Garlic and Cheese Dough Balls

You can't go wrong with these plump little balls of garlic bready pleasure.  Made from my simple pizza dough recipe, they are easy to make, children love them (and love helping to make them!) and there are lots of variations that you can try.
Here I have used a combination of mature cheddar and Spanish Manchego, however many cheeses will work beautifully as long as they melt well.  Instead of garlic butter you can brush the balls with pesto then sprinkle with parmesan or pecorino at the end.  Try chopping sundried tomatoes with mozzarella, then strewing over the dough balls at the last stage before popping back in the oven for a few minutes to melt, yum.

Makes 32 Balls

Ingredients

350g Strong White Bread Flour (plus more for dusting)

1 teaspoon Salt

250ml Warm Water

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 sachet (7g) Instant Dried Yeast

75g Butter

2-3 Garlic Cloves, minced (I use a microplane grater)

A few generous handfuls of a good melting cheese

• Weigh the flour into a large mixing bowl then add the salt, stir to combine.
• In a measuring jug, measure the warm water then add the olive oil, sugar and yeast and give it a good stir.
• Pour the liquid into the flour bowl and mix vigorously with a fork to bring it together into a dough.
• Generously flour your work surface then tip the dough onto it.  Knead the dough by stretching it away from you then folding it back repeatedly.  Keep doing this, adding more flour if needed, for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and springy to the touch (it should spring back out when prodded with your finger).
• Sprinkle a little flour into your bowl then put the ball of dough into it, cover then leave for 1-2 hours until the dough has more than doubled in size.  Oil a large baking tray.
• Using your fist, knock the dough down then tip it out onto the work surface again.  Knead it for a few minutes to incorporate any flour that has stuck on then cut the dough in half.  Shape these two pieces into balls then cut them in half.  Keep doing this until you have 32 pieces of dough.
• Roll each piece of dough between your hands (lightly oil your hands first) until you have a smooth ball, then place each one onto the oiled baking tray.  Make sure you leave a few centimetres between each dough ball to allow for expansion. 
• Leave the dough balls for 30 minutes to an hour to rise.  Preheat the oven to 200C (fan).
• Make the garlic butter by softening the butter (I pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds, you want it soft not completely melted) then mix in the minced garlic.
• Once the dough balls are risen, brush (I use a silicon pastry brush) half of the garlic butter onto each ball.
• Bake the dough balls in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until they are golden brown.  Take the baking tray out of the oven then brush the remaining garlic butter over the dough balls and sprinkle with the cheese.  Pop them back into the oven for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
• Serve them after they have had a few minutes to cool...if you can wait that long!