Pizza Bread Twists | Lunch Box Series #1

Name: Pizza Bread Twists | Lunch Box Series #1
Prep time: 3 h
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 3 h 20 min
Ingredients: 200 ml Milk; 150 ml Water; 1 Large egg; 650 g All purpose flour; 60 g Olive oil; 8 g Instant dry yeast; 20 g Sugar; 7 g Sea salt; 300 g Shredded mozarella cheese; 150 g Tomato paste; 100 g Chopped salami; ¼ cup Chopped fresh basil

AuthorYun Zhang JohnCategoryBreadDifficultyBeginnerRating

Yields1 Serving

Prep Time3 hrsCook Time20 minsTotal Time3 hrs 20 mins

Pizza Bread Twists | Lunch Box Series #1

My son is going back to school and that means that I’ll have to give him a delicious and nutritious packed lunch every single day. Did I mention that he’s also a picky eater? Well, I’m up for the challenge! One of my plan is to make these Pizza Bread Twists on Sundays for the week.

Because even the pickiest eaters like both bread and pizza. This is literally the combination of the two! These Pizza Bread Twists also check off my list of “mom approved” lunch items. Which are:

- Healthy and balanced
- Portable and mess free
- Quick to assemble
- Yummy and most likely to be eaten

The enriched bread

This bread dough is ultra enriched with milk, eggs and olive oil, which adds both nutrition as well as flavour. And that means that A, it’ll taste fantastic and rich and B, it’ll stay moist and soft for longer. When stored in plastic bags in the fridge, these breads will stay fresh tasting for up to a whole week!

And that's part of the reason why I'm not just using store bought pizza dough.

So whether you are eating these pizza breads at room temperature or warmed up in a toaster oven, air fryer or even a microwave, they’ll taste the like you’ve just made it.

The Pizza toppings

While it’s tempting to cram in a bunch of traditional pizza toppings like tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella in there, these Pizza Bread Twists would be harder to assemble if you do. For example, use tomato paste instead of tomato sauce because it’s thicker and the concentrated tomato flavours shine through more.

Certainly, add a ton of cheese, but make sure it’s dry and shredded so the cheese won’t run out during baking.

Include meats like pepperoni, ham or salami…or none is entirely your choice but chop them up small so they’ll stay put in between the dough. Also, I would not add too many vegetables for the same reason why we use tomato paste instead of sauce…too much excess liquid.

Shaping the breads

I’ve obviously shaped these pizza bread into twists, but you don’t have to. You can turn them into buns by simply twirling the twists around itself and tucking the ends underneath.

And do not worry if the toppings / fillings fall out as you twist, just gather up them up and sprinkle on top of the shaped breads.

So Easy to make

Seriously, this is an easy and forgiving bread recipe that’s also completely customizable based on your or your kid's preferences. No machine needed, just a big mixing bowl and a few minutes of light kneading by hand.

An alternative to sandwiches, they're a great solution for the packed lunch problem. Make them ahead on the weekends, and quickly reheat before putting it into the lunch box and the morning rush suddenly becomes less so.

Plus, they are delicious! Both parents and kids approved.

Be sure to come back for #2 of my Lunch Box Series - Asian Hot Dog Buns.

You Will Need

Bread dough

200 ml Milk

150 ml Water

1 Large egg

650 g All purpose flour~4.5 cups

60 g Olive oil

8 g Instant dry yeast~ 1 tbsp

20 g Sugar~1.5 tbsp

7 g Sea salt~1 tsp

Fillings

300 g Shredded mozarella cheese

150 g Tomato pasteone 5.5 fl oz can

100 g Chopped salamiOr pepperoni, ham, bacon..etc

¼ cup Chopped fresh basilOr any fresh or dried herbs

Instructions

Make the bread dough by combining the milk, water, oil yeast and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Stir to mix.

Pizza Bread Twists | Yun's Family Table

Add the flour and salt and stir with a spoon or spatula to combine the ingredients. When there's no more dry flour, switch to a clean hand and bring the dough together with kneading motions. This should take around 2-3min.

