This fail proof whole wheat pizza dough recipe will have you creating delicious and healthy whole wheat pizza crusts in no time at all, and is an amazing 5 ingredient recipe (perfect for this weeks Five Ingredient Friday recipe).
A new year is upon us. And just as the year is new, so is my resolve to eat a little healthier. And what better way to start eating a little healthier than enjoying a favorite food like pizza?
The problem is, sometimes pizza dough can be very tricky to make and comes out a little lack-luster. So I’m going to show you how to make the best fail proof whole wheat pizza dough.
This is a dough I’ve made a bunch of times but have never just talked about the dough itself and some tips and tricks to making it amazing. So today is the day I’m going to share all my secrets for making whole wheat pizza dough.
To make whole wheat pizza dough you’re going to start by dissolving a packet of yeast in some warm water. You’ll stir it once, and then just let it sit for 5 minute until it gets all bubbly. Meanwhile in the bowl of a stand mixer you’ll mix flour and salt, and then add the yeast mixture and olive oil and mix the dough with a wooden spoon to combine all the ingredients, and then knead at a low speed for 5 minutes. The dough should be sticky to touch. Remove the dough from the mixer and form into one big ball and a one small or four smaller balls and place the dough ball(s) in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for half an hour. The dough will double in size.
With this recipe you can choose how big you want your pizza to be. I’ve found that my favorite size to make is smaller-to-medium size pizzas of about 8-10 inches. With this recipe you’ll get three thin rolled 8-10 inch pizzas. Or I like making 12 inch pizzas that I roll very thin (I used this whole wheat pizza crust to make this sun dried tomato clam pizza)
After the half hour of rising time take one of the dough balls and place on a well-floured surface and roll it out. I use a rolling mini dough rolling pin, and then use my hands to stretch it into a circle. Place some corn meal on a baking sheet, and place pizza dough on the baking sheet. What you’ll do next is pinch the rim of the pizza so that it you form a little ‘lip’ or crust. The comes the step that is going to make your pizza crust extra good. You’re going to bake it (without any toppings on it) of 5 minutes. Then remove it from the oven and add some pizza sauce.
And add some desired toppings (I usually just use low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese and some Italian seasoning) and then bake for 15 minutes and then you have yourself a delicious pizza with a whole wheat crust.
The glory of making a pizza crust that is whole wheat? Because it’s pizza and pizza is an all around favorite – your family will gobble it up and get to enjoy a favorite food that is healthy!
I love using these products to make whole wheat pizza crust:
Some fun pizza topping you might enjoy on whole wheat pizza dough:
- Beer brat and caramelized onion pizza
- Sun dried tomato clam pizza
- Jalapeno enchilada pizza
- Prosciutto fig arugula flatbread
I’d love to hear for you – what is your favorite pizza topping?
Fail Proof Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 packet active dry yeast 2 1/4 teaspoons
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups whole wheat flour plus 2 Tbs and more for rolling out the dough
- 1 Tbs cornmeal for lining the pan
Instructions
- In a small bowl pour packet of yeast and 1/4 cup warm water (I run my tap on just hot until it is really hot to touch). Stir it once, then let it rest for 5 minutes until it gets foamy at the top.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer add the 2 cups plus 2 Tbs whole wheat flour and 1 tsp salt.
- After the 5 minutes add the yeast mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer, and add 3/4 cups warm water and 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil, stir it until loosely combined with a wooden spoon. Then, with the dough hook attachment set it on speed 2 and let the dough 'knead' for 5 minutes (you can knead it by hand if you don't have a stand mixer.)
- After 5 minutes of kneading, stop the mixer and form the dough into a ball (s) -I usually do 2-3 dough balls depending on what I'm making (2 12 inch very thin crusts or 3 8-inch crusts) and place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 30 minutes (it will double in size after 30 minutes).
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Now sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal and on a floured surface roll out one of the dough balls or with floured hands stretch the dough into a circle, then place on the prepared baking sheet and stretch a little more, pinch the edges of pizza dough to form a crust. Next bake pizza crust (minus toppings) for 5 minutes, remove from oven, and then add toppings (sauce/cheese/toppings).
