‘Light & Healthy’ ~ Whole Wheat Thin Crust Pizza Dough

You all remember, we had so much fun swapping cookies during the food blogger cookie swap last year(that was last year??! Humpph..). So, this new year my dear friend Roshni from The Vanilla Bean and I wanted to start something new on our blogs.

After exchanging multiple e-mails, Cook-Along sessions sounded like a brilliant idea to both of us! Yes, we stay in different cities so how exactly do we plan on doing this? Lemme explain. Every month we’ll select a theme and plan a lunch/dinner-dessert menu based on it. After selecting who cooks what cooking will happen in our respective kitchens and on 15th of every month we both will post the recipes and link them. This way you get to enjoy 2 recipes! Total win-win 🙂

Going with the season of new-year resolutions, this month’s theme was a no-brainer. ‘Light & Healthy’ it is! I chose to make lunch/dinner so Roshni chose to prepare a dessert. So get ready as it’s show-time! 🙂

I have a pizza dough recipe for you today. And trust me when I say this, you NEED this recipe in your life. I conquered my fear of working with yeast last year and made these amazing Strawberry Sweet Rolls. The next thing I on my list was making pizza dough using whole wheat flour. It had to be a thin-crust pizza as I love my pizza that way. I started looking for the recipes which did not use sugar and hit jackpot with this fool-proof recipe! I doubled the recipe and did little adjustments. The results were stellar!

You must be thinking why am I putting the pizza in a healthy and light category? When topped with fresh vegetables and minimal quantity of cheese or the toppings coated with low-fat cream cheese can definitely turn it into a more well-rounded and nutritious meal. This version is anytime lighter than the ordered stuff!

So wait no more and make the pizza your way at home! 🙂

Topping of Jalapeno & Cheese

Topped with cherry tomatoes, onions and cheese

Whole Wheat Thin Crust Pizza Dough

Makes: 2 12-inches or 4 6-inches crusts | Prep time: 15 minutes | Resting: 1-2 hours

Recipe adapted from sugarfreemom.com

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp instant dry yeast (I’ve used Gloripan)
• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup warm water (around 55ºC/110ºF)
• 2 Tbsp honey

Directions:

1. Fit the dough hook attachment to your stand mixer. In the stand mixer bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
2. In a separate small bowl mix oil, honey, warm water. Add yeast and stir gently with a spoon, tillyeast dissolves. Let it sit for about 7-8 minutes until you see some foam form from the yeast.
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined at setting 2 for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Once combined change to your dough hook and keep setting at 2 and let the machine go for about 8 minutes or knead by hand for 10 minutes.
5. Remove your dough and place into a bowl greased with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise for at least one hour.
6. Once risen, knead by hand for a minute or so and spread dough by hand onto a baking sheet sprayed with oil and dusted with flour or use a rolling pin.
7. Add your choice of toppings and bake in a 400ºF/200ºC preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until crust is golden brown.

*If you don’t own a stand mixer, you may knead the dough by hand.

Now hop on to Roshni’s blog for a fabulous Zabaglione recipe!

Inside-Out Double Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies ~ Whole Wheat & Eggfree!

 

Hope the new year started on a wonderful note for you all! I am still trying to recover from the indulgent last week we had. But don’t worry, I am not here to talk about my new year resolutions or boring stuff like that 😉 I love how each new year allows us to have a clean, fresh slate giving us time to reflect upon the past and visualize the future.

I simply don’t believe in dieting. Too much of good things can’t ever be bad now, can it! Plus, I always feel that being fit is certainly not about following a restrictive diet but making a lifestyle choice. And I certainly believe in eating healthy which goes without saying as my blog-post titles almost always include healthy, skinny or light, more than you would like to see may be!

So this year is going to be all about being happy! (You can track my progress on my Instagram) Taking each day as it comes. You all know I am not much of a planner so this is all I am looking forward to this year. Umm, may be a bit more of travelling! 😉

 

 

These cookies were developed in 2013 and I never got a chance to share them at that time. I knooow it’s a crime and hence I don’t want to keep this fabulous recipe from you anymore. So I am choosing to showcase these unbelievably soft and chewy chocolate cookies laced with chocolate chips and M&Ms as a first recipe post of 2014! They are perfectly thick and so puffy. With a pop of color too!

I have kept those of you in mind who are resolute to eat healthy this year. These cookies use whole wheat flour, brown sugar and date syrup. Of course, without compromising on taste. Oh, they are eggfree too! To make them vegan, you may replace butter with olive oil and replace regular milk with soy/almond milk. Best of all world indeed! You may use any or combination of your favorite chocolate chips. I would love to use white chocolate chips the next time around because of the brilliant visual effect it will create!

 

 

Inside-Out Double Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies ~ Whole Wheat & Eggfree

Yields: Around 30 cookies | Prep time: 15 minutes | Chill time: 30-60 minutes | Bake time: 13 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp flax seed powder + 4 Tbsp water + 5 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup date syrup
• 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• lots n lots of M&Ms

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together flax seed powder, water and milk. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, with the help of your electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy on a medium speed for about 1-2 minute. Beat in date syrup, vanilla extract and flax seed mixture.
4. Fold in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add 3 Tbsp of milk to form the dough. Fold in chocolate chips. Chill the dough in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Take about 2 Tbsp of dough, form it into a ball between your palms and flatten them. The cookies won’t spread much while baking so flatten how much ever thickness you like. Press M&Ms on the cookie dough. Bake them for 13 minutes. Let them cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them on cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will stay fresh for 1 week at room temperature in an airtight container.

*For vegan version : Replace butter with olive oil and replace regular milk with soy/almond milk.