Pizza sounds good tonight. This pizza dough recipe is useful for making homemade pizza nights enjoyable and simple. The entire process takes 15 minutes. Compared to shipping, that is much faster!
The crust from this quick whole wheat pizza dough recipe has a medium thickness. The bottom is crisp, and the middle is a little chewy. It tastes delicious, yeasty, and faintly whole-wheaty. I wrote about this dough in my cookbook, Love Real Food, because I adore it so much.
This dough doesn’t have the elusive, stretchy, chewy, sourdough texture that I crave in authentic brick oven pizza. This homemade dough is fantastic, though. A few reasons to love this recipe:
- It’s made from scratch with basic, wholesome ingredients.
- You can make it in your food processor (or by hand).
- This dough requires zero proofing time. You can make your pizzas right away.
- The dough requires minimal effort—just a couple of kneads and a few rolls with a rolling pin.
Easy Pizza Dough Ingredients
This super quick dough recipe is made with simple, basic ingredients—though a couple may surprise you!
Flour
This pizza dough works well with a variety of flours. Here are your options (use the same amount regardless):
- Whole wheat flour yields dough with just a hint of nutty wheat flavor. I don’t find it distracting.
- White whole wheat flour, which is made with white wheat berries instead of red, yields 100 percent whole wheat dough with an almost undetectable amount of wheat flavor.
- All-purpose flour works well if that’s what you have on hand.
- Do not use whole wheat pastry flour; it doesn’t contain enough gluten to cooperate with yeast.
Here’s how to measure flour into cups using the “spoon and swoop” method:
- Gently stir your flour with a large spoon to loosen it up.
- Spoon the flour into your measuring cup (don’t scoop it in!).
- Level off the excess with a butter knife.
Warm Water
Dissolving the yeast in warm water eliminates any grittiness and allows it to mingle with the honey and olive oil.
Rapid-Rise or Instant Yeast
It’s important to use rapid-rise or instant yeast here because, as the names suggest, this kind of yeast gets to work very quickly. Once combined with the warm water, honey and olive oil, this yeast is ready to go in just five minutes.
Honey or Sugar
We’ll feed the yeast with one tablespoon of honey or sugar.
Olive Oil
Olive oil helps keep the dough tender and pliable.
Parmesan Cheese
Parmesan is simply a flavor enhancer. Whole Foods 365 and BelGioioso brands offer vegetarian Parmesan cheese. Alternatives include cheddar or part-skim mozzarella.
Salt
Salt is also a flavor enhancer. No pizza dough would be complete without a little salt.
Pizza Dough FAQ
Over the years, I’ve answered a lot of inquiries concerning this dough recipe. Simply put, it’s preferable to prepare this dough as instructed and utilize it straight away.
Is regular active yeast acceptable? Can I completely omit the yeast? I don’t advise it. This recipe is actually made for yeast that rises quickly. The crust is less airy and more crisp and cracker-like with typical active yeast or no yeast at all. In essence, it’s simply not as good.
Can I omit the sugar or honey? I don’t advise it. The crust wouldn’t taste as wonderfully yeasty without the sugar, which the yeast needs to grow. The final product won’t be as soft and will have fewer little air bubbles.
Is the Parmesan optional? You can, indeed. Only for flavor is the Parmesan used. Or you may use another firm cheese in its place, like part-skim mozzarella or cheddar.
Can I prepare this dough in advance? Technically, you can store it in the fridge and bake it in a few days (wrap the dough balls in lightly oiled plastic wrap). But this dough is made to be simple and quick. It takes less than 15 minutes to prepare and is at its absolute finest when baked immediately.
Also read: Southwestern Corn Chowder
Can this dough be frozen? Yes, however it works best when used immediately (see above). Place the dough balls in freezer bags after wrapping them in plastic wrap that has been gently greased. The dough should be defrosted either in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for a few hours.
Can this dough be grilled? Yes! View the recipe notes. Additionally, this pizza dough bakes up beautifully in an Ooni pizza oven.
