I love this dough for my pizza crust! It is delicious –perfectly chewy on the inside yet crisp on the outside–and nutritious– I use mostly soft wheat flour (it’s called whole wheat pastry flour at your regular supermarket). It is intentionally not 100% soft wheat–I have some plain bread flour in there too–because I find that it gives me the best result both in consistency and texture while still rich in fiber. This combination makes this dough so dependable and easy to handle–which is of course a must!
Now, I know what you are thinking: Are you kidding me?? Make my own pizza dough? Trust me, I hear from people who tell me just that, all the time. All the time, that is…until they make this one and realize it is THAT easy! Try this one EXACTLY as I describe it — step by step — it is foolproof AND it takes 10 minutes to put together if you have one of those stand-up electric mixer. Then, it’s just a matter of waiting for the dough to rise for 20 minutes. I make this pizza dough so often, I just make it without thinking, and so will you! The key is the starter “sponge” which activates the yeast before it is mixed in with the rest of the ingredients. After that, it’s just a cinch to make! Really, Really! Let that sink in and get started! Don’t be intimidated by the length of the instructions below, it’s just that I want to be very thorough in my typical scientist way so you will master this– it really is simple to make, I promise!
- FOR THE DOUGH: This makes TWO 12" pizza crusts
- Sponge:
- ½ cup warm water (not hot!)
- 2 tsp dry yeast
- ½ tsp sugar
- Remaining ingredients:
- 1 cup water
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour + 2 Tbsp
- 1 cup bread flour
- ¾ tsp salt
- Preheat oven to 400
- MAKING THE DOUGH: Place ½ cup of lukewarm water (not hot) in a small cup and add the sugar and active yeast, stir and let sit for 5-8 minutes until the yeast becomes foamy. It will double in size.
- While the yeast is rising, pour the remaining cup of lukewarm water in the bowl of a stand electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and add olive oil, both flours and salt.
- Add the foamy yeast mixture to the remaining ingredients and turn on the mixer on low speed until the dough forms a ball.
- Turn up the speed to medium for an additional minute. The dough will appear sticky at first, but be patient, within 2 minutes it will form a perfect ball!
- Take out the dough and sprinkle with no more than 1 tsp flour so your hands won’t stick to it.
- Gently shape the dough into a large ball and place it in a bowl loosely covered with a clean hand-towel.
- Let rise for 15-20 minutes.
Laura says
March 5, 2017 at 10:47 pmCatherine,
Is it possible to make this dough if I do not have a stand up mixer?
Catherine Katz says
March 6, 2017 at 7:26 amAbsolutely Laura! Just place all the ingredients in a bowl in the order that I describe with the yeast sponge and just knead the dough by hand the old fashioned way. That’s how I used to do it too!
martine says
October 8, 2016 at 2:38 ambonjour , une p’tite pizza de derrièreles fagots , quelle bonne idée!!merci pour cette recette si simple et délicieuse!! bonne journée!! martine de France
Catherine Katz says
October 8, 2016 at 2:54 pmAvec grand plaisir, Martine! 🙂
John Breeden says
February 17, 2015 at 12:13 amHello Catherine,
Everyone enjoyed your pizza dough recipe this evening. I took a picture and sent it to a friend, suggesting a movie and pizza night – the response was quick. I remember seeing your ‘stealth’ recipe for toppings included adding avacado, so I included it too.
I did all preparations by hand without any problems.
Thanks, again! Learning to cook the foods that love us back is yielding new dividends of fun cooking sessions with my daughter present, asking questions and giving direction – so one of the two pizzas definitely contained no onions. …
John
Greg says
December 27, 2014 at 2:22 pmYUM- excellent- used some avocado in the tom sauce too – good idea!
Greg says
December 27, 2014 at 1:26 pmI am making the pizza dough by hand – it works great!
Catherine Katz says
December 27, 2014 at 2:36 pmGreg! So good to hear from you! I am so happy to hear it worked well by hand as well!! YAY!!!
Greg says
December 2, 2014 at 10:15 amThat will work – thanks for the help!!
Greg says
December 1, 2014 at 4:40 pmQuestion – after step #8 do I just divide in 2 and roll out? I suppose I could wrap and freeze or keep in refrig?
Thanks!
Catherine Katz says
December 1, 2014 at 4:43 pmHi Greg! I actually always make at least 2 with my big family so to be really honest, I don’t know if it would refrigerate or freeze well, unbaked. If you do try it, of course you will need to bring it back to room temperature and let it rise again before rolling out. Yikes! I didn’t think this one through!!! You could always make 2, and freeze the extra one, once baked. I know THAT works well because I sometimes have to freeze leftover pizza slices of mine and they are fantastic reheated! I hope this is helpful!