Pizza Dough
Erica Lea on Jul 11th 2009
Can you believe that this dough is 100% whole wheat? Can you? It is! Yet it handles so well - better than any pizza dough recipe I’ve ever tried. It is so easily manipulated, yet it doesn’t tear easily.
What’s the secret? I really couldn’t say. Perhaps the method of mixing. Perhaps the perfect combination of ingredients (thanks, Cook’s Illustrated!). Perhaps the type of whole wheat flour I use (white whole wheat flour). All I know is, my search for a whole wheat pizza dough recipe ended when I found this one. Maybe someday I’ll try a different pizza dough recipe, but for now I’m content.
Care for some ideas for pizza?
~ Why not spread it with some homemade pizza sauce and sprinkle it with homemade Italian sausage?
~ Or you could drizzle it with Smoky BBQ sauce and add chicken (perhaps some bacon) and cheddar cheese for a BBQ Chicken Pizza.
~ The other day, I made pizza on the grill. It’s a great way to beat the heat and it is so delicious. Here is an excellent article and video with the instructions.
How do you like to fix your pizza?
m
Pizza Dough
Adapted from The New Best Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup warm water (about 110°
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cups (20 ounces) white whole wheat flour (aka white whole wheat flour)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- Olive oil or butter, for greasing the bowl
Directions:
1) Place the 1/2 cup warm water in a small bowl. Add the yeast and stir. Let sit for about 5 minutes, or until the yeast begins to swell. Add to the room temperature water and oil and stir.
2) Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix briefly until combined. With mixer on low speed, slowly add the liquid ingredients. Mix just until a cohesive dough forms. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
3) Change to the dough hook attachment. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 5-10 minutes.
4) Oil or butter a medium-sized bowl. Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot. Allow to rise for 1 ½-2 hours, or until double in volume. The dough is now ready to be used in your recipe.
Makes enough dough for approximately 3 large thin-crust pizzas
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Filed in Baking, Bread, Main Dish, Pizza
I will definitely be giving this a try. I have been on a quest for the perfect whole wheat pizza dough.
The rise on that dough is looking really good. I like my pizzas thin and baked hot and fast on a screaming hot stone.
Is it possible to make it and the dough that was not used freeze it?
suede: I have never attempted to freeze pizza dough, but I think it would work. If you give it a try, let me know how it turned out!
If Trader Joe’s pizza dough is okay as a reference, then pizza dough is perfectly fine frozen. Theirs is definitely previously frozen, and it’s quite good.
Also, Bob’s Red Mill is a good source of white wheat flour. They call it Hard White Whole Wheat flour, and it’s organic.
I make a white whole wheat pizza dough quite similar to the one given here and I successfully freeze it all the time. If you thaw it and use it within 6 months or so it will still work just fine. I prefer to thaw it overnight in the fridge and then remove it to warm up on the kitchen counter for about an hour before rolling it out to bake. (Trader Joe’s brand of white whole wheat flour is the most economical I have been able to find here in western WA.)
Erica,
Just wanted to let you and your readers know that this dough freezes beautifully. Simply put it in a Ziploc freezer bag, squeeze the air out of the bag, label, and pop in freezer. My husband and I just enjoyed dough from before Christmas. Thank you! Your Friend in Christ, Dawn
You need to post a way to cook the pizza dough.
This pizza dough was awesome! The whole family loved it. I made pizza pocket/calzones with it and they turned out great. I also froze half of it and took it out a few hours before I needed it and it was still great. Tonight I am trying it with your pizza sauce.
This is one of the best pizza dough recipes I’ve made. I love it!
I plan on making this tonight. I’ve been looking for a whole wheat pizza dough recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Think I’ll make bbq chicken pizza and tomato basil pizza for the grownups and pepperoni of course for the kiddo.
[...] Whole Wheat Pizza Crust (Cooking for Seven) – SO SO good! I didn’t use any pizza sauce – just brushed the dough with olive oil and spread tomato slices over it, sprinkled with mozarella, basil, and oregano. It was the perfect compliment to my glass of chardonnay. (This isn’t really a beer-drinking pizza crust. Save your Yuengling for a pizza shop pizza!) We had leftovers for dinner tonight and it’s even good reheated! [4/5. I'll have to try it with sauce and other toppings to see if it holds up to a less "gourmet" flavor] [...]
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used your recipe with slight variations - added fresh thyme and rosemary - about 3 tablespoons to the dry mix. Also increased the flour amount to 4 1/2 cups.
