1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off!
Easy Recipe for Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
This dough just opened up a whole new pizza-making world. It only takes one hour to make and rise.
And it’s a now-or-later dough. Make it now or save it for another day.
This pizza dough is a blend of both quick-to-make and it can be make-in-advance.
This ridiculously easy dough combines the best of both worlds. I also kept it vegan and used whole wheat flour so it’s healthier. So you can eat more pizza.
The dough bakes up soft, chewy, and it’s thick and hearty with just subtle hints of wheat flavor.
Even if you’ve never made yeasted bread or pizza dough, this whole wheat flour pizza dough recipe is nearly foolproof. From start to finish, and in just over an hour, you’re eating totally homemade pizza.
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Ingredients
To make this easy recipe for whole wheat pizza dough, you’ll need:
- Bread flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Instant dry yeast
- Granulated sugar
- Olive oil
- Warm water
- Corn meal (for baking)
How to Make Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
I’ve gone into detail below on how to make this easy whole wheat pizza dough. Keep scrolling to the bottom of this post for the full recipe!
To make the dough, combine flour, instant dry yeast, a pinch of sugar, pour warm water over it, along with a drizzle of olive oil, and mix it for about 45 seconds with the paddle attachment.
Switch to the dough hook and knead for about eight minutes and that’s it. I used my stand mixer, which does the kneading for me, but feel free to get your arm workout in and knead by hand.
Knead the bread for a good six to eight minutes. Because the rising time is just one hour, and since wheat flour can be resistant to rising, you want to really knead this dough well to encourage gluten development so the dough rises well.
After kneading, the dough will be soft, smooth, firm, and not overly sticky. Spray the mixing bowl or another bowl with cooking spray, place the dough in the bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about one hour, or until nearly doubled in size.
A trick for creating a warm environment is to turn on the oven for one minute to 400F, then shut the oven off. Repeat: don’t leave the oven on, you are just blasting in hot air for one minute only.
Quickly slide your bowl into the oven and let it stay there to rise for an hour. It will be about 80F inside the oven after the brief one minute blast. This tricks the yeast into thinking it’s a nice, warm summer day in your kitchen, which is how do their best work.
The puffiness is a result of the gases created while the yeast work, and the dough needs to be punched down.
After punching it down, you have a choice: Cover the bowl back up with plastic and refrigerate it for up to two days; or, make pizza with it now. Depending on how large you like your pizza, you can likely use half now and refrigerate half for later.
When you’re ready to make pizza with it, turn dough out onto a floured work surface or a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat.
Roll it into the shape you want or stretch it into submission. It does have a mind of it’s own and will try to recoil, but just keep on rolling, stretching, and finger massaging it into the shape you want.
Baking the Pizza Dough
Top the dough with pizza sauce, olive oil, browned butter; with cheese or with the toppings you like, and bake at 425 to 550F+ for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Baking times and temperatures are variable, based on oven temps, toppings used, and personal taste preferences.
I bake at 425F for about 15 minutes when the pizza is pretty loaded with toppings. I don’t have a pizza stone or anything fancy and just bake on a Silpat-lined baking sheet.
How Many Pizzas Will This Recipe Make?
You can make one large rectangular pizza, filling a standard-sized baking sheet. Or make two medium or four smaller tortilla-sized pizzas.
I recommend rolling out the dough fairly thinly, because it will rise and puff in the oven. This is not thin crust pizza and bakes up fairly thick, but the thinner it starts out, the thinner it bakes.
What Happens If I Let the Dough Rise for Longer?
I’ve let this dough rise for as long as two hours due to distractions and timing issues, and nothing bad happens. In fact, the pizza crust will be a bit fluffier.
If you want to allow it to rise for up to about two hours, or doubled in size, that’s fine. But the recipe does and will work with just a one hour rise.
What’s the Best Yeast for Pizza Dough?
I used Red Star Platinum yeast, which is my gold standard.
It’s an instant dry yeast so you don’t have to proof it first with water and wait for it to get bubbly and foamy. Just sprinkle it right into the bowl with the other ingredients and pour water over the top of everything.
When I deviate from Platinum and use other yeast, especially for wheat breads, I don’t have as much success. My wheat loaves turn out flatter and denser and my white loaves never bake as puffy and fluffy.
If you do use Platinum yeast, the water should be warmed to about 120F to 130F, which is notably warmer than most other instant dry yeast, which typically call for temps in the 100F range.
Tips for the Best Whole Wheat Flour Pizza Dough
For the flour, I used both whole wheat flour and bread flour, and used 1 cup of each, plus another quarter cup of bread flour.
I didn’t want to exceed over half the total amount with whole wheat flour because it has less gluten, making rising more lengthy and challenging. Since this is a one-hour dough without time to spare waiting for pokey dough to rise, I didn’t exceed fifty percent wheat.
Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations with whatever yeast you use. Some people just dip their finger into water and if that’s the method you’re using, err on the side of warm bath water rather than hot because you don’t want to risk killing the yeast.
