2 days. Try this dough for your calzones, too.