Italian Garlic Pizza Crusts

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped fine
• 2 Tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups water (plus extra if needed)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Put the ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed. (It doesn’t have to be in exact order, just make sure to bury the garlic under the flour.)
2. Put the bread machine on the dough setting and press start. A few minutes after starting, check the dough. If it’s not sticking together properly, add a little extra water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough starts to form into a ball.
3. When the dough cycle is complete, divide the dough into several equal parts. I’m making individual crusts for a teenage birthday party, so I divided mine into 6 parts. This makes a pretty good-sized individual crust. For smaller ones, divide into 8 pieces. For normal-sized pizza, divide into 3 parts.
4. Shape each piece of dough into a disc shape, cover and let rest for a few minutes.
5. One at a time (keeping the rest of the pieces covered) on a clean surface dusted with cornmeal, with a rolling pin, roll each piece of the dough into a circle. Mine turned out to be about 8 inches in diameter.
6. If you have a pizza stone, set each round on a flat surface dusted with cornmeal that will allow you to easily slide the crust onto the stone. I used the back of my cookie sheets and a couple cutting boards. If not, put the pizza crusts on cookie sheets or pizza pans. Spray the crusts with cooking spray, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until the crusts are as thick as you want them. I wasn’t sure how thick the girls would want their crusts so I went for a medium rise; I think it took about 30 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 425, prick the crusts with a fork to keep them from puffing up in awkward spots, and bake until the crusts are golden brown. You can put these crusts in a bag and freeze them for future meals. They will keep well for a month or two.

This recipe was shared at Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Thursday’s Treasures, Mop it Up Mondays and Katherine Martinelli’s Bread Bloghop.