In bread-making, I don’t like to guess and always use my candy thermometer. I just never use it for candy.
Make sure to use sugar as it feeds the yeast and it’s necessary. I didn’t add salt for a variety of reasons.
Salt can inhibit rising and between the pizza sauce, cheese, meat and toppings, there’s plenty of sodium-laden ingredients on pizza. We didn’t miss the sodium in the crust.
To prevent the underside of the crust from become too browned while baking, a tip is to sprinkle a tablespoon of corn meal on the baking tray, and put the dough on top of that.
As insurance against air bubbles forming while baking, prick the dough a few times with fork tines before adding your toppings so the air has a place to escape.
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One Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups bread flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons 1 one-quarter ounce packet instant dry yeast (I use Red Star Platinum
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup warm water, 120-130F for Red Star Platinum, 95 to 105F for other yeast
- 1 to 2 tablespoons corn meal, for sprinkling on baking trays
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flours, yeast, sugar, olive oil, and pour the water over the top. Beat the mixture on medium-low speed for about 1 minute, or until combined.
- Switch to the dough hook and knead dough for 7 to 8 minutes. It will be firm, smooth, not overly sticky, and elastic. (If making bread by hand, mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl by hand, then turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for about 8 minutes)
- Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, spray mixing bowl or another bowl with cooking spray, and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about 1 hour. (I’ve let this dough rise for as long as 2 hours due to distractions, planning, and timing issues, and nothing adverse happens. Actually, the crust turns out fluffier. If you want to allow it to rise for about 2 hours, or doubled in size, that's fine. But the recipe does and will work with just a 1 hour rise).
- After 1 hour or until nearly doubled in size, punch down the dough. Choose to either refrigerate in a covered bowl for up to 2 days for later use; or use it now. You may be able to use some now, some later, depending on desired size of pizza. If using it later, when ready to bake, simply remove it from fridge, and follow the directions below.
- Turn dough out onto floured or lightly oiled work surface or Silpat. I usually use half the dough for 1 pizza, and save the other half for a few days later. Roll dough out into the size and shaped desired. I suggest rolling it on the thinner side since the dough will rise and puff while baking, and I prefer starting out with a thinner piece of dough so the finished crust isn't too thick. The dough is springy and will try to snap back and recoil, but just keep on stretching or rolling it into shape.
- Transfer dough to pizza stone, Silpat-lined baking sheet, or sprayed baking sheet. Prick dough in a half dozen places with tines of fork, creating a place for air to escape while baking. If baking on baking sheets, placing a tablespoon of corn meal underneath the dough before baking helps prevent the underside from becoming too browned.
- Top dough with anything from oil, browned butter, pizza sauce, cheese, various toppings, and bake. Baking temps can vary from from 425 to 550F+, and from 7 to 15+ minutes, depending on toppings, thickness of dough, oven variances, and personal preference. I bake at 425F for about 15 minutes when my dough is loaded up with toppings. Slice, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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what a perfect recipe for Friday! We eat pizza every Friday night. However, most times I end up buying pre made dough. You cant beat 1 hour. This sound easy and perfect! Thanks!
Well that IS good timing! That’s great you guys have a Friday tradition!
We have homemade pizza night almost every Friday and I always make my own crust. It’s so easy and much tastier (and healthier!) than storebought. Love the WW flour, that’s what I use too.
You’re the second person in a row who said you make pizza on Fri nights! That’s a great tradition tohave!
My Hubby is the pizza maker in our family. He makes the best pizza dough. I love your tips on making the dough. I also sometimes use the warm oven trick to rise my dough or a microwave with a boiling cup of water. Works every time! I can’t ever imagine going back to store-bought kind!
Impressive that your husband makes the best dough! “a microwave with a boiling cup of water.” — good tip!
I am loving your bread-y posts! I don’t eat too much bread, but they remind me of the years I worked as a baker in the bagel shop. Hefting 50 pound flour bags, mixing, shaping, kneading, sweeping cornmeal off the floor. So fun!
I don’t eat pizza anymore, because I can’t find a good GF crust, and really the crust is what makes (or breaks) a pizza, in my opinion. I have such fond memories of making pizza growing up though. We’d always use the Jiffy dough mix and my mom let us make our own personal pizzas with whatever toppings we wanted. I was preferential to the square crust myself. I did cheese and sauce, nothing else. LOTS of sauce. (Of course) And I always loved the pockets of air! I’d peel them off and eat the slightly crispy dough. Like mini bread chips.
Growing up, my mom was never into homemade crust/dough; we just ate the Tombstones and called it a day. I so wish there was a GF pizza crust or ability to make homemade bread with GF flour. Trust me, when I read blogs, I always check on that for you. GF bread-making in general. The irony you worked in a bagel shop as a baker and can’t eat it now. Ugh.
That pizza up there looks so freakin’ good!! Nothing better than homemade dough!
Yum on the dough, looks wonderful! I just started getting into home-made pizza dough and happy it’s not as daunting as I thought. :-)
I swear i don’t make pizza often enough because I insist on making my own dough and all too often I forget to let it rise! This is the solution to all of my problems.
