Whole Wheat Pizza Crust Experiment

One of our go-to meals on busy weeknight is pizza.  Stretch store bought pizza dough, add toppings and make a salad while the pizza is baking.  Perfect. 

My grocery store carries a couple of varieties of wheat pizza crust.  The first ingredient of these items is typically enriched wheat flour.  From a whole food/whole grain perspective whole wheat flour wins every time.  Consider the following equations:

Enriched Wheat Flour = Iceberg Lettuce

100% Whole Wheat Flour = Spinach  

 

As often is the case, I get over my annoyance by finding my own recipe.  To get around the time factor I make additional quantities to freeze.  The perfect version will take some trial and error but here is the one I made tonight.

Wyatt modeling the honey and beer

Whole Wheat Beer Pizza Crust

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warmed beer (approximately 110 degrees)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In mixer, dissolve yeast in beer. Let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients and mix with the dough hook attachment on the mixer until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  Adjust flour as needed. 
4. Cover and set in a warm place to rise for 10 minutes.
5. Flatten dough with floured fingers on a floured pizza stone and poke holes in it with a fork.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.               
7. Add sauce, cheese and toppings and continue baking for another 10 minutes.
8. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

I doubled the recipe and wrapped half in plastic wrap and foil and tossed it in the freezer. Overall it came out well. Next time I will get the dough thinner under the toppings but this one wasn't bad. It was surprisingly filling and the beer flavor was awesome with the sausage and peppers.

A general note on the blog: I've updated the settings to allow anyone to make comments.  I'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions!