Garlic-Herb WW Pizza Crust

If you've been reading my blog over the past few weeks, you are probably looking at the title of the blog and saying to yourself, "There she goes again!  Eating junk food..."

Never fear, I have not slipped back into my old, indulgent ways... I'm eating healthy and the weight is slowly but surely coming off.  There's actually a story behind this meal.  And actually, it's a pretty good-for-you meal, too!

It was the Monday after Thanksgiving and my fridge looked like this:

Kinda empty, huh?

I hadn't gotten around to grocery shopping, I'd had a crazy-busy day, and all I had in the freezer for quick cooking was chicken and turkey.  My husband insisted that he was "sick of bird" and requested something else for dinner.

So I dug around in my fridge a little and found some leftover pepperoni and some mozzarella cheese.  Okay, pizza it was.  But how to make the pizza low calorie?  The two biggest culprits in pizza calories are the crust and the cheese.  I could do something about those.  For starters, I wanted to make a 100% whole wheat crust.  A thin 100% whole wheat crust. And I wanted it to be basically fat-free. But because I knew it wouldn't go over well with such a strong whole wheat flavor, I had to add some extra flavor to the crust.  Yum, yum, and double-yum.  The Honey liked it, Horse Lover tolerated it, and The Monkey, Handsome Man and I loved it!   This is a definite keeper.

Garlic-Herb Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

(Makes 12 servings, 110 calories each)

1 c. warm water

1 tsp. honey

1 Tbsp yeast (or 1 packet of yeast)

1 tsp. salt

1/4 c. applesauce

3 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. pizza seasoning

Cooking spray

Note: This was really easy for me to mix up because I have a KitchenAid counter-top mixer.  If you don't have something like that, I recommend checking out my Homemade Bread Tutorial for tips on how to make this with a regular mixer.

In mixing bowl, combine water, honey, and yeast.  Let sit 5-10 minutes until foamy.  Add remaining ingredients and beat for 3-4 minutes.  It should look something like this:

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a nicely rounded ball.  If you look really closely you can see the pizza seasoning in the dough.

If you're cooking for a large group and have a large pizza pan or stone, you can use this whole amount for your crust.  Since I was cooking for 2 adults and 3 children, I opted to use 2/3 of the crust for dinner and spread it into a cookie sheet, nice and thin.  Because this recipe has no oil in it, you'll want to be sure to coat your pizza pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Then, once you got the dough spread out a little , coat the top of the dough with the cooking spray, too.  This will make it easier for you to spread it out without the dough sticking to your fingers, and adds a minimal amount of fat.

 Important: Once I prepared the crust, I let it rise for about 10-15 minutes before adding the toppings.  By nature, whole wheat is more dense than breads made with white flour, and I wanted as much air in this crust as possible so it wouldn't feel like we were eating flavored cardboard!

So what did I do with the rest of the crust?

I stuck it in a sandwich bag (coated with cooking spray, of course) and stuck it in the fridge.  Then I pulled it out the next day for lunch and made another pizza for me and the kids.

So now you have your low-cal pizza crust.  What are you going to put on it?  Here's a couple ideas - along with the total calories per serving.

Traditional Pepperoni Mushroom Pizza

(When prepared with full crust recipe, yield is 12 slices of about 230 calories each.)

1 c. pureed Italian-style diced tomatoes

1 small can mushrooms, drained

36 sliced of pepperoni

3 c. shredded mozzarella

Spread pureed tomatoes on top of prepared crust.  Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups of the cheese.

Add pepperoni and mushrooms.  As you can see from the picture, only 1/2 my family likes mushrooms, so I actually only used 1/2 a can.

Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 c. of cheese.

Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted, and possibly lightly browned in spots.

Greek Red Pepper and Mushroom Pizza

(When prepared with full crust recipe, yield is 12 slices of about 160 calories each.)

1 c. pureed Italian-style diced tomatoes

1 small can mushrooms, drained

1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese

Layer sauce, shredded mozzarella, peppers, and mushrooms.  Top with crumbled feta.

Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted, and possibly lightly browned in spots.

p.s. My neighbor plugged the ingredients into the Weight Watchers website to calculate the points.  It comes out to ONE point per serving!!