HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH

This is from Ellen Jackson, at Culinate.com. It was the most successful for me so far. Made a nice thin crust, but no bubbles. James didn’t particularly like the cornmeal in it. Girls ate it up though.

1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon salt
¼ cup cornmeal
¾ cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
around 2 cups flour

Place the water in a large bowl with the yeast and honey. Stir to dissolve and let sit until foamy on top, about 5 minutes. Stir in salt, cornmeal, whole-wheat flour, and olive oil. Gradually stir in enough all-purpose flour to form a ball that comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface or in a mixer fitted with the dough hook. It should be pliable and elastic, but not sticky. This will take 6 to 8 minutes by hand, or half that time in a mixer.

Lightly oil a large clean bowl and place the dough in it. Turn it over to coat it with the oil and cover loosely with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch it down.

If you’re going to use within the day, allow to rise again in a warm spot. If not, divide dough into 2 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Flatten the balls slightly so that they resemble thick pizzas. Cover and refrigerate overnight. When you’re ready to use the dough, allow it to come to room temperature before stretching and rolling.

Roll into desired size, add toppings and bake for 10 – 12 minutes at 425 degrees on a pizza stone or baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. It works best to heat the cooking surface and then transfer the topped pizza onto it, but I always make a mess that way, so I make the pizza on the pan and put it in the oven.