They pizza dough turned out great. Thanks
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Hi! I’m new here. I found you off your cornbread recipe from PW’s site. Your site looks great and I’m going to put it on my blog and be back for more recipes. I’ve made pizza using the Whole Foods for the Whole Family Cookbook. I just made it last night, and my Farmer always says, not to hurt my feelings, but because he likes his food, “How come the pizza place pizza tastes so different than this?” And I know what he means. Your article on the different types of wheat will certainly help in this. I always just bought whatever organic flour was on the shelf out at the amish stores! I knew there HAD to be a reason there were different kinds!
I plan on trying this recipe next time and seeing what he says. I think I’ll check out your sauce recipe as well, as I just use my canned tom. juice and ad some things. I’m not a natural cook; just trying to be healthy but cook tasty, too! I’m so thankful I found your blog. Please know that you are a real blessing.
Should this dough be really sticky after rising? I have made it a couple of times and it seems stickier than I would expect. I just use some extra flour when rolling it and it works well and tastes good; I’m just wondering about the stickiness.
Sailor: The dough should not be extremely sticky. You could try adding more flour while mixing until it’s a good consistency. You don’t want the dough to be stiff.
I made this recipe tonight for Stromboli’s. It was AMAZING!! I never would have thought I’d like to eat a wheat crust and it was phenomenal! Thanks so much for sharing this. It is definitely my new GO-TO recipe for anything pizza dough related!
~Wendy
I love this dough and my husband who will rarely eat anything with woke wheat enjoys it immensely!! We make a pizza up with all the topping, bake it on 400 degrees for about 5 minutes take it out to cool and vacuum seal them to bake for a later time. It works wonderfully!!
[...] Definitely had one of those I can’t believe I live here moments.When we got home I made some whole wheat pizza dough and prepped some veggies for dinner.I taught Lindsey how to make spring rolls- cause as you can [...]
Just found your adorable site! Can’t wait to try this for supper tonight. Cook’s Illustrated never lets me down.
[...] Update! I’ve found the PERFECT 100% Whole Wheat Pizza Dough. This is the one, y’all. Don’t be afraid any longer- go for [...]
Please clarify for me, a novice. Must I purchase instant yeast? I have active dry. Will that work? am not sure if they can be substituted for each other. Thank you!
Emily: You can use active dry yeast, but you need to dissolve it in warm water and a bit of sweetener. You may want to use a bit more active dry that instant since instant may be a bit more concentrated than active dry.
Do you have the nutritional breakdown for the whole wheat pizza dough recipe?
Any suggestions for preparing if you do not have a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and dough hook attachment. I have an old stand mixer with just the standard mixing blade. I do not have any attachments.
Any suggestions for how long to knead this dough. Our family does not have a stand mixer.
Thanks in advance
VickiS: If kneading by hand, I would suggest going for at 5 minutes, perhaps more. You can also knead the dough in a bread machine if you have one - just set it to dough.
Thanks Erica Lea. I hope to have time tomorrow to try out this recipe. Fingers crossed. I haven’t kneaded dough since I was a little girl with my mom. Nope, no bread machine either. However, I have spied a couple at the thrift store.
Thanks again.
[...] Homemade Pizza Dough | Cooking for Seven. [...]
Erica, I love this recipe I’m going to try it! Being the beginner that I am, I was wondering if you could substitute regular flour for the wheat flour? Would it work and would I have to make any adjustments on the amounts? Thanks again and keep them coming!
Ken: Yes, it should be awesome with regular flour - I believe the original recipe called for either bread flour or AP flour. I don’t think you need to make any other adjustments!
[...] more stunning, but she got a trim because the hubbercraft and I had a pizza date last night. Two huge pizzas: Goat Cheese and Mozzarella with Caramelized Onions & Peppers (one with Bacon and one with [...]
I made this as the recipe stated, but the dough didn’t rise?
I used Fleischmann’s RapidRise Yeast, could that be the issue? When mixed in warm water it never expanded/bubbled, etc.
Please help!
Kelsey Anne: Hmmm, perhaps your water was too warm and killed the yeast? Try using water no hotter than 110-115 degrees F. If the yeast still doesn’t bubble, you could try a different type of yeast. Hope that helps!
Tried this with our eggplant pizza and it was delicious! I love how crispy it got. We have also been enjoying your 100% whole wheat bread (even my picky-about-bread husband loves it!), thank you for being such a great resource as we attempt to eat for the glory of God!:)
Tiana: Yay! So glad you liked it! Yeah, we like our pizza crust thin & crispy.
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My niece thebrokenbohemian put me on to this recipe.
Added flax and sunflower seed for grilled pizza, Consensus was forget the toppings next time - just go with the grilled dough.
Outstanding beyond understanding. Thank you very much for guidance