In The Empty Nest Mummy household, we love a bit of a bake-off after school. Pizza is a surefire hit and we’re always looking for an opportunity to try out new recipes. So when I came across the Sweetpea Pantry Playful Dough Mix, I just couldn’t resist making pizza with kids.

But, before we get started, let’s have a look at the Sweetpea Pantry Dough Mix.

On the box it says that:

Our wholegrain pizza dough is packed with powerful chia, mighty flaxseed and stoneground flours. All of our mixes are full of wholesome ingredients and are easy to prepare.

Well, there’s nothing not to like there!

And, while we’re talking about the box, let’s have a quick look at the packaging.

Well, it certainly has the shelf appeal. And it ticks the ‘Appeals to Middle Class Mummy’ box. And it won a Great Taste Award.

…so far, so good!

It’s also…

Non GM, has no added sugar, is high in fibre, vegetarian, contains wholegrains, is a source of protein and is made in the UK

And it makes 3 large pizzas. Enough for Empty Nest Mummy to have one too!

It’s ticking boxes galore.

….let’s hope it’s easy to make and delicious!

Making pizza with kids

The kit itself is very simple. One bag of flour and seed mix.

And all you need from your cupboards is 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 200ml of lukewarm water.

…nothing that’s going to tax me too much. Or require an extra trip to the shop.

Now, as with any make your own pizza dough recipe, this is a 2 stage job.

After you make the dough, you’ll need to leave it to prove for an hour before you bash it down and shape it.

…which is ideal for us today as Big Boy is at Afterschool Club.

So, a perfect mummy and daughter bonding activity, then leave the dough to prove while we head back to school for second pick-up.

Perfect!

…or, better still ….

Perfetto!

Hands washed and off we go!

As she is my Sole Chef today, Littlest Angel is enjoying getting to do all the jobs herself.

First she mixes the oil and the water.

She noticed that the oil sits on top of the water. (I wasn’t sure how to explain this, but perhaps that’s a Science Experiment for another time!)

 

Then, seasoned baker that she is, she makes a well in the flour mix and gradually adds the oil and water mix.

And this is where it really gets fun making pizza with kids! Both hands in and a good squish around to mix up the dough.

My little pizzaiolo needed some help with the kneading as it’s quite heavy work, but she was very keen to have a go herself too.

Hard graft done, now it’s time to leave the pizza to work it’s magic while we pick up Big Boy from school.

15 minutes to Pizza Time

By the time we had schlepped to school and back for the second pick-up of the afternoon, the dough had doubled to around twice its size.

So, oven on to preheat and time for making pizza with kids!

A bit more hard labour from my pizza chef…..

And time to add the tomato sauce.

We used a homemade tomato and basil sauce for this as I made a double batch the day before. You could also use a jar of passata.

Now, time to add the toppings and wait for the oven to come to temperature.

We made three large pizzas out of the mix and added our own toppings.

Littlest Angel went for her usual of Margherita with Olives.

Empty Nest Mummy, a recent convert to fish, went for Tonno e Cipolle. (Tuna & Onion)

Big Boy, who was far too busy obsessing over the World Cup, couldn’t decide so went for a trio of Margherita, Margherita with Olives and Tonno e Cipolle.

And now for the Taste Test…

Due to a combination of slapdash shaping and only having rectangular trays, our pizzas came out looking rather messy.

Or homemade.

Or rustic even.

(I add the adjective rustic to anything I make that looks misshapen. It sounds so much more appetising than ‘a dog’s dinner’ or ‘a car crash on a plate’, don’t you think?)

But, despite their unusual shapes, I think they looked rather good.

The packet says 10 minutes to cook in an oven preheated to 220 degrees C.

However, if you’re cooking more than one at a time, I think you’ll need to add a few more minutes on.

And perhaps swap the trays over after 6 or 7 minutes.

But, as long as you do that, you’ll end up with a delicious, but healthy, pizza crust.

The wholemeal flour and the chia and flax seeds, whilst not traditional, add a lovely extra element to the taste.

..and make it healthier too……………ssshhh, don’t tell the kids!

Would we buy Sweetpea Pantry Playful Pizza Dough Mix again?

As an activity, making pizza with kids is always popular in our house.

But pizza isn’t exactly healthy, is it? It falls into the category of ‘occasional treat’ tea.

..but not if you have wholemeal flour, chia and flax.

Surely then it is elevated straight away into ‘health food’ category, isn’t it?

Especially if you add your own homemade, no added nasties, tomato sauce. (Take a look here for the recipe: it’s desperately easy, make it in big batches and freeze it)

And, speaking of freezing, I noticed this on the package just as I was about to recycle it….

I FREEZE WELL… ONCE RISEN, FREEZE ME IN BALLS FOR UP TO A MONTH

So, if you can’t manage 3 delicious healthy pizzas all in one sitting, you can freeze the risen balls for up to a month.

…although I don’t think we’ll ever be able to road-test the freezability of the leftovers for you!

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