Gourmet Apple and Cheese Pizza and a Whole Wheat Crust

This Gourmet Apple and Cheese Pizza and a Whole Wheat Crust is one of the most delicious pizzas I have ever made! The combination of apples, bacon, caramelized onion, Gouda and Sage is perfection. The Whole Wheat crust is very easy to make and to work with. A light layer of olive oil replaced a more traditional red pizza sauce. This is “gourmet pizza” at it’s finest. Once you sink your teeth into a slice of this pizza, you’ll love it as much as we do!

This pizza is a household favorite.  Apples and cheese are a perfect pairing.  Gouda cheese adds a tangy flavor. Who doesn’t love bacon?! Fresh sage adds lovely notes of fall flavor. The pizza sits atop a lovely whole wheat homemade pizza crust.

While all-purpose flour is fine for a pizza crust, this whole wheat version turned out even better than expected.

Just remember that yeast need moisture, food and warmth to grow. In this recipe, you need warm water (no hotter than 105F), honey and you add the yeast. Set it aside for 10-15 minutes. Measure 1 cup of whole wheat and 3/4 cup flour. NOTE: King Arthur Unbleached Flour is recommended.

Unless you shop at King Arthur Flour’s website as much as I do, you probably don’t have their Pizza Dough Flavor.  I love it!  Don’t sweat it, if you don’t. It’s just an extra “perk” to the recipe. I added that to my pre-measured flour.

TIP: Preheat your oven to WARM for a few minutes, then turn it off.  This will set up an “incubator” for the dough to rise much faster– like almost twice as fast!

So, 10 minutes later, the yeast is alive!  Dump in the flour.  If you have a stand mixer, with a dough hook, this will be super easy to do.  You could use a bread machine, as well. (Otherwise, you can use elbow grease and do this by hand.)

I simply turned on my dough hook, and let it mix everything together. At first, the dough seemed a little too sticky, so I added 1 Tablespoon more of unbleached flour….then one more. Perfect! This took about 5 minutes to accomplish.

Grease a bowl with olive oil.  Of course, I use a plastic dough bucket, because I collect gadgets. Just roll the dough so it coats with the oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set into the lightly warmed oven.  Of course, you can just cover the bowl with a clean cloth, and wait for 1-1/2 hours.

On a piece of parchment paper, set on top of the reverse side of a baking sheet?  Now, why would I do that? Aha!  I like to use corn meal instead of flour.  This dough was so easy to work with, that I used my hands to shape it into a circle. I barely had to use a rolling pin!

Brush the pizza dough, lightly, with olive oil.  Sprinkle with nutmeg.  Add a layer of apple, then some Gouda cheese…then the caramelized onion.

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Gourmet Apple and Cheese Pizza and a Whole Wheat Crust

This Gourmet Apple Pizza with a Whole Wheat Crust is one of the most delicious pizzas I have ever made! The Whole Wheat crust is very easy to make, and easy to work with. The combination of apples, bacon, caramelized onion, Gouda and Sage is perfection. The pizza crust is lightly brushed with olive oil and a light sprinkling of nutmeg. This is "gourmet pizza" at it's finest. The pizza crust will become my new favorite recipe. It's delicious!

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Dough Proofing Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6

Author: Debby – www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Pizza dough:

• 2 1/4 teaspoons 1 packet active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Pizza:

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large apple very thinly sliced
• 5 slices thick-cut bacon cut into squares
• 1 small red or yellow onion sliced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 cup Gouda cheese freshly grated
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
• 8-10 sage leaves

Instructions

For the pizza dough:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer with an attached dough hook, combine warm water, yeast, honey and oil and mix with a spoon. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until foamy, then add in flour and salt.
• Mix on low speed until just combined, then turn to medium speed to knead the dough for 5-6 minutes. If it seems to sticky, add a bit more flour 1 tablespoon at a time.
• Brush a separate bowl with olive oil, add dough, turning once, then set in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2-2 hours. Cover with a towel.
• TIP: I preheat my oven on WARM for a few minutes, then turn off. This creates an "incubator" effect; my dough rose in about 45 minutes.

For the pizza:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• 15 minutes before the dough is ready to use, slice onions.
• Heat a skillet over medium heat and add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, then add onions with a sprinkle of salt.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, soft and juicy– about 10 minutes. In the last minute, add garlic and cook for 60 seconds, then set aside off heat.
• While onions are cooking, cut bacon. Place on a paper-towel lined plate, and cover with another paper towel. Microwave for 3-4 minutes, just until the fat is rendered so the pizza is not incredible greasy. Set aside.
• NOTE: I chose to cook my bacon in a cast-iron skillet so I could get it to brown more. Your preference.
• Remove pizza dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface.
• NOTE: I prefer to use cornmeal. I also like to set my dough on parchment paper, so I can easily slide it onto my preheated pizza stone (or baking sheet).
• Using a rolling pin or your hands, roll and shape it into your desired shape. NOTE: I found this dough so easy to work with! I was able to shape this into a circle, but a rectangular shape works well, too.
• Brush with remaining olive oil and sprinkle with nutmeg. Slice apples (do not do this earlier unless you don’t mind brown apples), then add about 1/4 cup cheese onto the dough.
• Place a layer of apples on the cheese, then add the onions. Add the remaining cheese evenly over top, then finish with bacon and another layer of apples. Add a few pieces of sage if desired– and I highly recommend it.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown and bubbly.

Notes

Recipe source: How Sweet Eats

Tried this recipe?Mention @afeastfortheeyes or tag #afeastfortheeyesblog!

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