Forgetting to let dough rise, yes, slight problem there :) Although they do have quickbread dough recipes out there but this one is practically as fast!
This is great. We love pizza in our house and this dough looks easy to make and healthy. Where do you buy your yeast?
Just the regular grocery store, in the flour aisle next to all the other yeast.
Averie, this is a life changing dough. Completely life changing. For so long I’ve been buying pizza dough from the store, longing to make it myself one day. But… never have because I must just be too lazy! This dough is miraculous! I can’t believe how quick it is! Like our pretzels. A miracle yeast recipe perhaps? I think so! And I love that this is whole wheat as well. I actually prefer whole wheat dough over white not for the health benefits but for the taste! I’m going to cover this with LOTS of tomato sauce (i like a lot!), tons of roasted veggies and goat cheese!! THANK YOU for making this and sharing it!!!! :)
Thanks, Sally. I love your enthusiasm for it. I fear that many will not realize what a life-changing recipe this really is. Whole-wheat/vegan, 1 hour, make-ahead if desired. There are so many great elements to it (I think!) and I appreciate the pin :) I was going to post the pizza recipe itself with this, but the dough was too important to just get buried in the pretty pizza pics. But I don’t know if pics of dough will cut it here or not. We shall see :)
I love making pizza dough! I haven’t found a wheat one I’m obsessed with yet, hopefully this can be the one– it sounds great. I’ve seen some recipes lately to make cinnamon rolls with frozen bread dough, so I think that might be my first stop with this homemade dough
This is a very chewy dough and thicker than I’d personally want for cinnamon rolls. If you do want to make cinnamon rolls with bread dough, the no-knead challah is an amazing dough and will be great as cinn rolls!
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2013/02/one-hour-whole-wheat-pizza-dough.html
Gorgeous looking dough. I love making my own pizza dough. It’s not nearly as hard as people think – especially when you cheat and use the bread machine ;-) I’m definitely more of a thinner crust, but still want it to have some chew – more NY style really.
I know you’ve been making dough for years. This is as easy as a bread machine. Throw it all into a mixing bowl and watch the hook knead it. All done :)
This is super eerie, because I think you are reading my mind! I used to make pizza dough before, but my recipe was soooo time consuming! I have been craving it lately though. Anyways, I will definitely put this on my list of recipes to try. Also, the sweet potatoes really do look like pepperoni!
Also, I tend to like a thinner crust, almost Neopolitan style which I know is practically impossible to recreate at home. How much thinner do you think the crust could get without breaking or getting too soggy in the middle?
If you took your time, you could probably divide the big block into 3 or 4 mounds, and then roll out from there. It could get maybe about 30-40% thinner than my pics show but it’s also quite elastic due to the high-ish yeast amount to allow for the 1 hour rise so may fight with you a bit. If you try it, LMK what happens!
Nice rise on that pizza dough!!! I just love the sight (and smell) of it. I follow my Wms Sonoma bread book as a guideline for the dry to wet ratios. I’ve subbed in spelt flour and even cornmeal for the whole wheat with good results. A yeast based cornmeal pizza dough is pretty good as a base for a barbecue flavor profile. Their recipe is basically the same but doesn’t call for the tsp of sugar (and I generally always put a little in). We are about due for a homemade pizza, so red star yeast just went on my shopping list! Love the sweet potato-goat cheese topping!
Ive heard great things about that bread book. I usually look at King Arthur’s ratios, and then kind of adapt from there. ” A yeast based cornmeal pizza dough is pretty good as a base for a barbecue flavor profile.”- I bet that is a great pairing together!
When I was getting to know my now-husband he once asked me about my favorite pizza. Not the toppings, but who makes the best. And quite honestly I had to say “My Moms”. He probably thought I was weird, since he expected me to say Pizza Hut or Little Cesars etc. But since growing up on my mom’s home made pizza, I can find nothing that tops it! Would love to try your whole wheat pizza dough sometime.
Well nothing I make can top your mama’s anything. That’s sacred ground :)
Yumm!! That looks really good. I make dough maybe twice a week, half of it I use to make bread, the other half becomes pizza. I don’t follow any reciepe, I use any whole flours I have lying around, a little salt, some organic yeast dissolved in handwarm water with honey, and get my hands dirty :) if the boyfriend is around, he is doing the kneating! I let it rest over night. It’s different every time, but rarely less then good :)
I love your method to bread-making. Never exactly the same, always good. Some as bread, some as pizza. I wish everyone was as inspired to just give things a try as you are. Love that spirit!
Averie – I’m looking forward to trying this over the weekend. We do a pizza night at home every couple weeks, and I’ve been feeling a little guilty about having never sought out a dough recipe that uses some amount of whole wheat flour. I love the make-ahead tips – it’s so nice to do this one night and know that the next night, dinner is just a few steps away.
Well if you try it, LMK how it goes for you. I want your mango smoothie! :) And this is a wheat-flour dough but doesn’t taste like wheat flour :)