- Bake at 450 for 15 minutes or until the cheese around the edges starts getting brown. Remove from oven, slice, and enjoy!
Kira says
Is it one cup of water with the yeast or 1/4? Because in the ingredient list you wrote one cup, but in the instructions you wrote 1/4.
Sweetphi says
Hi Kira, it’s 1 cup of water total, 1/4 with the yeast and then the remainder added later, as listed in the instructions. Hope you enjoy!
Sarah says
Made this crust tonight for my family, and they scarfed it down! Thank you for a whole wheat crust that doesn’t take 3 hours to make!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment, I’m so happy to hear your family loved it!!!
Kimmy says
Can you freeze the dough? Or potentially bake for 5 minutes, let cool, then freeze?
Sweetphi says
Yes, you certainly can (both would work, but I think freezing the dough initially without parbaking would be your best bet!
Rachel says
Hi! Would you freeze after it’s risen in one big ball? Thank you!
Sweetphi says
Hi! Yes, you could freeze it after it has risen in one big ball, then thaw it and let it come to room temp, then shape it.
I’ve also had a lot of luck (probably the best way) is to form the dough into a pizza shape and par-bake it. That way all you’re doing when you’re ready is removing it from the freezer, adding toppings and baking.
Rachel says
Thank you! I froze it as dough… it took a long time to thaw out! If I did it again, I’d let it thaw for a few days in the fridge.
Thanks again! We make dough all the time with this recipe. For flavor, I use 1/2 or all whole wheat pastry dough, more salt, some garlic powder, and add some sweetener like maple syrup or honey.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your feedback, I love hearing the different additions and ways people make this recipe. Thanks again for your comment!
Terri says
Can i make the crusts, bake 5 min one day, and then the next day add ingredients and bake for pizza?
Sweetphi says
Oh what a great idea, yes, I think you could try that. Let me know how it turns out!
Becky says
My husband is a Type 1 dibetic and we have found that whole wheat from him is the best. He loves pizza but finding a pizza with a 100% whole wheat curst was nearly impossible. This pizza dough recipe was the answer. We tried this the other night – it was absolutely wonderful and the added bonus – his sugar stayed stable. Thank you so much!!!!
Sweetphi says
I’m SO HAPPY to hear your comment and how much you liked this recipe, thank you for the feedback!!
Heidi Knowlton says
Finally, the pizza crust recipe I’ve been looking for.
Sweetphi says
Ahhh yay! Thank you so much for your feedback, so glad you liked it!
Mo says
Hi Phi, i want to try your recipe but I only have instant yeast. Can I use instant and how much to put in?
Sweetphi says
The conversion is 1 teaspoon active dry yeast to 1/4 tablespoon instant yeast. So I’d use a heaping 1/2 tablespoon because there are 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast per packet.
Ilovecooking says
So it’s 1/2 a tablespoon of active dry yeast
Sweetphi says
This recipe calls for 1 packet or 2 1/4 teaspoons
Priyanka says
Hi, I tried your receipe. Pizzas came out fabulous …just loved it. Thanks for sharing receipe.
Sweetphi says
So glad to hear the feedback, thank you, and so happy you loved the recipe as much as I do 🙂
Meagan says
Can you tell me the nutrition facts of this recipe?
Sweetphi says
Sorry, I don’t have the nutrition information, you could easily plug in the ingredients to an app if you track food/nutrition
Lindsey says
Looks fabulous! I have a question though, how does the yeast rise without added sugar?
Sweetphi says
Hi Lindsey, I’ve never used sugar in my yeast dough and it always rises just fine, but if you’d like to add some sugar, definitely feel free to do so 🙂
Claudia says
Hi there, I’m wondering if you used hard whole wheat flour or soft. I used the soft variety and my dough came out very sticky so I added more flour. Any tips? Thanks!
