Honey Wheat Pizza Dough

Our new favorite thing lately is making homemade pizza. It is so easy. I just throw ingredients in the breadmaker in the morning and when I come home from work it is ready to roll out for toppings. It is much cheaper than takeout and definitely healthier!

I was excited when I saw Devin Alexander posted a new recipe for a healthy wheat pizza dough! Click here for her recent newsletter or here is the recipe:

Homemade Honey Wheat Pizza Dough

2/3 c. + 2 tsp. warm water + extra, if neede
d1-1/2 tsp. instant dry yeast
1-1/2 tsp. honey
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1-1/3 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
olive oil spray

In a small bowl, mix water, yeast and honey. Set aside.
To a food processor fitted with a chopping blade (this can be done by hand, but requires a lot of kneading), add the flours and salt. When the yeast mixture starts to bubble (if it doesn’t bubble, yeast is most likely spoiled and dough will not rise), pour it into the food processor and process it until the dough forms a ball that is smooth and slightly sticky to touch. [Here's where the breadmaker makes this easy! - Courtney]. If dough does not stick together, add a teaspoon of water at a time and reprocess until it sticks. If it’s too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time and reprocess until it is slightly dry, but forms a ball. Knead it by hand a couple of times on a clean, flat, lightly floured surface.

Lightly mist a large bowl with spray. Place dough in the bowl and lightly spray it. Cover dough with plastic wrap draped directly over it then with a lint-free kitchen towel. Set dough aside and allow it to rise in a warm place for approximately 1-1/2 to 2 hours (it should double in size). reheat the oven to 475 degrees.

When the dough has doubled in size, remove the dough from bowl and gently stretch it to begin to form a flat circle (do not knead it at this point or overwork it or it will become tough and won’t stretch). Then lightly flour a clean, flat work surface and continue to flatten the dough by evenly pressing it with your fingers. When it is close to 13-inches in diameter, transfer it a pizza peel lightly sprinkled with corn meal. Do not worry if the dough tears, simply patch it with dough from a thicker area. Dough should be thin and even throughout. Spoon the sauce onto the center of the dough then spread it evenly to cover all but the outer 1-inch diameter of the dough. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the sauce. Then add your favorite toppings evenly over that. Using the pizza peel, transfer the pizza to the pizza stone and cook it until the cheese melts and dough is lightly crisped, about 8 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. Then transfer it to a cutting board and slice it into 8 slices using a pizza wheel or sharp knife and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings. Each serving has (dough only): 230 calories, 8 g protein, 47 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat, 0 g sat. fat, 4 g fiber, 582 mg sodium