Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Mrs Thompson's Note:

I originally got this recipe from the book "You on a Diet" by Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz. I altered it slightly to use the sugar/yeast amounts and directions from my yeast can because the original recipe didn't work well with the yeast. We use this dough for pizza and calzones. A serving is 1/4 of a pizza, and this recipe makes 4 pizzas. Preparation time includes time for dough to rise.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 16

Yield: 4.0 pizza c ...

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve sugar into water. Add yeast and stir. Let sit for 10 minutes in a warm spot for yeast to grow. It should look foamy on top when it is ready.
2. Meanwhile, mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and salt in a large bowl.
3. After yeast has developed for 10 minutes, add it to the flour mixture and mix. Once it is blended, add the olive oil. Knead for 2 minutes (until oil is fully incorporated). It will probably be quite sticky.
4. Cover the bowl of dough with a damp towel and leave in a warm place for dough to rise. The dough should approximately double in size (this can take 20-60 minutes).
5. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead for a couple minutes. If your dough is still sticky, you can incorporate more flour while kneading until it is easy to handle (I usually need to add another tablespoon at least).
6. Divide dough into 4 balls. each ball will make one pizza (approximately 10 inches, depending how thin you roll it out), or 1 calzone. Dough can be refrigerated for a day or two, or frozen for longer.
7. Lightly oil pizza pan before putting dough on it. Bake each pizza at 450F for 10-20 minutes (time will vary depending on the amount of toppings). You can pre-bake the crust for a few minutes if you like to keep the crust drier (often a good idea if you use a lot of "wet" ingredients, like fresh pineapple).