Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

This one is too damn good not to share, even if it's not a sweet.  It's dough and that's pastry-enough for me.  I originally found this recipe on Pinterest and after reading through the directions I decided to give it a go, it just sounded too simple.  And it was.

But don't let the simplicity fool you.  The crust was chewy and soft on the outside and crunchy on the bottom.  The aroma that comes from the oven is close to freshly baked bread.  You won't believe that smell is coming from your kitchen.  Or maybe that's just me.  Sometimes I am still in denial that I can cook.

The recipe makes about two medium pizzas, which was perfect for me and the hub's.  One veggie low-fat for me, one fatty-over-kill with a mountain of cheese and weirdo looking meat for him.  Everybody wins.  If you wanted to make 4 small pizzas that would definitely work too.  Or even freeze half the dough for later...but who doesn't like leftover pizza?  I just finished mine off cold and it was still delish.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
for a printable version click here

3 cups whole wheat bread flour (or 2 cups regular whole wheat flour and 2 cups all-purpose)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons cornmeal

Combine the whole wheat bread flour, all purpose flour, yeast, salt, and Italian seasoning in a large bowl.  Use a whisk to thoroughly combine.

Add the water and use a wooden spoon to mix till combined.

Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and leave to sit for about 8 hours (overnight is fine).  The dough will rise and darken in color like this: 

Before preparing the toppings, remove the dough and transfer to a well floured counter.  Fold the dough over itself a few times just until the flour covers all the sticky surfaces.

Prepare two cookie sheets (or pizza pans) by dividing the olive oil between them.  Using a paper towel grease the pans with the oil, making sure they are covered thoroughly.  Sprinkle with cornmeal.

Divide the dough equally and stretch to fit the pans.  I am no pizza expert so I can't tell you how to properly do this but all I did was gently stretch the dough to somewhat fit the pans and made sure it was even.  Our dough was a bit thick, so stretch thinner if you prefer thin-crust.  Sprinkle a bit of flour on the dough as your stretching so it won't stick to your hands.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Let the dough rest on the pans while the oven heats up.  Once it's ready, bake the dough (without the toppings!) for 10 minutes.  It should no longer be doughy, but also shouldn't be browned yet either.

Top with your favorite pizza sauce and toppings and bake for an additional minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.  The original recipe I found online was for a BBQ Black Bean Pizza which was one of the best pizza's I've ever had in my life and I sincerely suggest you try it.  I know beans on a pizza sounds strange but you gotta trust me here.  For this pizza we added fresh veggies including onion, mushroom, artichoke, cherry tomato, asparagus, and olives.

Here's the cheesy-meaty-heart-attack version

 

Slice up and enjoy!

 Pizza dough recipe courtsey of Food Doodles