Thin Crust Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Posted in: Dinner Ideas, Food Photos, Lunch Ideas, Party Ideas, Pizza Ideas, Toddler Approved, Vegetarian Ideas |
The husband is SICK of pizza, and honestly, I think I am too! I’ve been experimenting for months! But this last week I’ve really been trying to finalize the recipe. I promised it for too long and I wanted to finalize it.
Now, I have to be honest. I’ve NEVER worked with yeast before. I NEVER baked a bread and I had NO idea what I was doing when I started this adventure. So I would appreciate any feedback, good or bad.
That being said, I’ve learned a ton and I’ve overcome my fear of yeast. The whole proofing concept kind of scared me and the rising process seemed overly complicated. I hope that you’ll see you can get a good healthy crust without waiting 24 hours to set the dough. It is possible to make ‘good for you’ pizza dough in about 30 minutes.
Now when I say “good” I mean this dough isn’t your local pizza joint dough. It isn’t “bready” it’s thin, it get’s crunchy, and holds the toppings very well. It also passed the picky husband, the fickle toddler, the good friend and the teenager test! Yes, all of those taste testers have tried and enjoyed pizza made from this dough! My favorite part, the toddler and the teenager asked for seconds!!
So on to the dough! Now I am aware that the moisture/flour amounts may vary depending on the humidity and your elevation. These measurements worked for me multiple times. You’ll also notice I say you can use white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour and that you could add in soy flour. These are all options and what I’ve discovered is…
- Using all white whole-wheat flour will yield the most traditional style dough. It will be more elastic and rise more.
- Using all regular whole-wheat flour will still be elastic but will not rise as much at the white whole-wheat. Still great!
- Replacing/adding ¼ cup of the flour with soy flour will be even less elastic and even rise less but still come out delicious! Plus you have the added health benefit of the soy protein.
You will have to experiment with which one you like the best. (Can you tell I tried a TON of options – I won’t even get into my oat flour experiments! LOL) 
- 1/3 cup warm water (~120 degrees)
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 1 & ¼ cups (150g) whole-wheat flour or white whole wheat flour (separated)
- ¼ cup soy flour (28g) (optional)
- 2 tbsp ground flax seeds (14g)
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/2 tbsp cornmeal
- Non-stick cooking spray
Mix the water, honey and yeast, let sit for 10 minutes while you prepare the flours it will get frothy. (Tip: the water should be about 120 degrees. I use tap water and my digital meat thermometer to know how hot it was. Just fill a cup with warm tap water and submerge the thermometer – worked like a charm!)
Mix ground flax seeds, 1 cup of the whole-wheat flour, soy flour (if using) and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the water mixture and mix using a wooden spoon until dough balls start to form. Then use hands to incorporate all the flour and form into a ball. (at this point you may have to ad a bit more water especially if you used soy flour)
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface using the remaining ¼ cup of flour. You may need it all you may not, just keep adding it while kneading if the dough is too sticky.
Knead for about 1-2 minutes.
Spray medium bowl with non-stick cooking spray and place dough inside. Cover with a towel. Place the bowl of dough and a cup of hot tap water in the microwave (do not turn on, it’s just a nice warn place in there to rise). Let rise 20-30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Spay a cookie sheet or pizza pan with non-stick cooking spray and dust with cornmeal.
Once dough has risen, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and, using a rolling pin, roll dough out thin.
Place on your preferred pizza pan. I used a pizza stone wrapped in aluminum foil (don’t ask). I sprayed with non-stick spray and sprinkled with corn meal. (I also experimented with a cookie sheet which yielded good results as well – just roll into an oblong sphere and then form in the cookie sheet)
Top with sauce and toppings and bake on the lowest rack in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!
I topped mine with leftover Homemade Sauce, 4 oz of finely shredded cheese, tons of veggies (on half of course) and turkey pepperoni.
| Servings | Amount per Serving | Calories | Fat | Fiber | WWPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1/4 of the dough (2 slices) | 195 | 4g | 6g | 3 |
Note: Nutritional Information is for dough with soy flour (not including toppings).
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Hooray! Can’t wait to try this one. I can’t lie - I bought yeast at the grocery store last week in anticipation
This weekend, I promise!!! Roni’s pizza dough just in time for me to make homemade pizza to eat while watching the NASCAR race from Bristol! Whole wheat, honey, yeast…crispy crust…what’s not to love about that???
Roni, I’ve been waiting also for your pizza dough recipe. I can’t wait to try it this weekend!! Also, have you frozen any of the dough? I was thinking of making two and freezing one…what do you think?
also, I’ve been a fan of your site and have made many of your recipes…a few are now regulars in my kitchen. Thank you so much for all your hard work and congrats on your success not only with your weight but in the gym! Keep the video’s coming too!
