beer pizza dough = :)

I was falling asleep the other day and began thinking about the first elephant mugs I made, about 12 years ago:  the very first is the cup on the left, the most recent style on the far right.  I was thinking "golly, it takes no time at all to make the cup shape for the standing ones, but the adding feet and all ...well, let's make a whole herd!"  It IS a cute style, isn't it?  So is the style on the right....but I revisit old ideas from time to time, I do indeed....


I woke up yesterday and I was like "whole wheat beer pizza dough: it has GOT to exist!" and I looked it up, lickity split, and got a recipe, and made it....holy CATS am I glad I did! It is the MOST elastic pizza dough I have ever made (I am throwing out some of my pizza recipes, why bother using them again!) , and cooked utterly perfectly with her instructions...the basics of which is below--I don't use a mixer or any of that, just put all ingredients in a bowl, stir, knead for awhile :) **



Amazing:  my old pal Kerry gave us some unidentified tomato plants and we grew them in pots on the porch and WOW, some are cherry, some plum, some huge, ALL are doing mighty well and starting to produce!


**
whole wheat beer pizza

2 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (what I used)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups room-temperature beer (the stronger the flavor, the better)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with a paddle attachment and mixed until just combined. Replace paddle attachment with dough hook and knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes (or knead by hand on a lightly floured countertop for about 10 minutes). Form dough into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Remove risen dough from bowl and punch down. Divide in half and shape each piece into a 10-12 inch round or 8-by-12 inch rectangle. Place rounds or rectangles onto pizza stones or parchment paper-lined baking sheets. For thin crust, bake pizza immediately. For medium to thick crust, let dough rest for about 30 minutes.
Bake crusts without anything on them for about 5 minutes. Add meat and veggie ingredients and bake another 10 minutes. Add half the cheese and any herbs and bake another 3 minutes, then add remaining cheese and bake until cheese is just melted, about 3 more minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.