Secrets from the Cookie Princess: Super Quick Pizza Crust

We make homemade pizza a lot. Probably 2 or 3 times a month, and closer to once a week. Normally I grab the whole wheat dough balls from the deli section at the grocery store. They're handy, freeze well and usually make a pretty great crust. The problem is when they get a few days old, the dough starts to spread and break down, making them really difficult to stretch. You end up with spots that are super thin, almost transparent and get holes, and other spots with thick, tough dough. So I've been on the lookout for an easy, simple homemade pizza dough that I can make quickly for those last minute pizza nights. This is even easier than the store bought stuff, especially for those nights that I forget to take the dough out of the freezer and we don't want to wait 4 hours for it to thaw, resulting in dinner at 11 pm. The result is a wheat dough that's not tough, but chewy and tender and is the perfect base for all your favorite pizza toppings. We dressed ours up with this homemade pizza sauce, some mozzarella and pepperoni for a perfect weekend meal.

Is it the second Monday of the month? Then that mean's it's Secret Recipe Club reveal day! Each Monday a group of bloggers post a recipe they've made from another blogger's repertoire. Nobody knows who's featuring their blog until that day and it's a fun chance to visit new blogs and try something different. Visit some of the other bloggers in my group by checking out the blog hop at the bottom of this post. To learn more about Secret Recipe Club, click here. This month I had the pleasure to cook from The Tasty Cheapskate, a super impressive blog focusing on delicious homemade food for just a few dollars per meal. Once I saw in the assignment email that I had Jeanie's blog, I knew I was going to find something amazing to make. I struggled to settle on just one thing to make and I know I'll be making more of Jeanie's wonderful dishes. I thought about the Cranberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies, the Banana Breakfast Cookies and the Oatmeal Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies. Then I struggled with either the Naan or Quick Naan and weather I should make the Dal with Tomato Cream to go with it. But I finally settled on the Super Quick Pizza Crust to make this awesome pizza and I'm glad that's what I settled on. The only change I made was to add a bit of pizza seasoning (from Penzey's) to the dough. Usually we sprinkle this on top before we blind bake the crust, but it worked perfectly to season the dough. You could just add some Italian herb mix, your favorite herb blend, or just leave it plain. My favorite part though, is that just like Jeanie says, this dough costs only a fraction of the cost of the grocery store dough balls. I usually ay about $1.69, but this one cost me just about 55 cents. For more money saving, delicious recipes, be sure to visit The Tasty Cheapskate!

Super Quick Pizza Crust

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 Tablespoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon pizza seasoning (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons olive oil

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine both flours, yeast, pizza seasoning (if using) and salt.

Fit mixer with dough hook attachment and stir ingredients to combine. Continue stirring on the slowest setting and gradually drizzle in water.

Continue to stir as dough combines and drizzle in olive oil. Continue to stir until a firm ball forms--it should be slightly sticky. Note: If your dough is too dry, stir in more water, one Tablespoon at a time. If it is too dry, add more flour, one Tablespoon at a time.

Let dough rest for 10 minutes. Using hands lightly dusted with corn meal, stretch to fit pan in an evenly thickness. Poke all over with a fork and brush on a light coating of olive oil.

Blind bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and decorate with desired toppings. Return to oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes as desired.