Dessert Pizza (Cooking with Kids, week #1)

Normally, I do all of my baking while Jordan is at school. I find it's just easier that way; I can go from baking to cleaning to photographing without worrying that I'm neglecting her or that she's watching too much TV. It's quiet and I can take the time to photograph and make recipe notations while I work. I've got a schedule and a system for it all.

But all of a sudden I realized something. Something important. Something that was going to disrupt my schedule.

Summer vacation. Endless days of heat and no school. NO SCHOOL. Weeks of finding outings for Jordan so she doesn't make my head explode get bored. Let's just put it this way: Jordan is a very active, very full-of-energy only child. If I want to do anything that's not entirely with her, she's usually watching TV, because that's just how she is.

So I had a brainstorm the other day. Why not try and include her in my baking this summer? Why not try and find some easy, kid-friendly recipes she will have the patience to help with? It'll create a fun activity she and I can do together. I can let her drive the ideas so she can have some ownership of them. And I can blog about it all, of course. Because I know some of you out there are in the same boat. Summer vacation is awesome...for about a week. Then the kids get bored. If you're like me, you take in as many additional kids as you can as often as their parents will give them to you, for sanity's sake. Cooking with Kids can be a fun addition to any parent summer survival guide.

So here we go, Cooking with Kids, week #1: Dessert Pizzas.

Jordan did this with a friend who was over for dinner and a movie. I thought they would have fun making their own dessert. Of course, I had planned it as being this whole drawn-out thing, and it took them about five minutes, but they had fun anyway.

The pizzas are made with actual pizza dough. Use one pound of your favorite pizza dough, homemade or store-bought. This will make about 4-6 dessert pizzas, depending on the size you make them. Pre-bake them and let them cool a bit so the kiddos don't burn their fingers.

Gather all your pizza ingredients: melted chocolate chips for the "sauce" and things like M&Ms, jelly beans, or marshmallows for the toppings.

Give the kids a basting brush and let them paint the pre-baked crust with the chocolate sauce.

Then let them decorate their pizzas as they please. You could use anything for toppings - just raid your pantry. I bet there is still some Valentine's Day/Easter/Last Day of School candy in there you can use.

Once the kids are done decorating you can slice the pizzas and serve them. Or, if you want to puff up marshmallows or melt some extra chocolate on top, heat them in the oven for just a minute or two. Any way you serve these, the kids are going to love them. It's a sweet treat and they helped make it - how could they not enjoy it?  I hope your kids love this idea as much as Jordan did.

Happy Summer!


Dessert Pizza
Printer-Friendly Recipe


Ingredients:
1 pound pizza dough (homemade or store-bought)
1 bag chocolate chips
M&M's, marshmallows, jelly beans, or other candies for decorating


Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Divide your pizza dough into 4-6 individual pieces (depending on the size you wish to make them). Roll them out into a circle. Place on the parchment lined cookie sheets and bake until done, about 5-8 minutes (or according to your package directions).
3. Melt your chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Assemble all your "toppings".
4. Paint the pizzas with the melted chocolate and top it with assorted candies. If you wish to melt the candies, bake for an additional 1-2 minutes. Slice and serve to happy kids.

Yield: 4-6 individual pizzas

Source: idea from Food Network Magazine

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