Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Honey Wheat Pizza Dough


This week, I have been trying to decide what to do for Superbowl Sunday. I need something to serve that is easy and basically self serve, but I didn't want to just do buffet food. Of course I'll have the usually line up of snacks and finger foods but for the main event, I wanted to do something fun. What I came up with is a pizza bar. Everyone loves pizza right?

My challenge is to find a way to make it a little bit healthier but still have a great tasting pizza. This week I have been playing around with whole wheat bread dough and I think I have finally come up with a winner. By adding a little more honey and some garlic to the dough, the result was a hearty dough with a lot of flavor. The best part, is that it also made a really good sandwich roll as well.


I'm not sure who will be playing in the big game, but I do know that the pizza bar at The Saucy Bird will be open for business!


Honey Wheat Pizza Dough


1 1/2 cup water, warmed to 110°F
1 packet active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup honey
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil

Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil and set aside. Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Combine flours and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture, honey, oil and garlic, stir until dough begins to form -- it will be slightly sticky. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth but still tacky -- about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to the prepared bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough doubles in volume.

Punch the dough down, remove from the bowl, and let dough rest for 5 minutes. Divide the dough in half and turn one piece out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into desired shape and size.

6 comments:

Mary Bergfeld said...

This is a great idea. Do the guests assemble and bake their own pizzas or do you take over the cooking of the pies?

Allie said...

I like your healthy version and I think I might try that this weekend. I like how you sweetened it up with honey, maybe my hubby won't notice I used whole wheat flour!

alexandra's kitchen said...

wow, that's awesome. i always add a little whole wheat flour to my pizza dough, but after reading this, i'm sure i could add a little more. what a great superbowl idea!

KaitCav said...

Another great Super Bowl recipe is Buffalo Chicken Dip. If you want something lighter, you can make it with reduced fat cream cheese, reduced fat cheese, and light salad dressing. Also, Swanson Premium Chunk Chicken Breast only has 50 cal per serving.

Here's my recipe:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) reduced fat cream cheese, softened
2 cans (9.75 oz each) Swanson Premium Chunk Chicken Breast, drained
½ cup Frank’s RedHot Sauce
½ cup light blue cheese salad dressing
½ cup reduced fat crumbled blue cheese
Assorted fresh vegetables and/or crackers

Directions:
1) Stir cream cheese in 9” deep dish pie plate until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients.
2) Bake at 350°F. for 20 min. until hot and bubbling. Stir. Serve with vegetables and crackers.

Tips:
- Substitute light ranch dressing for blue cheese dressing and reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese for blue cheese crumbles.
- Make it tailgate friendly – prepare ahead of time and transport in a disposable heavy foil pan. When you get to the tailgate heat it on a grill and serve nice and hot!
- Make this in the microwave by heating it on high for 5 minutes instead of baking
- Keep it warm in a crockpot or slow cooker

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

I will have to try adding honey to my dough. I always use whole wheat if I can.

AMIT said...

Great work done by you.

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