Grilling our homemade whole wheat pizza dough is a must-do this summer!  Finding pre-made pizza dough is a tough challenge because most store-bought offerings are high in sodium and may contain extra ingredients you don’t want or need.  We went back to basics and made our own low-fat, low sodium whole grain dough that we top with loads of fresh veggies and garden-fresh herbs.  For extra crunchy creations, we prefer to grill our pizzas instead of baking them in the oven.  Use this recipe whenever you have “pizza night” in your house; and make and freeze extra dough balls for pizza emergencies.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (courtesy of Appetite for Life)

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour + extra for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
1½ cups water
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey

Directions:

1. In large bowl, combine flours and baking powder. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and add water, oil, and honey. With large spoon, stir ingredients together until dough comes away from side of bowl, making sure that no flour remains on bowl.
2. On surface lightly dusted with all-purpose flour, knead dough 5–10 minutes or until pliable, adding flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to hands and work surface.
3. Shape dough into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or until easy to roll.
4. On floured surface, cut dough ball into 10 equal pieces. With floured rolling pin, roll each piece into a 5-inch round, about 1/2-inch thick (it doesn’t have to be perfect!). Place rounds on greased baking sheet as they are rolled; cover loosely with plastic wrap until ready to cook.

Makes 20 servings (1/2 crust per serving).

Nutrition Facts per serving: 100 calories; 2g fat (0g sat fat, 1g mono, 0g trans fat); 0mg cholesterol; 18g carbohydrate (2g fiber, 1g sugar); 3g protein; 55mg sodium; 2% Daily Value (DV) calcium; 4% DV iron.

* TO GRILL DOUGH:  Grease large ridged grill pan and heat over medium heat until hot.  Place dough rounds on hot grill pan and cook until underside of dough turns golden and grill marks appear, about 4 minutes. With tongs, turn crusts over and grill for another 4 minutes.

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

– Stacey Antine, MS, RD, author, Appetite for Life, founder, HealthBarn USA, co-host, Family Food Expert Internet Radio Show, and recognized as top 10 dietitians nationally by Today’s Dietitian magazine for her work with HealthBarn USA.

What puzzles you about keeping your family healthy?  Tell us what’s on your mind by emailing [email protected].  Stacey will answer those questions in her Mom’s Burning Questions blog weekly.