Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

A special thanks to my friend Kim for posting this on her blog. She made this dough with her one-year-old as a bonding experience. I think that's a great idea to get kids into cooking. I love when Will helps out!

I am definitely going to try this next time I need pizza dough. I bought a pre-made crust yesterday for my at home pizzas. Its okay, but I would prefer whole wheat.

Are we in need for another blog-a-thon? What's your favorite homemade pizza?

Momma Hopper’s Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Crust (Dough)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. warm water (80-110 degrees F)
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. olive oil
1 1/4 c. all-purpose whole wheat flour
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
Italian Seasoning
Yellow Cornmeal
Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese
Yield: Enough dough for 2 large pizza’s.

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, dissolve brown sugar and yeast in warm water. Let set for 10 minutes.

2. Stir salt and olive oil into yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of flour (half of this amount should be whole wheat, and half should be white) until well blended. Add in more flour until dough is no longer sticky and easy to work with. (You may not need all 3 1/2 cups or you may need much more than that amount–it depends of the weather!)

3. Knead dough with hands for about 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and soft. Add more flour to dough as necessary.

4. Place dough ball in a well oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Set the bowl in a warm location to let the dough rise until double in size (about 1 hour).

5. After 1 hour, punch down dough and divide into two tight balls. Allow to rest for one minute. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

6. Roll dough out onto a floured surface. Sprinkle pizza crust with Italian seasoning. If using a pizza stone, lightly dust top of stone with flour and cornmeal. Place dough on stone and brush outer edge (where the crust will be) with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Poke inner (non-crust) area with a fork to create air holes. Bake crust on lowest rack in oven for approximately 5-10 minutes (depending on thickness) just until lightly browned. Remove from oven to add toppings.

Side note from Kim: You may wonder why not 100% whole wheat…the dough can tend to taste rather grainy, which is also why I think my mom would add a little brown sugar when dissolving the yeast…to help give a little sweetness to the whole wheat. I have done this using only whole wheat only, but I personally prefer doing 1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour.



PS - This dude is my pizza inspiration...and I kinda have a crush on him. He's got mad skillz!