Whole Wheat and Milled Flaxseed Pizza Dough

Like most people, I love pizza but the cheese covered white dough isn’t the healthiest. I don’t want to scale back on the amount of cheese that I use but I am willing to do something about the white dough. Also, my little boy, who also loves pizza, gets a bit of a system back-up if he eats too much cheese and not enough whole grains (I’m sure he will love that I shared that when he gets older).

On a recent trip to the Bulk Barn (a great source for all kinds of different flours, seeds and for great prices) I saw Hard Whole Wheat Stone Ground Flour. The sign said that it was great for breads and I could see that it was a finer mill than most whole wheat flour. I figured this would make a pizza dough that come together easily and have a nice texture, somewhat similar to using regular flour.
On a different shopping trip I picked up some PC Organics Milled Flaxseed and I thought that a little bit of this thrown in the dough would ramp up the healthy factor just a little bit more.

I use my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer to do the majority of the work involved. I found that it rolled out well and had a pretty good texture once it baked in the oven. There was no secret that it was whole wheat pizza dough, but I like the nuttiness of whole grains and I like knowing that I served a much healthier meal than when I would make pizza with good old white flour.

I’m not including a recipe for tomato sauce nor am I getting creative with pizza toppings – I like bacon and mushrooms with a mix of cheddar and mozzarella cheese on my pizza. Use what you like and enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp sugar
1 pkg yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp if using the yeast in a jar)
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups Hard Whole Wheat Stone Ground Flour (whole wheat bread flour) plus more for kneading
1/4 cup PC Organics Milled Flaxseed

How-to
Pour the warm water into the bowl of a stand-mixer (if you don’t have
one, a medium sized bowl and a fork will get the dough going) and add the sugar. Stir the sugar to dissolve it and then add the yeast. Let the yeast proof for about 10 minutes and then add the salt (don’t forget the salt!!) and olive oil. Add one cup of the flour and turn your machine on to a slow speed. Add the rest of the flour about a quarter cup at a time until the dough is coming together well. Then add the flaxseed and let the machine run for a minute or two to allow everything to come together. You may need more flour if the dough is still very sticky in the mixer. If that is the case, let the machine run some more and add flour a little bit at a time. Empty the dough out onto a floured surface – I just use my counter-top. Knead it for a minute until it forms a nice tight ball of dough – sprinkle with a little flour if it is sticking as you knead. Put the dough in a bowl coated with a bit of olive oil, turning the dough in the oil to lightly coat the top of the dough. Put a clean tea towel over top and let it rise for a half hour in a warm place.

George having a look

While it was rising, I prepared my pizza toppings and preheated the oven to 450 degrees F. After the half hour, punch the dough down and roll it out into the desired shape. I use a perforated round pizza pan, so I rolled mine out to fit the size of my pan. Then I topped the dough with  sauce (maybe a 1/2 cup), cheese, mushrooms and some bacon that I had fried up while the dough was rising. I baked it at 450 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes.