When the kids were home, for most of their growing up years, Friday night was pizza night. Every Friday we would gather in the kitchen and make round masterpieces of deliciousness. Our pizza has evolved a lot over the years, but has only gotten better and better: you can say that it has taken me the better part of 20 years to come up with the perfect pizza crust - 100% whole-wheat, low added oils, low sugar, and pure amazing! I think this Friday is going to be pizza night!!!
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups water
2 Tb. Olive Oil
2 Tb. Honey
6 cups whole-wheat flour (4 cups of wheat berries if making your own flour)
1/3 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
2 tsp. Salt
1 Tb. Italian Seasoning
1-2 Tb. Minced Garlic (according to your garlic tastes)
4 tsp. yeast
DIRECTIONS:
Bread Maker: I have a bread maker, so if you are lucky enough to
have one of these amazing tools in your kitchen, put ingredients in the
maker in the order listed. Set your bread maker on the dough setting and
let it work it's magic.
By Hand: If you do not have a bread maker, here are your steps to make your dough.....
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water (between 95-115 degrees - the water should feel like a really hot shower, but not burning you).
2. Add your honey, canola oil, salt, gluten and one cup of flour. Mix
well and let stand for about 5-10 minutes, until it starts to get slight
bubbles, this is activating your yeast. Add two more cups of flour and
start to mix it. At this point is should start getting hard to mix, as
it is getting a more dough consistancy.
3. Dump your dough out onto a floured counter. Now for the best part of
making bread by hand!! Knead away. This is a very therapeutic process,
and one I miss sometimes with my bread maker. (however the time I save
with a bread maker is WELL worth it. If you make this a lot, invest in
one!!) Knead for about 10 minutes. If dough becomes sticky, add more
flour. You will want to knead this until the dough starts to feel very
elastic - you will notice the change. It will start to bounce back when
pushed, and start to feel very soft.
4. Spray your mixing bowl with non-stick spray, put your kneaded dough
back into the sprayed bowl and cover with a towel. Time to walk away and
let it rise for about an hour - until double.
Making Your Pizza:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Divide the dough in half and spread evenly onto 2 pre-greased pizza pans. Let raise for about 10 minutes (I usually let it rise while I am preparing all of my toppings). Bake in pre-heated oven for about 3-5 minutes - just until it is not doughy to the touch any more. Top with your favorite ingredients, then bake until cheese is slightly brown and crust is completely cooked - roughly 10-15 minutes.
