Snack

Healthier Pizza Dough is for Snack.

Healthier Pizza Dough takes several minutes to prepare.

Healthier Pizza Dough takes several minutes to cook.

Healthier Pizza Dough makes 8 servings.

The ingredients for Healthier Pizza Dough are:

I love making pizza, and although this is still a little on the carb heavy side, it's a much healthier pizza than what can be found either in the stores or in a restaurant. I created this because I wanted something that would satisfy my comfort food urges without it being unhealthy.

Makes 8 rounds.

2 cups self rising enriched white flour (reserve 1 cup aside for later use when kneading bread)
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup ground flax seed meal
1/2 cup ground lentils
1/2 cup ground chickpeas or chickpea flour if you can find it.
3 teaspoons of yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
1 1/3 cups water
3 tablespoons of olive oil
cornmeal for dusting
baking stone (you can get them at Target for $14)

Put the dry ingredients (flours & salt) in the oven at 240 degrees. While the flours are warming up, put the sugar into a measuring cup with 1/3rd cup of warm tap water (not hot or you'll kill the yeast) 110 degrees. Mix up and let it double in size.

When the yeast has doubled, make a well in your dough and pour it into the center, along with another cup of water. You may need to add a little bit more, so add sparingly. You want a semi-thick wet messy dough that'll stick to your hands at this stage. Pour out the remaining cup of flour onto your work surface and pull the wet dough out and into the flour.

Knead the dough for approximately 8 to 10 minutes. If the dough's too sticky, add a little bit more flour. Your dough will need to be soft and not sticky to the touch, but don't add too much flour or you'll have a very heavy bread as an end product.

Form the dough into a ball. Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into the same pan you mixed the dough in, and roll the dough around in it, coating it well. This is necessary to avoid the dough becoming dry and not rising properly. Take a plastic shopping bag, shake it out, and then tuck it all around the dough. Next take a kitchen towel, wet it with hot water, and put that on top of the plastic bag. You will let the dough sit for at least 1.5 hours for it to rise, but put it in a warm place as yeast likes warmth. If you don't have a warm place, stick it in the oven and on the shelf below it, put a pan of hot water for steam.

When the dough has risen at least twice its size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into 8 pieces. Turn the oven on to 500 degrees with the baking stone on the lowest rack. Let it heat at least a half hour before you're ready to use it, so start the preheat within the last half hour of the rise.

After you've cut the dough into 8 pieces, form circles with the dough by hand. Wherever you lay the finished circle, place a generous amount of corn meal so it won't stick to that surface. A baking stone will accomodate at least one, maybe two (depends on the size of the stone and the size of the flour round).

I found that using a piece of well scrubbed plywood covered with a strong layer of tinfoil, makes a good place not only to rest the dough circles, but also for sliding the dough into the hot oven and onto the stone.

Cooking times depend on your taste (and accuracy of your oven's thermostat). If you like a chewy bread, cook it for approximately 3 minutes (without toppings - good for making blanks you can freeze and eat later). If you loading it, drop the temperature down to 440 degrees. Watch the crust and cheese (if that's what you top it with) for signs it's getting done. If you like a crispy bread, 8-10 minutes with toppings at 500 degrees.

You'd be wise to have a large pair of cooking tongs to pull the rounds out when they're done. A metal spatula works, but it's kind of clumsy.

Why use chickpea, lentil, and other grains in a bread? Well, they're great at sopping up excess cholesterol in your system, plus they add great dietary fiber. The flax seed meal also adds plant based omega-3. I also experiment with barley and sesame seeds in the mix as well. Sesame's a natural anti-inflammatory.

Here is how you make Healthier Pizza Dough:

Number of Servings: 8Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user TEXMEZ.

The nutritional information for Healthier Pizza Dough is:

• Servings Per Recipe: 8
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 236.4

• Total Fat: 4.2 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 337.8 mg
• Total Carbs: 41.0 g
• Dietary Fiber: 6.7 g
• Protein: 10.2 g