Multi-Grain Pizza Crust with Flax Seed & Coconut Oil

Holy pizza.

A little over a year ago, Adam and I were on our honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.  We still dream about the beach and the pool at our resort, along with the fresh squeezed fruit juices that we drank every morning for breakfast.  But, as strange as it sounds, one of the things we reminisce about the most is the amazing pizza we ate. 

I don't even remember the name of the little pizza place that we went to, but I remember that we had hiked all day and were ravenous. We ordered 2 pizzas to go, took them back to our room, and commenced eating an embarrassingly large number of slices. We went back two days later and did the same thing. 

What distinguished this pizza from the many others we've had in the United States was the crust. It was a multi-grain crust made with with coconut water and coconut oil harvested on the island. It was soft, chewy, nutty and completely crave-worthy. 

As with the many recipes I have sought to recreate this year, I was nervous about attempting to replicate this crust, not to mention the fact that recipes involving yeast and kneading tend to make me feel like an even more inept cook than I already am. 

The dough started out like this:

And after an hour of rise time, it looked like this:

Success!

I divided the dough in half, spread it out on two cookie sheets, and let it rise for another 45 minutes.  Then, I stretched the dough out a little more and precooked it at 450 for 8-10 minutes.

Then it was time for toppings.

Roasted eggplant with onions and garlic for me.

Pepperoni, green peppers, and onions for him.

And the cheese, always the cheese. If you are going all out and making your own pizza dough, please buy the fresh mozzarella cheese and slice it yourself. The big gooey globs of melted mozz kind of make the whole thing worth it.

More pictures of pizza, because I can.

The crust is healthy pizza perfection. Crispy on the edges, soft in the middle, with a satisfying nutty crunch of flax seeds that makes you feel just a little bit healthier for ingesting so many a reasonable number of slices.

I will admit that the coconut flavor is not particularly strong in the pizza, in fact I didn't really notice it at all. It's a fun addition, but you could easily use olive oil instead. I must insist, however, that you use the flax meal and flax seeds, as they are the standout in this crust. 

This is a fun weekend recipe that you can assemble with friends. The two pizzas we made could easily serve 5-6 people. 

You can't look at this photo and tell me you don't want a slice. 

Multi-Grain Pizza Crust with Coconut Oil and Flax seed

Ingredients:
2 tsp instant yeast
3/4 cup luke warm water
1/2 cup luke warm coconut water
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 whole flax meal
1/4 cup whole flax seeds

Directions:
Liberally grease a large bowl and 2 cookie sheets.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, milled flax and flax seed. In a large bowl, combine the warmed water, coconut water, coconut oil and yeast.  Add flour mixture to the water mixture and begin kneading by hand. Knead for about 5 minutes or until dough is slightly soft and sticky.

Place the dough in the greased bowl, cover and allow to rise for 1 hour.

Divide the dough in half and lightly press out into desired shape on the cookie sheets. (If the dough is not stretching as large as you would like, don’t panic! You can stretch it again after it rises.) Cover and let rise for an additional 45 minutes or until noticeably puffy. Preheat oven to 450.

Stretch dough out to desired size. Spray dough with non-stick spray and bake (without toppings!) for 8-10 minutes.

Remove from oven. Top with desired toppings and bake again for an additional 8-10 minutes or until crust is slightly browned and cheese is melted.

(If you’re obsessed with the bubbly browned cheese like me, you can turn the broiler on for the last minute or two. Just watch it carefully so as not to burn it!)

For the Eggplant pizza:

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, thinly sliced

¼ of a red onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

tomato sauce

fresh mozzarella cheese

Directions:

While the dough is rising, lay eggplant slices in a colander, sprinkling each layer of slices with plenty of salt. Allow to drain in the colander for 30 minutes.  Use paper towels or hand towels to remove excess moisture from eggplant.  Lay eggplant onion, and garlic in an even layer on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and roast at 425 for 10-15 minutes, flipping slices over at least once.

To assemble the pizza, spread a layer of sauce, then top with veggies and cheese. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

For the Supreme Pizza

Ingredients:

Pepperoni

1 green pepper, thinly sliced

¼ of a red onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

tomato sauce

fresh mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Lay the green pepper and onion slices out on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 10-15 minutes, stirring about halfway through.

To assemble the pizza, spread a layer of sauce, then top with pepperoni, followed by veggies and cheese. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Pizza dough adapted from King Arthur Flour.