Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Hello everybody! I trusted you all had a fantastic weekend. I just wanted to take this time and thank you for all your love and support. You are the reason why I keep blogging and hopefully I am supplying meaningful content that you enjoy reading...and tasting! For those of you that know me, probably know that pizza to me is like cocaine to a drug addict (to extreme?)....I love it. I'm always trying to perfect my pizza at home and I do a pretty good job at it (in my personal and wife's opinion).
Of course pizza isn't always the healthiest food in the world....even though TECHNICALLY everything is healthy in moderation...well maybe not everything. But, the beauty about cooking is that everything can be made healthier, even if it's just a little bit. It took me about 4 attempts to get this whole wheat pizza dough where I like it. I was trying to find that perfect balance that supplied the health benefits of using whole wheat flour, but still had a tasty, soft/chewy/crunchy crust.
Also, if you visit my blog on a regular basis (which you should!) you'll know that I try my best to make people a little more knowledgeable on food and cooking. So I figured I would take this time to talk about what is difference between whole wheat and all the other refined/processed flours. "According to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a whole grain is a grain that retains its basic form with key components intact after milling. You can call a grain product “whole grain” if at least 51% of its grains are whole. The grain’s structure and the balance between vitamins, minerals, and “phytochemicals” bring about the beneficial effects, while those same ingredients in their refined and enriched form, separated from the grain, do not have the same benefits.
The label of 100% whole grain assures that a food contains a full serving or more of whole grain in each labeled serving, and that ALL the grain is whole grain. This is what you want to look for when you shop. Research shows that consuming true whole grains compared to consuming processed grains helps you live longer, makes you feel fuller for longer, and lowers your LDL (bad cholesterol), as well as decreasing the risk of diabetes by 30%."
So the short of it all, whole grain has more of the good stuff in it that refined flours lose after processing. This post is by NO MEANS condemning refined/processed flours, they all are made for a purpose...just trying to share some good information so when you go to the grocery store and wonder what heck all of these flours are, you'll know a little more. #knowledgeispower
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Prep time: 30 min | Total time: 30 min | Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
-
- 1 cup bread flour
- 1.25 cups 100% Whole Wheat Flour
- 2 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup + 3 Tbsp lukewarm water
Cooking Directions
- Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Set to stir setting and stir until dry ingredients are incorporated. Add olive oil and water. Run on stir setting, with paddle attachment, until dough comes together. Switch to dough hook and set to knead and let knead for 15 min.
- Remove dough from dough hook, form dough into a ball, and then place it back in mixing bowl. Cover losely with saran wrap and place in a warm environment. Let rise for at least an hour and up to 24 hours. If you are letting it proof for a long time, put in a ziplock bag in a fridge. If you are proofing in the fridge, remove from fridge 2 hours before use so it can come to room temperature.