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Made with all-purpose or whole-wheat flour, this easy recipe for homemade pizza dough is soft and tender, and bakes up perfectly every time! It is the ONLY pizza dough recipe you need to make the best homemade pizzas.
Use this fool-proof pizza dough recipe along with my easy pizza sauce recipe to make a classic cheese pizza or pull-apart pizza bread.
Perfect Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
This is the pizza dough recipe to beat all pizza dough recipes! After years (seriously years) of working to perfect my pizza dough recipe, I finally created a fool-proof pizza dough that is soft and tender--even when made with 100% whole grains.
Yes! That's right! A 100% whole grain pizza crust that is not dense or bland. This whole wheat pizza dough recipes is nutty, slightly sweet, and rolls out like a dream.
It is the perfect pizza dough and incredibly easy to make, either by hand OR with a bread machine.
Recipe Highlights
Ingredients for Homemade Pizza Dough
- Flour: To keep this light and tender while still using 100% whole grains, I strongly recommend using whole white wheat flour. It is a lighter flour than whole wheat flour but is still 100% whole grains. Whole wheat flour will work but will produce a SLIGHTLY denser pizza dough. Feel free to use all-purpose flour as well if that is what you have on hand.
- Yeast: This recipe is designed using dry active yeast, not quick-rise yeast.
- Water: Be sure your water is between 105-115 degrees F, which allows yeast to activate. If the water is too hot, the yeast will be killed and if the water is not warm enough, the yeast will not activate. The water should be warm, but not hot to the touch. To be precise, use a digital thermometer the first couple of times you make this pizza dough recipe. After making this recipe a few times, you will be able to tell by touching the correct temperature of the water.
- Honey: You need a bit of sugar to add flavor to this dough and to help activate the yeast. Honey is my sweetener of choice, as it flavors the dough while helping to activate the yeast.
- Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil is going to impart the best flavor to your pizza dough and is strongly recommended. Canola oil can be used in a bind, but I never recommend vegetable oil or coconut oil in pizza dough.
How To Make Homemade Pizza Dough
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the ingredient quantities and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Bloom the Yeast
Blooming the yeast, is the process of activating the yeast and ensuring it is alive and will work to create a fluffy, tender pizza crust. To bloom the yeast, simply combine the yeast in warm water with a bit of sugar (or honey in this case), and let sit for 5-10 minutes until the mixture begins to bubble and get foamy. Important: If no bubbles appear, the yeast is not active and you must start over. This can happen because the water was too hot or too cold OR your yeast was expired.
Form Pizza Dough
Slowly add in the salt and flour to the foamy water and mix with a wooden spoon or with a dough attachment on a stand mixer at low speed until the dough just comes together.
Knead the Pizza Dough
Once the flour has been mixed into the water mixture and the dough comes together, turn your stand mixer to medium-low and let the dough knead for 5- 7 minutes. You can also knead the dough by hand on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes. You will know your dough is done kneading when it forms a smooth, firm ball.
Let Dough Rise
Place the dough ball into an oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let it rise for 30-45 minutes at room temperature, or until it doubles in size. Keep in mind that the amount of time it takes for dough to rise is dependent on the temperature and humidity in your house.
Shape the Pizza Crust
After the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough and let it rest for another 10-15 minutes. This is key to the pizza being able to be shaped as desired. I typically use this time to preheat my oven for baking the pizza. After the 10-15 minutes have passed, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to ¼ inch thick for traditional pizza crust or ⅛ inch thick for thin pizza crust.
Top As Desired
Add a thin layer of pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese or your favorite toppings to your pizza dough, and bake until the crust is golden brown and the cheese has melted.
∗ important tips to remember when making homemade pizza dough ∗
While making homemade pizza dough is easy, there are a few things you must remember to ensure success. These tips apply when making whole wheat pizza dough AND pizza dough with all-purpose flour.
- Spoon the flour. It is important to spoon, not scoop, the flour into a measuring cup, as this yields a more accurate measurement.
