Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Homemade pizza dough, or any other yeast bread for that matter, may seem like a challenging concept at first. It takes a few times to get comfortable with it, but it really is worth it. The aroma in your kitchen as it is baking is wonderful and there is nothing like fresh bread coming out of a warm oven.

It is best to start simple, a loaf of french bread for instance is a good start and be sure to read the directions before you begin. Another good thing to try out.........

Homemade pizza dough! Not only is it tasty, but if you have kids, it can be especially fun when its time to put on the toppings (although its actually fun no matter who you are). The recipe I'm sharing here is for a whole wheat pizza dough. It has great texture and is relatively easy to work with. Plus, it has a kick of nutrition from the addition of whole wheat. You will be able to make one large pizza with this recipe that yields a thick/normal crust when its pressed into a 14-inch pizza pan. Separate it in half and you will have two small-medium sized pizzas depending on how thick you want your crust to be. Several personal pizzas is another idea that is especially nice when everyone want's something different on theirs.

Here are a couple things to keep in mind:

• This recipe calls for instant yeast. This speeds up the process because rather than sitting the dough to rise after kneading, the dough will just need a short resting period of about 10-15 minutes. If you use regular active dry yeast the dough ball will need to sit and double in size before you can work with it. You should then "punch" it down and let it rest for a short time again before moving on. 
• Roll or gently stretch and shape the dough into into a circle. Use your fingertips to press it nicely into the pizza pan. This can get tricky and it does take a bit of practice. I start it off by putting the dough ball on my fist and gently spinning it until it forms a disc shape. This is when you may feel tempted to do a "toss and spin" motion that you see in fancy pizza parlors. You are free to attempt this but be sure you can catch it!  I don't go there as I don't think pizza tossing is a specialty of mine. Instead, I stretch it into a circle, place on the pizza pan (sprinkled with cornmeal), and press the dough to fit. It can be done with a rolling pin but I do not prefer to do it this way. 
• Don't over work the dough, it should be a smooth and fairly gentle process to get it to shape. Yes it requires kneading, but after it has rested there is no reason to get crazy on it. This dough should be easy to work with after it has rested.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

This uses instant dry yeast. It can be done with regular active dry yeast but it must be dissolved in the liquids first and it will need an hour to rise after kneading. This helped me when I was getting started with yeast bread making: Fleischmann's Breadworld Resource Page

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

2 ½ Cups bread flour

1 to 1 ½ Cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp Sugar

1 envelope instant (fast acting) dry yeast

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 ½ Cups warm water

2 TBSP Olive oil

Cornmeal


Use this in recipes that call for pizza dough. It will work for calzones as well  :) Load it up with tomato sauce, cheese, veggies or whatever else your pizza is yearning for. It helps to prick the dough with a fork before topping.

Traditional Prep:

1. Mix the bread flour and wheat flour together.In a medium-large bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups flour mixture, yeast, sugar, and salt. Stir in the warm water and olive oil. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough. It should not be too sticky or dry; if it is, slightly adjust water or flour. You may not need all of the flour called for or you may need a sprinkle more. It depends on the environment in which you are making the dough in.

2. Remove from bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. This should take a few minutes. Shape into a ball and cover to let rest for 10-15 minutes.

3. After resting, roll or stretch into a circle and gently press into a large pizza pan. Add desired toppings and bake as directed in whatever recipe you are using.

Stand Mixer: This method is nearly identical to the traditional prep but the kneading is done with a dough hook on your mixer rather than by hand.

Bread Machine: KEEP IN MIND IF YOU ARE USING THE INSTANT YEAST CALLED FOR IN THIS RECIPE YOUR BREAD MACHINE NEEDS TO HAVE A "QUICK DOUGH" CYCLE. IF NOT YOU WILL NEED TO USE ACTIVE DRY YEAST AND IT WILL TAKE LONGER!

Add ingredients to bread machine pan as instructed by the manufacturer. When the timer goes off, shape into a ball and let rest for a few minutes (it should have already rested the ten minutes during the bread machines cycle).
Shape into a circle and press into a pizza pan dusted with cornmeal. Proceed with your pizza recipe.




Feel free to comment with you favorite pizza creations! There are nearly endless possibilities so go for it.