perfect pizza dough

i love browsing through recipe books

one day i stumbled upon a tasty looking pizza dough recipe
the recipe was titled "benefit of the dough" and had this description:

no doubt about this dough!

it's the best-tasting healthy

pizza crust you've ever tried.

and it's a pizza cake

to make - simple and

quick enough for a

weeknight supper

delish.

this is my go-to pizza recipe now. with the prep, the rising and the baking it takes about 45 minutes from start to finish. or an hour if you're taking your sweet time.

so tonight, for our valentines dinner i am making 2 pizzas. one for michael & one for me. that way we can each have our favorite toppings, and we'll have left overs for another day this week.

so here is the recipe. try it!

ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp flax meal or ground flaxseed (i prefer the ground stuff, it integrates into the dough better)
1 envelope (or 2 1/4 tsp) quick-rising yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup very warm water
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp liquid honey
cooking spray
1 tbsp cornmeal

directions:
in a medium bowl, combine both flours, flaxseed, yeast & salt. mix well.

measure warm water in measuring cup, then stir in olive oil & honey. pour mixture over dry ingredients and mix using a wooden spoon to form a ball. turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. knead for 2 minutes. spray the inside of the bowl with cooking spray and place the dough back inside. cover with plastic wrap. let rise in a warm place ** until double in size, about 20 minutes. meanwhile, spray a 12-inch pizza pan with olive oil spray and dust with cornmeal.

when dough has risen, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and, using a rolling pin, roll dough into a 12-inch circle. transfer dough to prepared pizza pan. you can top it with your favorite toppings at this point & bake in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes. or, prick crust in several places with a fork & bake untopped for 6 minutes. remove crust from oven, top with your favorite sauce & toppings, then slide pizza directly onto middle oven rack and bake for an additional 8 to 10 minutes.

** my own note. a tip from my grandma. if you want to speed up the rising time - fill up the sink with hot water (about 1/3 of the way up the sink. definitely not enough to go over the bowl!) place the bowl in the hot water. it'll help!

also, i stretch the pizza dough enough to fit onto a regular sized cookie sheet. it makes a nice thin crust and a larger pizza.

anyway, the timer just went off. and they smell & look perfectly delicious.

here are some pictures and... happy valentines day!