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Grocery Guide

A Delightful Dough at Trader Joe's

It was inevitable, really. Eventually, I would have to eat my words here at Eating...Our Words. Although I technically did not trash the Trader Joe's pizza dough I picked up a few weeks ago, I certainly implied that I didn't think it would be very good.

And thankfully, I was wrong, because the dough -- in both its white and wheat versions -- is very, very good. Another bonus? When I went back to grab the link for my Trader Joe's Fast Times piece, I found a couple of comments I missed on other locations in Houston where I can find pre-made pizza dough. Thanks, Loona-c and jimbo1126! These guys recommended H-E-B and Revival Market versions, respectively.

But let's talk for a minute about the Trader Joe's versions.

In terms of the "workability" of the dough, I had to defer to my husband, who worked in kitchens for years and owned his own pizzeria in Upstate New York. "The Trader Joe's dough produces a very crispy, flavorful crust. It's relatively inexpensive, and super-quick and easy to use," Josh explained. "The dough is durable and pliable; you can throw it, and it's not like you're going to put your hand through it. That all goes for both the wheat and the white -- which is pretty awesome."

So while Josh is the pizza boss in the house, I still get to weigh in on flavor. I was also impressed with the thinness Josh was able to achieve with the TJ dough, and thought that the ratio of chewy inside to crispy outside was quite good. Considering we cooked these pizzas off in a crappy electric oven, the results were impressive.

The real trick here is that the wheat is just as tasty as the white; Josh says the wheat handles just slightly better than the white, so if you're prone to poking holes in your pizza dough, the wheat is for you. Each crust was around $3 -- a small price to pay to have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes (less than 45 if the dough is frozen). I do recommend allowing the dough to come to closer to room temperature, whether you are pulling from the freezer or the fridge for ease of manipulation, but regardless, the taste remains the same.

I give these an A+ grade.



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Christina Uticone