Whole Wheat Pizza Dough - September Secret Recipe Club

My two oldest are back in school now, and even though that gives me a few more hours during the day, the dinner scramble is no less crazy.  This past weekend, yes the holiday weekend, I spent setting myself up with a stocked freezer. One of my go-to dinner cheats is whole wheat pizza dough.

You can always find a ball of it tucked into my freezer, ready to be dressed for dinner!

So when I was perusing Lori's blog, Lori's Culinary Creations, for my September Secret Recipe Club selection and came across her recipe for  whole wheat pizza dough , I knew that would be the recipe. I was hooked when I saw she ground her own wheat for it.

Grinding our own whole what has been a real treat! It has great flavor and texture... much better than that whole wheat flour you find on the grocery store shelves.

Lori's blog was a treat to read. She shares my passion for culinary adventures and she believes life should be experienced. She also shares my love of German food, and I will have to go back and try her recipes for Beef Roulade and Red Cabbage. Mmm...

So, again, her whole wheat flour recipe was what caught my eye. I love working with freshly ground wheat because it has all the wheat germ and everything right there. I have really enjoyed my WonderMill and recommend my whole wheat pancake recipe if you get the chance.

This pizza dough is really simple and fast to make. It is the perfect way to clean out the veggie bins in the fridge or complement those fresh garden tomatoes. This time around I went with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes on one half, and eggplant and peppers on the other.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
adapted from Lori's Culinary Creations

You Will Need:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon dry active yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon pizza flavor (King Arthur's Flour)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Whisk together the flour, yeast and salt. Stir in the remaining ingredients until the dough comes together in a craggy ball. Continue to knead till smooth. Add a little water or sprinkle of flour to reach a good elastic dough.

Let the dough rise for 2-3 hours, covered, in a greased bowl.

Prehead the oven and pizza stone (if you have one) to 375 degrees.

Punch the dough down and roll out. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes before prebaking. Then brush the dough with olive oil and place on a pan sprinkled with cornmeal.

Top as desired with your favorite combination of sauce, cheese, vegetables and meat. Then finish baking for 18 - 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Enjoy!

An InLinkz Link-up

 

Cranberry Orange Oat Muffins - Good Cook Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe #84

*Disclaimer - I am part of the Good Cook Blogger Program and received these products for review. All opinions and experiences are my own. 

Every year I make homemade cranberry sauce. We have a gorgeous abundance of cranberries grown here in Oregon... bet you didn't know that. Some are even grown and sold through the Ocean Spray cranberry growers. It is a local item we carry at the farm market. No, we don't grow them here on our farm, but they thrive well on the Oregon coast.

This year the fresh cranberries were especially lovely. Dry picked, they are lasting much longer than the floated alternative. We ate several straight after delivery and savored all the tart crunch each little berry packed.

With my Mom visiting from out of town, I actually made two batches of sauce. Good Cook challenged their bloggers to get creative with their leftovers, but I was up a creek if I didn't even have any leftovers to work with!

I was sent that lovely assortment of goodies before the holidays and knew I wanted to create an easy after-Thanksgiving muffin recipe. I mean, I am wiped out from turkey day and still have a house full of hungry people to please. I'm a people pleaser, people.

This recipe had to be a little healthy, not the average cake and fruit combo that gained Jim Gaffigan fame for his muffin/cake jokes. No, mine had to have whole wheat flour, oats, nuts and still let the tart gorgeous cranberries shine through.

Are you with me?

Now, I like to make my muffins pretty. Don't hate. I always save out a few extra cranberries, some walnuts and oats to decorate the tops. It doesn't take that much longer, but they sure do come out pretty.

This recipe was perfect to pair with a big mug of herbal tea.

Again, I created this recipe with the Good Cook Nonstick Muffin Pan, that holds 6 cups. I love how easily the pan washed up afterwards. My muffins baked evenly and the pan seems sturdy enough for all my muffin and cupcake needs.

Now, all the Good Cook bloggers are getting together to contribute their leftover best recipes. You can see the original article on Good Cook. Also be sure to browse the linky below the recipe for even more great leftover inspiration.

Cranberry Orange Oat Muffins

You Will Need:
1 c. flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. old fashioned oats
1 Tbsp. cake enhancer
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
1 1/2 c. cranberry sauce
3/4 c. whole milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 egg
1 c. walnuts, chopped
Whole cranberries, oats and walnuts reserved for topping the muffins *optional

Preheat the own to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with baking papers. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

In a medium bowl, mix together the vanilla bean paste, cranberry sauce, milk, oil and egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just to combine. Fold in the nuts.

Fill each muffin paper just shy of the top. Mine were a little higher than 3/4 c. full. They won't rise too much. Bake for 20 - 22 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Enjoy!