Braided Pizza Bread

I am crazy about this recipe!
You see, I'm not a 'baker'.
Yeah, I make cakes.
I bake cookies.
I bake pies.
I don't, however, work with yeast ... like, ever.
I can't make homemade bread, or rolls, or croissants, or souffles.
Sigh ... such a failure, I am ;)
Ok, now that we've established all that ...

I totally LOVE this recipe because it makes me look all baker-ish!
Look at it ... the bread is braided all fancy like.
Oh yea, makes me feel like a rockstar!

Oh, so you wanna feel like a rockstar baker too?
Ok ... I'll share the recipe.
You talked me into it.

You'll need typical pizza ingredients, your favorites:
pepperoni, sausage, cheese, onion, green pepper, mushrooms, ham, etc
You'll need some pizza sauce.
And before you buy a can of it, use my recipe for the Best Ever Pizza Sauce!
You won't want to buy the canned stuff ever again.  Ever.
Lastly, you'll need some dough.
I use either the Rhodes or Kroger brand frozen white bread dough,
thawed according to package directions.
{Course, all you real bakers out there can whip up your own dough from scratch ...
it's ok ... I won't hate ya.}

Flour the counter generously & roll out the dough.
You want a rectangle shape, about 1/4” and 1/2” thick.
After it's rolled out & ready,  transfer the dough to a baking sheet.
{It's much easier to work on the sheet than to try & move the whole thing
after it's stuffed with the ingredients...found that out the hard way.}

Layer on sauce, cheese & desired toppings lengthwise down the center of the dough.
Next cut 1 inch strips down each side of the dough, starting at the edge of the dough,
cutting toward the ingredients in the center.
Starting at one end, braid the dough by alternating in a criss-cross pattern,
bringing each strip to the center of the toppings.
If you have extra dough toward the bottom, just fold it underneath.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Halfway through the baking time, I like to brush the dough with a garlic butter mixture.
{Melt 2 Tbsp. of butter & sprinkle in 1/2 tsp. garlic powder.}
This gives it added flavor & an extra-golden crust.

I make this one pretty often, although I have to admit, I don't always braid it.
You can make a large calzone by layering all your ingredients on one half,
folding over the other half & sealing the edges.
Or, just layer directly on to the dough for a homemade pizza, traditional style.
But if you are wanting the wow factor, braid it!
It never fails to impress.
Promise.