Hey Roni I must firstly start by telling you I am a fan of GLB. I tried making the pizza last weekend, I too observed that weren’t as chewy and more crusty & crispy than the regular crust.But just the fact that what is entering my mouth isn’t sinful is so relieving.I am sure going to try it this weekend using your recipe.
Wow! This looks amazing!
Thanks for the time and effort…thank you dh & ds too!
Hello Roni, I am so happy I have found your page. You are so optimistic. Look forward to reading your page and your blogs. Gloria
wow roni… i love this recipe blog. it’s amazing! i want to try EVERYTHING!
Thanks, Roni! I’m going to make this Friday - I also have a pizza addiction, so I can’t wait to try this with our favorite topping … lightened pesto and chicken!
Roni,
It seems like I have a ton of questions today!
Right now, I’m wondering when you calculate the NI for your pizzas - do you bother to include the NI for “free” veggies?
roni, that pizza looks awesome, just how i like it with a tonne of veggies! i was wondering, i bought yeast in the jar, not the envelope, so how much is equal to a package? is it around 1 tbsp (15ml)? does anyone know this? thanks, i can’t wait to try it this weekend!
Nicole,
From a common brand available in my area:
http://www.redstaryeast.com/products.html
RED STAR® Active Dry Yeast is available in strips of three 1/4 -ounce packets and in 4-ounce jars. One 1/4 -ounce packet of active dry yeast is equal in activity to one 0.6-ounce cake of yeast. Three 1/4 -ounce packets are equal in activity to one 2-ounce cake of yeast. A 1/4 -ounce packet of active dry yeast contains approximately 2-1/2 teaspoons; the measurement will not be exact as yeast is packaged according to weight rather than volume. A packet of yeast is sufficient to raise 4 cups, approximately 1-pound, of flour.
So the short answer to your question is: it looks like packets (at least the ones I would use) contain 1/4 ounce by weight. And that is close to 2.5 teaspoons jarred (by volume). That is just shy of a tablespoon.
I hope that helps.
~ Joy
Will you please adopt me? That’s all I got.
YAY!!!! Thank you so much, Roni! I can’t wait to try this! Do you think I could use this dough to make a calzone or stromboli?
Yay! I’m SO excited that the dough recipe is finally here! AND I already have all the ingredients! Thanks to you and “the husband” for going through all those experiments for us!
What do you mean by white whole wheat (does that mean the flour is made with white wheat kernals instead of the red wheat kernals) I’m confused — sorry, please help because I want to make this. Nobody else seemed to question this. Where have I been? Thanks for working so hard on this recipe it looks so good. I love thin crust pizza it is tasty and lower in calories.
Buying yeast in the jar is more economical, just keep it in your fridge and use it all by the date on the jar. And if you use instant yeast you can skip the proofing step.
And for Liza, white whole wheat flour is made from soft white wheat berries (not as much gluten) sometimes called whole wheat pastry flour. Whole wheat flour is made from hard red wheat berries. All wheat flour should be stored in the fridge or freezer because the wheat germ adds oil that can go rancid.
On my soapbox for a sec to say that commercial all purpose flour is milled the same way as commercial whole wheat flour. Then the wheat and bran is added back in later. There’s no regulation as to how much is put back in either…just until it has nice brown flecks. :~) Unless you are milling your own wheat flour at home, you don’t really know how “whole wheat” your flour really is.
Noelle and whoever else is wondering there is a difference between whole wheat pastry flour and white whole wheat. They are not the same. I can’t give you the specifics I just know they are not They are similar but bake differently. I use the pastry flour for cookies and muffins and the white whole wheat for breads and such. I make Roni’s whole wheat banana muffins with white whole wheat and love the results. I think that the pastry flour would not work as well for the pizza crust as the gluten would be less than the other flour.
My mom is an award winning bread baker when I walk into her house I turn into Pavlov’s dog when I smell the yeast and fresh baked bread. I never had store bought bread growing up she always made all our own bread. But she does not make low fat options. Thanks for the crust recipe.
Joy - No, not really. But the NI on the site is for just the crust, that way you can just add in your toppings. Hope that helps!
And Thanks for answering the yeast question!
Michele - I think so but I haven’t tried it. It may get really crunchy. When I try I’ll let you know.
Noell - WOW I didn’t know that!! I have to look into it. And I agree with Rebbecca, Whole Wheat Pastry and White Whole Wheat are different (at least the brands I use). I believe Whole Wheat Pastry is just milled really REALLY fine.
SUZEEQ22 - Sorry I forgot you!! I think it will be ok, but I haven’t tried it. Now I have frozen Trader Joe’s dough and defrosted it without a problem. Not sure about mine though.