Can I create a calzone or stuffed bread (similar to garbage bread) with this dough? Yes, I did manage to make a calzone. Cut a few tiny slits in the top to let steam escape before baking, and delicately spray the top with olive oil. Approximately 10 minutes of baking at 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
If I don’t have a food processor, what do I do? No issue! For information on how to create this dough by hand, see the recipe notes. I suppose a KitchenAid stand mixer might be used in place of the food processor.
What is the weight of this dough? Two 11-inch pizzas may be made from this dough, which weighs just over a pound. Just keep in mind that you’ll be making two smaller pizzas rather than one larger one when using this recipe, which I’ve used successfully in recipes that call for 1 pound of pizza dough.
INGREDIENTS
Whole wheat pizza dough
- 1 cup water, heated to 110 degrees (very warm, almost too hot for comfort)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey or sugar
- 1 envelope (2 ¼ teaspoons) rapid-rise or instant yeast
- 2 ¾ cups (345 grams) white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
Toppings
- 1 cup pizza sauce or one 32-ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and crushed by hand
- 2 to 3 cups shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese
- Additional toppings, as desired
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the upper third of the oven.
- Whisk water, oil, honey and yeast in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Allow yeast to proof for 5 minutes. It should puff up some by then.
- Pulse flour, Parmesan, and salt in food processor until combined. While running the food processor, slowly pour in the water mixture and process until a shaggy ball forms, about 1 minute.
- Dump the dough onto a floured work surface and quickly knead dough a few times until it comes together. Halve the dough.
- On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll dough into two rounds about 11 inches in diameter. For best results, roll the dough out about as thin as reasonably possible. Aim for even thickness rather than a perfectly round shape.
- Carefully lift and transfer one of the rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the outer 1-inch of the dough with a light coating of olive oil. Add half of the pizza sauce or crushed tomatoes (crush the tomatoes over the sink to get out as much liquid as possible). Sprinkle with half of the cheese and any other toppings you’d like to add.
- Bake on the top rack until the crust and cheese are lightly golden, about 10 minutes for cheese pizza and 12 minutes for pizza with additional toppings. Repeat with the remaining dough, then slice and serve. Leftover pizza will keep well in the refrigerator for about 4 days.
NOTES
Recipe adapted from The Fauxmartha’s no-rise pizza crust and Cook’s Country’s quick grilled pizza dough.
TROUBLESHOOTING: In the unlikely event that the dough clings to your fingers and doesn’t hold its shape, add more flour, just 1 tablespoon at a time. Process briefly to blend again (or stir again, if making by hand).
MAKE IT VEGAN: Omit the cheese. Use maple syrup or vegan sugar instead of honey.
FLOUR OPTIONS: All-purpose flour will work well here, too (same amount). Do not use whole wheat pastry flour. I have not tried this recipe with any gluten-free flour blends; I’m not sure it will work with those.
CHEESE OPTIONS: The Parmesan is in this recipe for flavor. Whole Foods 365 and BelGioioso brands offer vegetarian Parmesan cheese. You can substitute mozzarella or cheddar if you’re out. The recipe will even work without cheese.
PIZZA STONE OPTION: This crust turns out especially great if you bake it on a hot pizza stone or pizza steel (I have this one/affiliate link) instead of a baking sheet. I have always had good luck sliding the pizza with the parchment paper underneath onto the baking stone. The pizza will bake much faster on a hot surface, so keep an eye on it and reduce the cooking time accordingly.
GRILL OPTION: This dough works great on the grill. Lay it carefully on the grates and avoid touching for the first minute of cooking.
INDIVIDUAL PIZZAS: Divide this dough into quarters (instead of halves) to make 4 “personal pan” pizzas, each about 6 inches in diameter. Bake about 7 to 10 minutes (or less, if using a pizza stone), until the crust and cheese are lightly golden.
NO FOOD PROCESSOR? Combine the flour, Parmesan, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine, then drizzle the yeast and water mixture into the bowl while stirring with a large spoon. Stir until all of the flour has been incorporated and the dough comes together, then proceed with the next step.