Quick Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

A quick recipe for homemade whole wheat pizza dough that gives a flavorful crust.

We are a pizza loving family. A good crust, flavorful sauce and your favorite toppings- that’s what makes a good pizza. I love making pizza from scratch at home- I can control everything that goes into each component and make sure each element is to our taste and liking.

For a long time I was using this recipe for pizza dough. I absolutely love the Peter Reinhart pizza dough recipe. It gives amazing results each time. While I love it, it does require some planning ahead of time. If you want pizza on the fly, unless you have that dough in your freezer, you will need to wait an extra day to eat pizza.

The recipe for pizza dough that I am sharing today is quick. It requires a one hour rest time, which I always use to prep the rest of the ingredients for my pizza. You can also use that one hour rest time to make your pizza sauce (this is the recipe I use). From start to finish, it takes me 25 active minutes in the kitchen to prep everything, including the sauce and pizza dough. Dinner is always a breeze on pizza days.

The best part of this recipe is that the pizza base is 100 % whole wheat! You can add some wheat germ to the dough if you want to make it even more healthy.

To pack in extra flavor, I always add some herbs or garlic and chilli flakes to my dough. That ways even if you bite into the portion of the crust that has no sauce or topping, you enjoy eating it. There are no crust pieces discarded on our dinner table. Since I had some homemade herb oil in the pantry, instead of using herbs and garlic I used the herb oil for the whole wheat pizza dough you see in the pictures and it worked perfectly.

I have made this recipe so many times now. Its similar to the recipe I use for the mushroom and spinach stuffed pizza bread. Even though this whole wheat pizza has been a regular on our dinner table, I haven’t had a chance to shoot it in the past. A few days back I had posted about it on my instagram stories and a lot of you asked for the recipe for this quick whole wheat pizza dough. I promised I will share the recipe soon and here it is.

Hope you get to try this recipe out. If you do, please tag your results with #bakelikeshum #thenotsonovicehousewife on Facebook, instagram, twitter.

Hope you have a great weekend, and happy baking!

I had planned to make a video, but not everything goes as planned always. Instead I have these GIFs with step by step photos of how you too can make this quick 100% whole wheat pizza dough at home.

Start by activating the yeast.

Tips to activate- use lukewarm water. A teaspoon of sugar or honey aids the yeast to activate. Do not use salt.

Mix the whole wheat flour with the salt and herbs/garlic/ herb oil in a bowl.

Combine the flour with the yeast and make a smooth dough.

Let rise for 1 hour until double in size.

Shape, top with favorite toppings and bake.

Baking without a pizza stone:

I don’t own a pizza stone. This trick always helps me to make pizzas with a good crust. When I preheat my oven I put one of my thick baking sheet (I use this one), with the back side up, in the oven and use the maximum oven setting I have, generally 550 F/ 300 C on most ovens. This way the tray also heats up as the oven heats up, acting like a pizza stone. Once my pizza dough is rolled out and before topping it, I transfer it to a square piece of parchment paper. Once I spread the sauce on top and add the toppings, using a cookie sheet which has no lip (I use this one), I transfer the unbaked pizza on the tray and using the sheet as a pizza peel I slide it on to the preheated tray in the oven. For me, the pizzas are ready in 10 minutes (the cheese should become brown). Keep in mind I roll my pizza dough thin, a thicker crust will take longer and you might need to cover the top, to keep the cheese from burning.

Quick Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Recipe Type: dinner, snack

Author: Shumaila

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2¼ tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp white sugar or honey
1 cup (230 ml) warm water, add more or less to make sure the flour is sufficiently hydrated (if using fresh mozzarella - reserve the water that the mozzarella is packed in and use it here in the dough)
2½ cups (about 300 gms) whole wheat flour
2 tbsp herb oil or olive oil
1 tsp salt
if not using herb oil, add 1/2 tsp dried herbs, chilli flakes, garlic (optional)

Instructions

In ¼ cup warm water, dissolve the yeast with the sugar and let sit for 5-10 minutes till frothy.
In a bowl, add the flour, mix in the salt and pour in the activated yeast and rest of the water along with the olive oil, herbs, and minced garlic.
Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes either in the bowl of a stand mixer attached with the hook attachment or with hand. When I use my hands to knead the dough I use a stretch and fold motion. It helps activate the gluten.
Once kneaded into a smooth pliable dough, let the dough rest covered for an hour or so in a warm place, until double in size.
Your pizza dough is ready. I have given instructions to bake the dough in the post. The recipe yields dough enough for 4 personal size pizzas. You can freeze any leftover dough, wrapped well. Yeasted doughs always benefit from more resting time, so you will actually get an even more flavorful dough if you do end up with leftovers. To use remove from freezer and let come to room temperature in a bowl. Use as required.

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