Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Freezer Meals: Honey-Wheat Pizza Dough

I've been trying to stock up on simple meals and other food items that will make life easier after the new baby comes this month. I saw a recipe for freezer pizza dough and decided to tweak it a bit to make it a little healthier, but still just as easy. The recipe made enough for 4 pizza crusts, so we baked 2 that night and still have 2 in the freezer... they'll be super-easy to turn into a quick and satisfying meal later on! Everyone LOVED this pizza and the dough turned out just perfectly... and I loved the fact that it was so easy to make. :)

Honey-Wheat Pizza Dough

1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbsp dry yeast
4 cups bread flour OR all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups cool water
2 tsp celtic OR kosher salt (you can use regular iodized salt if that is all you have)
1/2 tsp ANY or EACH: rosemary, oregano, basil, garlic, and/or onion powder (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil (plus more for greasing the dough later on)
2 Tbsp honey


- In large bowl, stir the yeast into the warm water until dissolved. Let stand until foamy.

-Add the flour, cool water, salt, oil, honey, and desired spices into the yeast mixture. Stir well, and knead by hand for 7 minutes (I did this right in the bread bowl). You can also use a dough hook on a stand mixer if you have one; that should do the work in about 5 minutes. (Still waiting on my stand mixer. :) )

-Place the dough in a large GREASED bowl and cover with a small towel. Let rise for about 30 minutes or until doubled.

-Punch down and divide into 4 equal portions. Coat each ball with more olive oil and wrap each in plastic wrap. Place in freezer bags, label, and freeze.

TO USE: Remove from freezer 8-12 hours before using. Let thaw in fridge. After thawing, remove from fridge and let rise until doubled in size. Punch down and make your pizza according to your favorite recipe. :)

Tip - Since I don't have a pizza stone to give my crust a nice, crispy outside and chewy inside, I figured out the next best thing... I rub a generous amount of olive oil onto my pizza pan, and then sprinkle that with a light coating of cornmeal. I also lightly brush the entire top crust with olive oil to help keep the sauce and toppings from making the crust soggy. My father-in-law brushed his pizza dough with an amazing garlic-infused olive oil he whipped up, and that was SO tasty!

2 comments:

  1. That sounds delicious! What is celtic salt?

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  2. Celtic salt still has all the minerals salt was meant to have (usually over 80!), instead of all those minerals being stripped from the salt to make "white" salt. Natural sea salt, Himalayan salt, etc., still have all these minerals, but if you see white "sea salt," it's been stripped of the goodness. ;) While iodized table salt is not good for you, can raise blood pressure, and so on, celtic and other "good" salts can actually lower blood pressure, help with asthma symptoms (my SIL uses it for that purpose) - and even got rid of my pregnancy edema after just 3 days! I have to take more of it (sprinkle on my tongue followed by a full glass of water) when the weather is hot - but it is AMAZING stuff... AND tastes incredible, too. :)

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