Sweetphi says
Good question – I just use ‘whole wheat flour’ but don’t know if it is soft or hard – I’m assuming it’s soft. It could depend on how you’re measuring the flour. If it was sticky a little extra flour should have helped it right along, the end result should still have been delish 🙂
miranda says
Can I make this ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to make dinner? Or will it change the dough?
Sweetphi says
You can definitely refrigerate it after you have let it rest, I wouldn’t refrigerate it before it has done its rising though 🙂 Thank you for the comment!
Chelsea says
This looks great! Thanks for the recipe. Do you know how it does in the freezer? I would like to freeze half of it for later.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for the comment. This really does freeze well, I’ve frozen it multiple times and it always bakes well afterwards 🙂
Mary says
I froze a half batch but it made a much small pizza because it didn’t rise as it thawed. It was still good though. Is there a better way to freeze, thaw and bake?
Sweetphi says
I would suggest making it and parbaking it, and then freezing the crust that way. I’ve never had much luck freezing dough and then having it rise again, I have the best luck doing all the steps through parbaking and then freezing it/thawing it and just adding on the toppings before baking.
dishofdailylife says
I’ve never made my own pizza dough but this looks easy enough! Thanks for sharing it with us at Foodie Fridays! Pinning and sharing! Hope to see you again tonight at 9 pm!
Sweetphi says
Homemade pizza dough is the best, you’re going to love it! Thank you for commenting and pinning, totally appreciate that!
Sian @ Cakey Dreamer says
I’ve been looking for great homemade recipes and this sounds perfect! P.S.- I LOVE Once Upon A Time!
Sweetphi says
Aren’t homemade recipes the best? And yaaay another Once Upon A Time fan 🙂
Erin | The Law Student's Wife says
Homemade pizza is a favorite around here, and I love that your dough is whole wheat. Great step by steps too!
Sweetphi says
Isn’t homemade pizza the best? Thank you so much for commenting 🙂
rachelcooksblog says
A great (easy) pizza dough recipe is so important! This lone looks amazing and I love that it is whole wheat.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Rachel, it’s definitely easy and so yummy!
wearenotmartha says
I make my own pizza dough all the time, but don’t have a good whole wheat dough recipe. This looks fab!!
Sues
Sweetphi says
I love the way whole wheat tastes with pizza, it gives it a nice sturdy crust! Thank you so much for commenting!
Amanda says
This looks amazing! I wish I had a slice!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Amanda!
Ashley says
Yummmmm! We make homemade pizza at least once a week! And I love making my own dough – this sounds deeelicious with the whole wheat!
Sweetphi says
Isn’t homemade pizza the best? It’s so simple! And I actually love the depth of flavor the whole wheat gives the pizza…now to only eat one slice…lol!
Lynn @ Order in the Kitchen says
Girl this is so amazing! I posted it to my Facebook and my coworker promptly yelled at me to stop posting delicious things on my Facebook LOL! She also begged for you to do a sauce recipe because she wants to make this pizza ASAP (she will prob just buy sauce bc she wants to make this pizza dough STAT) but I just thought you should know about random people you don’t know who love what you do! Keep being you in 2015…you are perfect and wonderful!
Sweetphi says
As always, thank you for your truly lovely comment! It not only made me want to hug you because you shared it (thank you) but also because you’re giving me awesome feedback about a pizza sauce recipe, I will definitely get right on that! Thank you again lovely Lynn!
cheryl crain says
This is a must try, Thank You.
Sweetphi says
This is definitely a must try, thanks for commenting Cheryl!
Karis @ Veg Harbor says
I too prefer smaller pizzas that Chris and I can each top as we like. I used to make a wheat pizza dough but now I’m all about bread flour! 🙂
Sweetphi says
Aren’t smaller pizzas just the best? And I’ll have to try pizza dough with bread flour, although I’m totally digging the whole wheat taste right now, so it may have to be in a few months! Thank you, as always for commenting 🙂
mommyhoodsdiary says
Love it!! My boy likes pizza a lot and this a great way to make it a little bit healthier. Pinned!
Sweetphi says
This is definitely a healthier way to enjoy the all mighty pizza 🙂 And p.s., thank you SO much for the pin, truly means a lot!