Herbed Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

After a trip to the King Arthur Flour facility this past fall, I started to gain a little more confidence in the baking department.  Using the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook, I have previously baked whole wheat bread (which was my first time baking a yeast bread) and also some wonderful wheat baguettes.  On Sunday, the baking bug bit me again and I decided to make homemade pizza dough to make pizza for Monday night.  While at King Arthur Flour, I learned to make pizza dough and this was the first time I got to try making it at home.

I found a recipe in the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook for herbed whole wheat pizza, which I used with some small modifications.

First, I mixed together the following ingredients:

• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons of instant yeast
• 1 1/2 cups cool water 
• 1 tablespoon of honey. 

This made a loose wet dough.  I left the dough in the bowl, covered it with plastic wrap and let it rest for an hour. 

After an hour, the dough had expanded slightly.  I then added the following ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon herbs de Provence infused olive oil (the original recipe called for regular olive oil)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons herbs de Provence (the original recipe called for 1 tablespoon each of dried oregano and dried basil)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 3/4 cups of wheat flour

I mixed the dough in the bowl and it turned into a shaggy mass.  The dough was a little too dry for my liking so I added a few tablespoons of water to the dough to moisten it up.

I then kneaded the dough on a lightly floured board.  It didn't quite turn into a shiny dough but it was definitely elastic.  I was a little nervous because the dough seemed a little heavy but I decided to trust the recipe and put it in the bowl.  I drizzled a little more of the herbs de Provence infused olive oil on the dough and covered it with plastic wrap. 

The dough rested for about two hours and it rose quite a bit!  The dough was definitely lighter and fluffy and I was glad that I didn't doubt the recipe. 

While the dough rested, I went to get a manicure so Bret nicely volunteered to get his hands dirty for the final step.  He split the dough into two masses and rolled each one.  One of them was tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and then put in a sealed container for the freezer (for one of those nights when we don't feel like cooking).  The other ball was put back into the bowl, drizzled with a little more of the herbs de Provence infused olive oil, covered with plastic wrap and put back in the fridge until Monday night.

On Monday night, Bre took the ball of dough out of the fridge and let it rest while we both worked out at the gym.  On my way home from the gym, I picked up three simple ingredients - pizza sauce, mozzarella, and basil - to top the pizza.

I warmed up the oven to 375 degrees and started rolling out the pizza dough.  The herbs in the whole wheat dough smelled unbelievable!  I used both my hands and a small rolling stick to stretch the dough out into a circle.

My friend Kim makes awesome homemade pizza and she gave me some great tips on how to bake a really great pizza.  First, I spooned some sauce on the dough and let the dough and sauce bake in the oven for eight minutes.

After eight minutes, I took the pizza dough and sauce out of the oven and topped the pizza with both shredded and slices of mozzarella.

The pizza went back into the oven for ten minutes and then broiled for two.  When the pizza was done, it looked perfect.  The cheese had melted nicely and the final touch was to top it with chopped basil.

The whole wheat pizza dough was so flavorful.  The herbs de Provence really was the star of the pizza dough and it brought the whole wheat pizza dough to a whole other level.  There was a very surprising mild heat from the cayenne pepper, which I loved.  Plus, there was plenty of pizza for leftovers!

Do you like making homemade pizza?  What do you like top your pizza with?