When Erin came to visit last week, we had a pajama party. Actually, we had two pajama parties! The first one we didn’t plan for as well and got distracted with talking and playing on our computers. You know how girls do! Dont worry though, we remedied it had another one complete with tons of food and girly movies!

Throughout the rest of the week, we’ll have recipes from our PJ party and would love to hear your favorite pj party food, too! It’s a week long virtual pj party!

Are you ready?!?

To start the party off right, pizza is a necessity. This whole grain restaurant style pizza is CRAZY good. I didn’t even have a pizza stone, but used Lauren’s trick of using the back of a baking sheet. Genius!

The crust is the perfect fluffiness. Since I have such a tiny oven, we baked the two pizzas one at a time, allowing the second to sit out on the counter to rise a little more for 20 minutes. The second one came out nice and thick! But, you’ll just have to trust me on that one, because we devoured both pizzas in one night. So whatever your desired thickness, this recipe is for you!

We decided to stay with the classic pepperoni pizza. My husband actually went on a grocery mission for pepperoni and came back with freshly sliced giant pepperonis. You talk about good!!!

Okay, now one more look at this amazing pizza and now it’s time to eat! Come back tomorrow when we share another pj party recipe!

What’s your favorite pizza topping? 

Whole Grain Restaurant Style Pizza

slightly adapted from Lauren’s Latest

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water (as hot as bath water, 105-110F)
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour
  
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (you may have to add more flour depending on how ‘sticky’ your dough is)
• 1/2 cup marinara/pizza sauce
• 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• (optional) pepperoni

How-To

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the warm water, yeast and sugar together. Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy. 
2. With the dough attachment, mix in the salt, oil and bread flour until combined. You may have to scrape down the bowl every once and a while with a spatula.
3. Slowly add in the remaining white whole wheat flour, plus a little extra to insure the dough is tacky but doesn’t stick to your fingers when you touch it.
4. Roll the dough out into a large greased bowl (I sprayed mine with canola oil spray) and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft free place to rise for 1-2 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 500F. Lay a pizza stone or a baking sheet upside down in the oven, while the oven is preheating.
6. Separate the dough into two pieces. Roll the pizza dough out onto 2 parchment papers into 12″ circles (they slightly shrink as they bake).
7. On each pizza, spread half of the marinara sauce, sprinkle half of the cheese and lay pepperonis or other toppings on the pizza. On each pizza I sprinkled some of the cheese on top of the marinara, spread the pepperoni out, then topped with the remaining cheese.
8. Baking one at a time, slide the pizza and parchment paper onto the stone or upside down baking sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes until light brown.
9. Repeat with the other pizza.

Note: If you’d like thicker crust pizza, once you get to step 7 after you’ve decorated your pizza, allow the pizza to sit on the counter for 20 minutes to rise, then bake as normal.

Servings: 2 10″ pizzas, enough to serve 3-4 people.