I’ve made the pizza twice now, and I’m in love! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. You are awesome! I second Marta in asking will you adopt me. It’s great to see that eating healthy does not have to be boring.
I should have clarified…white whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour are both made from soft white wheat berries (accordking to Flour Power by Marleeta Basey).
I bake all my family’s bread, too, using red wheat berries for our sandwich bread and pizza crust and rolls. But I use soft white berries for muffins, quick breads and biscuits. And I mill my own flour.
Rebecca it’s so easy to make homemade breads without a lot of added fat. You should try it!
I cheat and usually make pizza dough in my bread maker…but I think I may give this a try. By the way you don’t need to adopt me…but if you are ever in San Diego I will let you have your way in my awesome kitchen…and I will provide the groceries. I have a pool…and a spa…sound good??
Keep it up Roni!!
Yes please let us know if you happen to come to San Diego
Well it’s official…I’m stalking Roni’s recipes! I’ve now lost count of how many I’ve tried, and so far ALL have been “keepers”. I can add this one as well. I think it’s safe to say DH liked it since he ate 3/4 of the entire thing.
I used soy flour, but didn’t increase the water until I realized I had a crumbly mixture that wasn’t coming together all that well. I’m dough challenged to begin with. Mine also didn’t seem to rise (and I did wait 25 minutes). However, after fighting with it for about 15 minutes (maybe it was really only 5…but it FELT like at least 10) I finally got it “rolled out”. Now this recipe…or at least the way I made it, has a built-in, hidden bonus. You get to earn activity points!! I don’t care what any of you say/think…I was sweating by the time I got mine rolled out big enough to actually use. So I’m counting those activity points!
I’ve never tried broccoli on my pizza before so that was a new addition and it will now go on all my pizzas. I added just a touch too much jalapeno to mine so next time I think I’ll leave them out and just add after cooking if we are in the mood for them.
So Roni…once again I thank you for your awesome work. DH doesn’t eat all that well on his own. In the past I’ve tried to make “healthy” meals, but they are usually bland and in my case had gotten repetitive. And the fact of the matter is, as a woman working full time, I got lazy and started making what was fast and easy. And most of the time, that does NOT equal healthy. I’m finding your recipes great for either prepping during the weekend and use during the week (spaghetti sauce), or they are quick enough to just got for it during the week. I really enjoyed watching DH eat that pizza crust tonight, knowing that he was eating a very low fat, healthy crust with 6 grams of fiber per serving!
O.k., I’m getting to the point of writing a novel here so I’ll sign off. But once again, THANK YOU.
[…] made the Thin Crust Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, this time half whole wheat and half white whole wheat (no soy) and it was perfect!! (even the […]
I use my bread machine to make my pizza dough so I don’t have to mess with the whole proofing/rising thing. I put it in there and forget it. I love making homemade pizza. It isn’t nearly as quick as take out and doesnt taste as good as the local pizzeria but it is yummy. The kids love making their own pizzas.
[…] substituted it 1 for 1 without a problem and I’ve gotten the best results using it for my whole wheat pizza dough. The whole wheat pastry flour is a very fine milled flour and I’ve used it for cookies with […]
Finally got around to trying this recipe. It was a roaring success…despite my husbands original comment that I will not repeat about flax seed in pizza crust. I didn’t use soy flour, but it really worked well. I got the coveted comment, “you can make this again” and both my boys ate it! Thanks for the recipe!
[…] Thin Crust Whole Wheat Pizza Dough […]
This is a great recipe. I’ve been making my own pizza dough for years (the white flour, doughy kind) and have been looking for a solid whole wheat recipe. I worked in an upscale Italian restaurant for years and perfected my dough with the help of the chef there…so I did make one little change to your recipe by adding olive oil. I was making a thin crust pizza with white flour but it was always a little dry in the middle, the chef insisted that I use olive oil (extra virgin or regular, both work) and it completely changed the crust. I know this ups the point value of this recipe, but at least it’s a healthy point increase! I added 3 tbsp of oil, but you can add as little as 1…what this does is give it a little bit of chewy in the middle of the crunch.
It’s a great recipe with or without the oil, once again I am in your debt for helping me “health” up my kitchen! I love the flavor of the whole wheat, makes going easy on the cheese easier. Thanks Roni!
I made this for lunch this past Friday and it turned out really well. I live in Florida and ended up having to use almost double the amount of water. It also didn’t turn out overly crunchy like I was expecting based off previous comments here.
Last night I used it to make your Stromboli and it was soooo good! Even better left over today! Yum!!
Next time I want to try making a double batch and freezing…