Raise, Dough, Raise!

Ever since trying out my new bread dough recipe and having it turn out beautifully, I realized that all good things much come to an end.  The last two batches I've made have not raised.  So I was stuck with a heavy lump of dough.  TWO heavy lumps of dough to be exact.  Thanks to my frugal nature, I could not simply throw it away.  Instead, I found a couple of uses for it and wanted to share them with you! (And by the way, I was NOT smiling like the gal in the picture...I was hungry for BREAD!!!) 

1.  Make sandwich buns.  With the first batch I decided that I would try to make sandwich buns.  I took small portions of the dough and made a patty (like you would if you were making a hamburger patty), placed them on my baking stone and baked until they were brown on top...approx 20 or so mins.  They actually turned out pretty well.  They are heavier in weight and texture than store-bought buns, but have a really good flavor!  Making these buns inspired me to make hamburgers on the grill (yes, I know it's January) so I put a little butter on the cut halves of the buns and laid them on the warming grate of my grill.  I'm convinced that made the hamburgers extra yummy! 

2.  Use the sandwich buns as bagels.  Because of the heavier texture of the buns, they remind me of bagels.  Who says bagels HAVE to have the hole in the middle anyways?  Just toast them and put spread cream cheese on it...you'll never know the difference!

3.  Make pizza!  Use the dough as a pizza crust.  We regularly make our own pizza on Friday nights, so I can't wait to try this out to see how it works!  I think it will make some tasty crust!  Since I haven't made it yet, I can't really tell you how long to bake it.  Because the dough is heavier, you may want to partially bake the crust first then add the toppings and finish baking. 

4.  Freeze it!  When the second batch didn't raise, I was out of ideas.  I already had a bag of buns (aka bagels) to use up and I didn't really need anymore.  That is when the pizza-dough idea hit me, however I wasn't making dough for a few more days.  So I divided the dough in half and stuffed each half into a freezer bag, then both of those bags into a gallon size freezer bag.  Tomorrow morning I will take one or both of them out to thaw and then proceed with the pizza crust instructions. 

I'm going to attempt to make BREAD (not more flat dough!) today.  If it doesn't turn out, I may have more ideas for you on how to use the non-raised dough!