Saturday 5 June 2010

Wholemeal Goodness

I like to bake with wholemeal flour, be it muffins, cakes, cookies or bread. Besides being a healthier option, wholemeal flour gives my baked goods a nice, nutty texture. So when I first saw Grace's Whole Wheat Pizza crust, I told myself I have to try it right away.


Homemade pizza is becoming a regular lunch treat for my kids. Making pizza at home is not that difficult, in fact, I find making the pizza crust a breeze. There is minimal ingredients used and the dough is pretty easy to knead. One of the best thing about making your own pizza is that you can create whatever you want...which for me would usually depends on what I have in my fridge ;)


I followed Grace's pizza crust closely, except that I added in 1 teaspoon of dried mixed herbs. I liked how the crust turned out...deliciously crispy!


Although I kept reminding myself not to overload the crust, I couldn't help but pile it up with lots of fresh brown button mushrooms, olives, and some leftover sausages. While I don't mind the boring 'pineapple and ham' toppings (a must for my kids though), this mushroom combo remains my all-time favourite. As for the taste, I shall leave it to the photos to speak for itself ;)


Wholemeal Pizza Dough

Ingredients
(make two 8-10" pizza)

100g bread flour
100g wholemeal flour
10g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs (optional)
110g (110ml) water
10g olive oil

Method:
  1. Place bread flour, wholemeal flour, sugar, salt, yeast and dried mixed herbs in a mixing bowl. Mix well with hand. Make a well in the centre and add the water and olive oil. Using your hand, gradually work the ingredients together to form a soft dough.
  2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10mins until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Shape dough into a round ball and place in a lightly oiled mixing bowl. Cover with cling wrap and leave to rise for 1 hr or until double in size.
  3. Turn out the risen dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knock it down to release the air. Give it a few gentle kneading. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Shape into two balls, cover loosely with cling wrap and let the dough rest for about 10mins.
  4. Roll or press out each portion to a round, about 8~10" in size. Place dough on baking tray lined with parchment paper or on a greased baking pan.
  5. Spread some pizza sauce (I used store bought spaghetti sauce) over the dough to within 1 cm (0.5 inch) of the edge. Arrange a layer of grated cheese (I used grated mozzarella), followed by preferred toppings. Sprinkle the top all over with grated cheese.
  6. Bake in a preheat oven at 220 degC for 12~15mins or until the crust has turned golden and the cheese has melted. Serve warm.
Recipe source: adapted from here.

46 comments:

Bigarade said...

Oh this looks divine!
i love the way you put herbs into the base!
Great post :)

Bakericious said...

HHB, I have been using your recipe for pizza for many times and everyone raved about it that I didnt wanna try another recipe. But I m going to try this to give a change since is using wholemeal flour :).

Quinn said...

The problem with me is that I love crispy crust pizza base with loads of filling but I do know a little filling and cheese goes a long way and that too much will give way to a soggy crust and I want crispy crust. I'm stuck in a confused loop! Yours looks great by the way!

Lara said...

Hi HHB, Great Recipe will surely try it - only we don't get bread flour here so I will have to substitute with all purpose flour.
Tried the Doggy Cookies today - they are sooooooooo cute and so yummy.
Can you please tell me where I can get Pandan Paste/Pandan flavouring in Singapore as I am travelling there in August and plan to pick it up if I can. Thanks - Lara

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Lara, you can try these baking supply stores:
a) Sun Lik
located at 33, Seah St, Singapore 188389
(beside Raffles Hotel)
b) Phoon Huat (website: http://www.phoonhuat.com)
There are several outlets, you can check the website for one that is convenient for you.
Hope this helps :)

Aimei said...

Your pizza looks good and really healthy!

Lara said...

Thanks HHB, I will try Sun Lik besides Raffles. I have been to Phoon Huat a lot, never found Pandan Paste there. Raffles would be easier as I stay at Pan Pac, Marina Square all the time. I travel there almost every 2 months. Hope I get to meet you sometime. We could exchange many ideas:))

Anonymous said...

Hi Happy Homebaker
I intend to buy an oven, can you please tell what type of oven you use and how many litre.

Thanks
Ren

Anonymous said...

The more toppings, the better, if you ask me. And wholemeal? All the more reason to go back for another slice or two! :D

Angie's Recipes said...

These pizza look sensational! Wholemeal crust is definitely better and healthier.

JT said...

Hi, which brand of wholemeal flour do you use?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Ren, I am sorry I am not able to recommend any oven, as mine is a small Tefal 20L tabletop electric oven, (can only fit in a 9" round pan) and the temperature is not very stable/accurate.

thanks Angie!

hi missy-j, I got it from Phoon Huat.

Pei-Lin said...

Hello, HHB!

I've made pizzas but not thin-crust ones as of yet! I'll get my hands down on these eventually. Now, I'm just waiting for the right time to come ... Speaking of whole-wheat, I'm pretty much a whole-wheat person, too. Glad that you're also in the loop! Haha!

Kitchen Corner said...

Hi HHB,
That's very good idea to add some herbs into the pizza dough! I must try it for my next pizza baking too! Thanks for the good tips! Hey, your pizza always looks so delicious!

Anonymous said...

This is making me drool, nice pictures there~ I like this so much :)

Anonymous said...

Hi,

The pizza looks great! I will like to know what is the difference between brown yeast and instant yeast that you are using? Do i use the same quantity of yeast if i'm using brown yeast?