Once you have one ball of dough, don't worry about kneading it smooth at this time. Cover and leave it to rest for 10-15min.

Once relaxed, you can knead the dough smooth very easily. This should table about a minute. Then put it back into the bowl and cover with tightly and leave it to rise in a warm, draft-free and humid place.

In the meanwhile, prepare the filling by shredding the cheese, chopping the salami (if using) and fresh herbs.

Pizza Bread Twists | Yun's Family Table

Once the dough has risen at least to 2x its size, which may take from 1-2 hours depending on the conditions of your home. Alternatively, you can also leave it to rise slowly in the fridge overnight.

Punch out the air and scrape it out of the bowl and onto a large, flat, lightly floured working surface. Then divide the dough into equal halves.

Roll out each half into roughly 20x40cm rectangles. Using flour as need to prevent sticking. When you have the desired size, make sure to loosen the dough from the surface before putting on the toppings.

Spread the toppings evenly across the bottom rolled dough, starting with the tomato paste, then cheese, then meats and finally the herb.

Flip the other rolled dough over the toppings, forming a sandwich of dough, fillings and dough. If your dough is not as large as the bottom, no worries, just slowly stretch the edges until the 2 dough pieces meet.

Then slightly pinch all around the edges and pat down any air bubbles or spaces in-between the 2 pieces of dough.

Divide it in half length wise then into 8 rectangular pieces on both sides. In total, you’ll get 14 sections of dough with pizza fillings sandwiched in between.

Pizza Bread Twists | Yun's Family Table

Now, carefully take each section, hold it together, one hand on either side and start twisting in opposite directions. And pinch together the ends closed as you go.

As you shape, line them up in baking trays with a bit of space in between.
When they’re all done, cover loosely and leave it to rise again for around 45min-1hour.

When they've risen again to 1.5x its size, put into a 180C/356F preheated oven for 20-25min.

Once baked, remove from baking tray and leave to cool on wire racks.

Ingredients

Bread dough

200 ml Milk

150 ml Water

1 Large egg

650 g All purpose flour~4.5 cups

60 g Olive oil

8 g Instant dry yeast~ 1 tbsp

20 g Sugar~1.5 tbsp

7 g Sea salt~1 tsp

Fillings

300 g Shredded mozarella cheese

150 g Tomato pasteone 5.5 fl oz can

100 g Chopped salamiOr pepperoni, ham, bacon..etc

¼ cup Chopped fresh basilOr any fresh or dried herbs

Directions

Make the bread dough by combining the milk, water, oil yeast and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Stir to mix.

Pizza Bread Twists | Yun's Family Table

Once you have one ball of dough, don't worry about kneading it smooth at this time. Cover and leave it to rest for 10-15min.

In the meanwhile, prepare the filling by shredding the cheese, chopping the salami (if using) and fresh herbs.

Pizza Bread Twists | Yun's Family Table

Once the dough has risen at least to 2x its size, which may take from 1-2 hours depending on the conditions of your home. Alternatively, you can also leave it to rise slowly in the fridge overnight.

Punch out the air and scrape it out of the bowl and onto a large, flat, lightly floured working surface. Then divide the dough into equal halves.

Spread the toppings evenly across the bottom rolled dough, starting with the tomato paste, then cheese, then meats and finally the herb.

Then slightly pinch all around the edges and pat down any air bubbles or spaces in-between the 2 pieces of dough.

Divide it in half length wise then into 8 rectangular pieces on both sides. In total, you’ll get 14 sections of dough with pizza fillings sandwiched in between.

Pizza Bread Twists | Yun's Family Table

Now, carefully take each section, hold it together, one hand on either side and start twisting in opposite directions. And pinch together the ends closed as you go.

As you shape, line them up in baking trays with a bit of space in between.
When they’re all done, cover loosely and leave it to rise again for around 45min-1hour.

When they've risen again to 1.5x its size, put into a 180C/356F preheated oven for 20-25min.

Once baked, remove from baking tray and leave to cool on wire racks.

Pizza Bread Twists | Lunch Box Series #1

Ingredients Directions