Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
TASTE: If I didn’t tell you this pizza crust is whole wheat, you probably wouldn’t know it.
TEXTURE: Light yet chewy with crisp edges. Perfect!
EASE: Super easy, no kneading involved. You basically just stir together the ingredients, let it rise, shape it into balls, let it rest, then shape it into a circle. The dough can be both refrigerated and frozen to make ahead of time.
APPEARANCE: Pretty perfect as far as beige balls of dough come.
PROS: Easy, tasty, and healthier than white flour dough.
CONS: Absolutely none.
WOULD I MAKE THIS AGAIN? Yes! I made a double batch to freeze so we can have pizza whenever we want.
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Ultimate No-Knead Whole Wheat Pizza Dough is ridiculously simple and just as tasty, light, chewy, and crisp as regular pizza crust.
Dense cardboard. That’s how I would describe the first whole wheat pizza crust I ever tasted. There was no light chewiness to it, no crispness. It was soft and heavy and tasted overwhelmingly wheaty in the worst way. For a long time I thought there was no such thing as a scrumptious whole wheat pizza dough recipe. That was until now! Last year I posted a video tutorial with tons of helpful tips and tricks on how to make pizza. It starred my favorite no-knead pizza dough recipe which uses regular all-purpose white flour. I received many questions about how to make that recipe whole-wheat, so I thought I’d experiment a bit and I’m super excited to share what I came up with.
Most pizza dough recipes are very similar; there are only so many ingredients you can use to make pizza dough. This ultimate no-knead whole wheat pizza dough uses some very simple ingredients too. Here is exactly what I use to make this dough:
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White Whole Wheat Flour:
This flour is 100% whole grain and just as nutritious as regular whole wheat flour, but has a lighter taste and color due to the fact that it’s made from a naturally occurring albino wheat. This makes it absolutely perfect for pizza dough. I’ve seen this at most grocery stores in either the King Arthur brand or Gold Medal brand. This recipe uses all white whole wheat flour but tastes wonderful, promise.
SAF Instant Yeast:
This is my favorite yeast that I keep in the fridge since it’s such a large package. It’s instant yeast, which means you don’t have to proof it by combining with water for 5 minutes. You can add it directly into your dough recipe with the other dry ingredients, no special treatment required. You can find other brands of instant yeast, sometimes called “rapid-rise.” If you only have active dry yeast, combine it with the 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 115°F) in the recipe and let stand for 5 minutes, or until the yeast is foamy and dissolved. If this doesn’t happen that means your yeast has expired and is no longer usable.
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil:
A splash of oil goes into the dough to give it richness and a boost of flavor, then we brush the edges of the stretched dough with some more olive oil before topping. This ensures the dough gets nice and golden brown and crispy. Don’t skip the brushing! Another tasty option is to combine some melted butter with minced fresh garlic cloves to brush around the edges of the dough for a garlic butter crust. YUM.
Flavorings:
Fine sea salt gives the dough some flavor, as does the honey. Definitely do not skip these. You can also add in fresh chopped herbs or dried herbs to the dough as you mix the other ingredients, such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, etc. for an extra boost of flavor.
Baking Temperature and Time:
This is just the dough recipe, but I’ve included instructions on how to form and bake with whatever toppings you like. Feel free to crank your oven higher than the 450°F listed in the recipe. My oven doesn’t reliably go much higher than that, nor do I enjoy cranking it any higher than that living here in Phoenix. Start checking your pizza around 12 minutes. I like my crust and cheese to be nice and golden brown, so I cook mine for about 15 minutes or even longer.
Baking Stone
This isn’t 100% necessary, if you have a pizza screen or other pan that creates a crisp crust, use that instead. However I LOVE my baking stone and find it creates the best pizza and this particular stone by Emile Henry is also safe to use on your grill, so you can make pizza in the summer without heating your whole kitchen up.
Make Ahead:
-In a warm spot in your house (at least 75°F), the dough should take no longer than 1 1/2 hours to rise. Instead, you can let the dough can ferment overnight in the fridge. Remove from the fridge and let come to room temperature, about 2 hours, before using.
-Once you shape the dough into two smooth balls, they need to rest for about 30 minutes to relax the gluten. This will make it MUCH easier to shape into a thin circle. After 30 minutes, the dough can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Let rest at room temperature, covered in plastic so it won’t continue to rise, for 2 to 3 hours before shaping.
-You can also freeze the dough, individually wrapped in plastic and placed in ziptop bags, for up to 1 month. Defrost in the fridge overnight then allow to sit at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours before shaping.
Ultimate No-Knead Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 cups (15.5 ounces) white whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for brushing
- 1 tablespoon honey
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, yeast, and salt. In a liquid measuring cup combine the water, oil, and honey. Gradually add the water mixture to the flour, stirring until incorporated and a shaggy dough forms. You may need to use your hands.
- Shape the dough into a rough ball and transfer to large clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. You can also let the dough ferment in the fridge overnight. Remove from the fridge and let come to room temperature, about 2 hours, before using.
- Transfer the dough to a well-floured work surface. Divide into 2 equal portions. Take one portion of dough and gather 4 corners to the center to create 4 folds. Turn seam side down and roll into an even ball. Repeat with remaining half of dough. Let the dough rest, covered, until soft and pliable, about 30 minutes.
- At this point the dough can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Unwrap and let rest at room temperature, covered in plastic, for 2 to 3 hours before shaping. Freeze the dough, individually wrapped in plastic and placed in ziptop bags, for up to 1 month. Defrost in the fridge overnight then allow to sit at room temperature as directed before shaping.
- Place a baking stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 450°F. Place one ball of dough on a large sheet of parchment and shape and stretch until you have a thin 12-inch circle. To get the dough super thin, briefly roll with a rolling pin. Slide the dough onto a pizza peel or flat cookie sheet. Cover with a clean towel until ready to use. Brush the edges with olive oil and top with desired toppings. Bake in a 450°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until desired doneness.
Miss Tessa hi. Thank you very much for all your answers. I have been looking for a recipe that does it all (maybe I am asking too much) and I like to know if I can use your special pizza dough for making bread and if you can send me the instructions please, I would really appreciate.Thank you very much again!!! Elizabeth
We haven’t tried that either, so I can’t say for sure how it’d turn out. I think our Ultimate Simple Dough recipe may be what you’re looking for! We include all the different ways that recipe can be used in the blog post above the recipe, so be sure to be through the entire post. I hope that helps!
Miss Tessa hi! Thank you for your quick response. What I had in mind was a vegetable galette to make it with your special whole wheat pizza dough. Can I also make bread with it? Thank you very much again. Elizabeth
Hi Miss Tessa! Can I use this dough for other things for example galette,Stromboli etc…Thank you very much!!! Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth! A galette is typically made using pie dough, like our Apple Galette recipe here. You’re welcome to experiment, but know that the pizza dough won’t achieve a flaky crust like pie dough can! We haven’t tried this recipe for stromboli, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work 🙂 Let us know how it goes if you give it a try!