- Use warm, not hot water. The water should be warm, not hot, to the touch, or measure 105-115 degrees Fahrenheit. This will be the perfect temperature to activate, rather than kill the yeast.
- Be patient. It is important to exercise patience when letting the yeast bloom, kneading the dough, and letting the dough rise.
Make-Ahead and Freezing Instructions
Because pizza night is such a favorite at my house, I love to double or triple my recipe for homemade pizza dough to use at a later time.
- To prepare pizza dough in advance, prepare the dough up through the first rise. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down and divide it into 1-pound balls of dough (this is one recipe worth of dough.) Lightly oil a freezer-safe gallon storage bag with 1-2 teaspoons of oil. Transfer pizza dough into the storage bag and seal well. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- To use refrigerated pizza dough, remove the dough from the storage bag and place it into an oiled bowl. Cover with a towel and bring to room temperature 1 hour before rolling the dough and baking.
- To use frozen pizza dough, thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight. Once thawed, place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it with a towel, and bring it to room temperature for 1 hour before rolling the dough out and baking.
Recipes Using Homemade Pizza Dough
Next time you are craving pizza, give this whole wheat pizza dough recipe a try, and then be sure to leave a review and comment below.
The Best Homemade Pizza Dough
Video
Ingredients
- ¾ cups warm water, 100-110℉/ 38-42℃
- 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon honey
- 2-2¼ cups whole white wheat flour, see notes
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine the ¾ cups warm water, 2 teaspoons dry active yeast½ tablespoon honey and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes in a large mixing bowl (or bowl of your stand mixer with a dough hook attached), until bubbly.
- Once the yeast mixture is bubbly, mix in ½ tablespoon olive oil. Add 2 cups of flour and ½ teaspoon kosher saltand mix with the dough hook or a large spatula, until well combined. If the dough feels too sticky or wet, add additional flour, 1-2 tablespoons at a time.
- Once the pizza dough comes together, knead for 8-9 minutes by hand on a lightly floured surface or with the dough hook of a stand mixer on low speed for 5-7 minutes.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover and leave in a warm spot for 30-45 minutes, to rise until doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down and let it rest for another 10-15 minutes. Then proceed to roll out pizza dough to prepare pizza.
- To Bake Pizza: Preheat oven to 425℉(215℃). For a thin crust: Roll out dough to ⅛ inch thick and top as desired. Bake on a pizza stone or baking sheet for 12-15 minutes. For a thicker crust: Roll dough out to ¼ inch thick and top as desired. Bake on a pizza stone or baking sheet for 18-20 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello. Can you use just whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat white flour?
Yes, it will be a lot denser--so just keep in that mind. If you have all-purpose you may want to use 1/2 cup all-purpose with 1 1/4 cup wheat flour to keep it less dense.
Just as soon as I can find yeast anywhere in town I’m going to start making pizza dough! Thanks for sharing!
Good luck finding yeast!!
I find if you use Traditional Pizza 'yeast', which is finer, you'll get a much fluffier dough. Also, when dough is at rest, cover it with plastic wrap instead of a towel...it rises much quicker.
We also enjoy adding garlic salt to the dough when mixing, substituting it with regular salt from the recipe.
When preparing your pizza pan, we wipe it lightly with olive oil and then sprinkle a bit of corn meal on it before adding our dough.
I love adding garlic salt and oregano at times myself. And corn meal is a great idea.
Made it in my bread maker and it came out delicious. My husband and child loved it. Quick question, can we double the recipe to make two pizza crusts?
Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Ceci! I have been able to double this recipe in my 2 pound bread maker. And so glad you enjoyed 🙂
Perfect; the frozen dough is going to be the PERFECT Christmas gift this year!
Oh that is a GREAT idea for Christmas gifts! LOVE IT!
I would like to freeze the pizza dough, as you printed. When you say to freeze it 1 lb. in a bag...Is your full recipe 1 lb.? Thanks
Yes this recipe is for 1 pound. Sorry for the confusion!
I love a homemade pizza recipe, and this one looks like a winner! YUM