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Special Diet Information

Coumadin® (Warfarin)
This recipe is safe for Coumadin (warfarin) users.

Lactose
This recipe is safe for those who are lactose intolerant.

Sodium
This is NOT a low sodium recipe.

GERD / Acid Reflux
No specific GERD triggers.

Gluten Sensitivity
This recipe is NOT safe for those who are sensitive to gluten.

"Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread. Without it, it's flat.
"
-Carmen McRae, Singer

The refrigerator light goes on...

Using whole wheat pizza dough for pizza recipes is a great way to get extra fiber. The dough has more body that regular pizza dough and a mellow, sweet flavor. And it adds 6 grams of fiber to your diet!

Wheat Flours

Any grain that has been finely ground is technically a flour.  

The most popular flour is all-purpose wheat flour, also known as white flour.  It is manufactured by crushing wheat berries between large steel rollers.  Most white flour is mass produced in industrial quantities with the production process taking place at high temperatures, which both destroys the wheat germ and removes the outer bran layer.  All that is left is the endosperm. The result is the loss of many vitamins and nutrients.  

Stone grinding is a slower process using large stones to crush the wheat so that the germ and bran are not lost as the flour is produced.  This is the principal difference between white (no germ or bran) and wheat flour (germ, bran and endosperm).  

Because the flour made by steel grinding no longer contains the germ, U.S. law requires that lost nutrients be replaced with iron, niacin, riboflavin and thiamine.  Many manufacturers add other nutrients.  This is how flour comes to be labeled “Enriched.”  I like to add a little wheat germ back into my baked goods for the fiber and sweetness that has been removed from all purpose flour.  

The proteins in flours (known as glutens) are the key to the character of a particular flour.  These molecules form an elastic framework that traps gas (mostly carbon dioxide) formed by different leavening agents (such as baking soda or yeast).  

White flours are usually made with a combination of a low gluten “soft-wheat” flour and higher gluten “hard-wheat” flour.  Most have more gluten per ounce than whole wheat flour and, as a result, a greater ability to trap the gas formed by leavening agents.  Consequently, breads made with white flours will rise further and be less dense.  

Whole wheat flours are more nutritious because they contain most of the vitamins lost when making white flour.  They are also higher in fiber (clearly important with what we now know about the importance if high fiber diets).  The germ contains some fat and most of the vitamins, while the bran layer is mostly fiber.  Because of the higher fat content, whole wheat flour doesn’t keep as well as white flour and will turn rancid over time.  

Flour also bleaches naturally as it ages; as it does, the glutens mature. Ageing flour costs more money than bleaching with chemicals, so most of the flour on the market is chemically treated to simulate the ageing process.  Unbleached flour will have more flavor but it can also be an inconsistent product, so try to purchase unbleached flour from the same miller.  

1/4 cup enriched all purpose white flour = 112 calories, <1 fat, 0g sat fat, 0g mono fat, 3g protein, 24g carbohydrates, <1mg sodium, 0mg cholesterol, 0 mcg Vitamin K

1/4 cup whole wheat flour = 102 calories, <1 fat, 0g sat fat, 0g mono fat, 4g protein, 22g carbohydrates, <1mg sodium, 0mg cholesterol, 0 mcg Vitamin K

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Servings = 4 | Serving size =enough dough for 4 individual pizzas

Cooking Time = 30 Minutes

This recipe can be multiplied by 2.

This recipe can be divisible by 2.

This dough will keep for about 36 hours in the refrigerator if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. It will not be as good as fresh.

1 cup	warm water
1 tsp	dry active yeast
4 tsp	honey
2 cups	whole wheat flour
1/2 cups	all purpose flour
1/2 tsp	salt

Place the yeast and honey in a large mixing bowl and pour the heated water over the mixture, stirring until well blended. Let the mixture stand for about 5 - 7 minutes until foamy.

Add the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and salt and stir with a fork until a coarse dough forms.

Continue to mix by hand until a dough ball forms and all the flour is well blended.

Cover the bowl and place it in a sink with about 4 inches of hot water in the bottom. The heat from the warm water will help the dough rise. The dough will double in size in about 30 – 40 minutes. Punch it a few times with your fingers and let it rise another 30 minutes.

Remove from the bowl and cut the ball into four equal pieces. Cover the dough that you are not going to use immediately in plastic wrap and chill.