Sunnybb

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Sunnybb, I am sorry I do not know what is brown yeast, maybe you want to refer to this site (http://www.joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html).

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Your blog give me lots of inspiration.
I want to try this pizza. May I know where can I get the instant yeast? and which brand do you use?

Tks,
JJ

Anonymous said...

Have you tried to knead the pizza dough by usung the breadmaker? Any diffrence?

Tks,
JJ

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi JJ, I used this brand "Bake King" which is available at most supermarkets. I have not tried using breadmaker to knead a pizza dough, as pizza doughs are very easy to knead by hand. You can always use the breadmachine to knead the dough, I don't think there is any difference.

Mary Bergfeld said...

This looks like a wonderful pizza! I've bookmarked it. I also spent some time going through your earlier recipes. You have a lovely blog and feature great recipes for your readers. I'll be back to see what else you've been cooking. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

This wholemeal pizza is healthy and good!

Anonymous said...

Hi Home baker, Thats a very yummy n healthy pizza........Is whole meal flour and whole wheat flour r same?

Anonymous said...

This looks great! Have you tried grilling your pizza ever? I talk about it a bit on my blog... www.bakingserendipity.blogspot.com. Yours is great!

Anne said...

i love this pizza. i can do this for my family over the weekend.

John said...

This looks yummy!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, yes, wholemeal flour and whole wheat flour refers to the same thing.

JC said...

Hi HHB :)

i have Wholemeal flour for breadmaking. Is that what you use? I can use that right?

Cheers
JC

Reira said...

Hi HappyHomebaker,

Been following your blog since 4 years ago! Only recently got an oven of my own.

Would like to check with you, where do you purchase the muffin baking cups? They looks so nice and pretty! Couldn't find them in phoon huat.

Thanks!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi JC, yes, you can use the wholemeal flour for breadmaking.

Hi Reira, thanks for following my blog for so many years! I am not sure which muffin cups are you referring? Can you tell me the title of the post?

HF said...

Hi HHB,
I've been inspired by you to try using wholemeal flour in my bakes! How do you usually incorporate the use of wholemeal flour in muffins/ cake recipes? Do you substitute some of the flour with wholemeal flour?

Thanks!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi HF, I usually follow recipes that calls for wholemeal flour, except for one or two recipes which I substituted some of the flour with wholemeal ones, but not too much, usually not more than 1/3. Do note that wholemeal flour tends to give a dry texture.

HF said...

Hi HHB,
Thanks very much for your advice! I will keep a lookout for such recipes. By the way, I have tried your wholemeal cookies and oatmeal chocolate chips cookies recipes, and my family loves them!

Reira said...

Hi HappyHomebaker,

Thanks for your reply! I love the strawberry baking cups from the "For the Love of Muffins" page.

Also would like to check with you. Is there any reason why some muffin can use all purpose flour but Peanut Butter Chips Crumble Muffins uses self raising flour?

Thanks a lot!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Reira, I got those muffin cups (with strawberry prints) from Phoon Huat. Maybe you can call up to check?

All muffins will require the use of baking powder in order for it to rise. Some recipes will use plain flour + baking powder, whereas some will use only self-raising flour as self-raising flour contains baking powder. Hope this helps.

Reira said...

Hi Happy Homebaker,

Thank you so much! Didnt know that self raising flour contains baking powder!

I went to the Marsiling branch but didn't saw it. Maybe sold out.

Just tried to make muffin recently using your Classic Blueberry Muffins recipe. Instead of blueberry, i used blueberry jam as the blueberry i bought are always too sour!

Anyway, the end result turns out to be hard. As I am new to baking, really have no idea how did it turn out like that!

Also, is there any technique to cause a muffin so round on top as the photos shown on your Classic Blueberry Muffins page?

Thanks once again!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Reira, you may have over stir the batter. The batter should appear lumpy.
As for the domed shaped, I have actually wrote about it in that Classic Blueberry muffins post...refer para 3 of that post, I have also included the link on the article on how to bake a high domed muffin. Hope this helps :)

Reira said...

Hi Happy Homebaker,

Thanks a lot for the advice! Will check it out! =)

Anonymous said...

wow... your pizza looks so delicious! Will try this and let you know the result.

Fong

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I'm so pleased to say that my first attempt at making pizza is very successful! Really thanks to you for sharing your recipe. Pics of my pizza at:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1242522&l=919697ab04&id=1074601363

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1242523&l=74940d90b1&id=1074601363

fong

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi fong, your homemade pizza looks good, and I'll love to have a bowl of your mushroom and potatoes soup! I am sure you had fun making the pizza, and thanks for sharing your photos :)

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,
I tried this recipe twice but the dough failed to rise. Any idea what have went wrong?
Thanks.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, could it be the yeast? has it expired? I am using Instant Yeast, if you are using other type, eg Active Dry Yeast, you will need to follow the instructions on the package, ie, it usually requires it to be dissolved in water to activate the yeast before using.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I have tried both methods - mix the yeast directly and dissolved it in the warm water. But still not rising.
The dough is sticky. Is it correct to pour all the water gradually? I felt the dough is wet.

Anonymous said...

It shouldn't be expired. I just bought over the weekend. It is instant yeast.
The dough is sticky.
Do you mix all the water (110ml) ? I pour all and it was sticky. Could this be the reason?
Or I didnt knead enough?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, the dough shouldnt be wet, it is very easy to knead the dough as it is not sticky or wet. Yes, add the water all at once. Did you get the measurement correct? I used 100g bread flour and 100g wholemeal flour (prima brand).