Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

As promised from the Shrimp Pesto Pizza post, I have here my recipe for Whole Wheat Pizza Dough. If you have never used whole wheat flour before, you should. Besides the many health benefits, whole wheat has a nutty, buttery flavor that pairs well with most foods. Now, I don’t recommend using only whole wheat flour when baking, but a ½ & ½ mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flours is a good ratio to go by, as straight whole wheat may yield some off results, like, say, denseness and overly-chewiness come to mind. I like to look at all cooking and baking as an experiment to try something new. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, so feel free to play around with the ratios. I’m just saying that equal parts works best for me.

 

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Makes 2 12-inch crusts

Combine in a large mixing bowl, or as I like to do, the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, like, say, a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes:
 

2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package)

1⅓ cups warm water (about 105º to 115ºF)

Add:

1¾ cups whole wheat flour

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

Mix by hand or low low speed for about 1 minute to blend all the ingredients. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or with the dough hook on low to medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic. I usually do the dough hook method in my stand mixer, lock it, and come back to it in 7 minutes. Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly coated with extra virgin olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (75º to 80ºF) until doubled in volume, 1 to 1½ hours.

 

CORY’S TIP! – If you don’t have a warm place because you are keeping the thermostat down, don’t fret! You can either place the bowl on the top of the refrigerator or preheat your oven for 1 minute and place the bowl in there to rise.

 

Preheat the oven to 475ºF. Punch the dough down and divide it in half, and roll each into a ball. (If you only plan on making one pizza, go ahead and tightly wrap the other dough half in plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days, allowing it to rise again at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.) Allow the balls to rest, loosely covered in plastic wrap, for 10 to 15 minutes. Grease and dust with cornmeal baking sheet(s) or stone(s). Now comes the fun part. If you are up to the challenge of tossing your dough into a round, go for it. But for the rest of us, I give you these two options: 1) Flatten the ball of dough on a lightly floured work surface into a 12-inch round, rolling and stretching the dough, or, as I prefer, 2) Squish the dough to flatten in your hand and holding the disc vertically, allow gravity to do the stretching for you, turning the disc like you would a steering wheel until it is about 12-inches round. Place the circles on the prepared baking surface and, using your fingers, pretend like you are playing the piano over the entire top of the dough until it resembles a flattened eggshell foam mattress. This process isn’t just for fun, although it is a lot of fun, but the denting of the dough helps prevent bubbles from forming. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfectly round, I personally like the rustic shape homemade dough takes on. Brush with extra virgin olive oil, or, as I like to do, use my handy-dandy oil mister (Pam Olive Oil Spray will work too) and lightly spray the surface. Allow to rest for another 10 minutes. Put it in the oven for about 10 minutes to par-bake before topping and final baking.

 

I hope you enjoy this baking project. It is an easy one to do with the kiddos too, and will teach them about the science of baking.