Pizza with (Ridiculously delicious) Garlic Herb Crust (Vegan)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 1/2 cups water, heated in the microwave for about 1 minute
1 Envelope- 1/4 ounce baking yeast
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used bread flour because I didn't wanna go back to the store :) )
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour or unbleached flour
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried garlic powder or fresh garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil (I ran out of olive oil and used garlic flavored olive oil/ dipping sauce. NOT complaining)

Instructions:

1. Mix syrup and water in a large bowl.
2. Add yeast and without stirring it, let it sit 5-10 minutes. It gets foamy and starts to smell like beer.
3. Stir in flour, salt, basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, garlic and oil.
4. Knead until it looks how it looks in movies, when they spin it around on their fingers and throw it all around the place. You really just need to guess. If it seems too dry, add water and if it seems too wet, add flour. (Try to throw it in the air if you dare, but if it falls on the ground don't tell your unsuspecting family members who will soon be eating it for dinner)
5. Cover the bowl with a towel and let sit for 1 hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Divide the dough into two equal balls. If you only want to make one pizza (I definitely made, and ate, two...) put the second dough ball in a plastic bag and refrigerate or freeze.
8. Grease two pizza pans, and set each dough ball in the center of one pan, pushing it out to make the crust. Put some fork holes in it so it doesn't turn into a ginormous dough bubble that explodes in your oven.
9. Bake the crust with no toppings for about 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned/dry looking.
10. Add sauce, real or fake cheese and toppings of your choice, then bake another 10-20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese or "cheez" is melted in the middle.

For my pizzas, I used canned organic pizza sauce,  and for the cheese- a mixture of Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds and Veggie Shreds Parmesan, Mozzarella & Romano blend.

For the toppings on the first pizza, I layered spinach and Roma tomato slices, covered with freshly ground salt, pepper and garlic powder.

 

For the second pizza, I used chopped onions, red and green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and spicy baked tofu.

Also- the crust would definitely be good enough as bread or breadsticks and used to dip in olive oil or some other yummy dip.

EDIT: I tried this again for a second time and added dill. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, for the love of jebus, add dill. Pickle bread may sound like the best idea ever thinked up, but think again....

(Adapted from VegWeb.com / Source of recipe: "Radiant Health, Inner Wealth."www.radianthealth-innerwealth.com )