Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

I like to make pizza on a weekly basis. When I have time to make my own mozzarella, I use it on pizza, and it is divine. I've been trying to make a weekly pizza that showcases whatever is best in season. So lately we've been having lots of pizza featuring roasted tomatoes and peppers, homemade pesto, and other fresh herbs. I'm looking forward to a winter squash, apple and sausage pizza when the weather gets a bit cooler.

I have struggled for some time to find a whole wheat pizza dough recipe that I like. I have tried many, some rather fancy and complex, others more simple. Inevitably I would end up with something heavy as a sack of bricks, tough and overly chewy. It was too dense, and lacked that elasticity yet lightness of pizzaria crusts.

I think I've finally hit upon a recipe and a method that works for me. Now, when I posted about my success on facebook, a number of my friends chimed in with additional suggestions, such as pre-baking the crust (something I had never even considered), using a pizza stone (I'd love to, but mine was rent in two by the forces of my oven years ago), etc. So this is by no means a definitive recipe. I think I will be experimenting for years.

The two keys to this recipe are: add the flour slowly, in increments; and be certain to knead the dough for enough time. I think part of my problem in the past was adding too much flour too soon. You want the dough to be supple, but not sticky. And I know for a fact I never, ever kneaded the dough long enough. I would knead it for what seemed like an eternity, but then I'd look at the clock and 90 seconds had passed. When you knead the dough well, magical things happen.

Also, I call this a whole wheat crust, but I use a mixture of white and whole wheat flour. I think the ration I've hit upon is pretty good, but it's easy for the wheat flour to tip the balance and make an overly heavy crust, so feel free to err on the side of more white flour if you're concerned about that.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Mix in a bowl:
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 pinch sugar
3/4 cup white flour

Let this mixture sit, undisturbed, for 20-30 minutes. After that time has passed, the mixture should be bubbly--I believe this might be what is called a "sponge" in the bread-making world. If it's not bubbly, your yeast is probably old, and your dough won't rise.

Coat a second bowl with olive oil and set aside.

Add to the sponge:
1 T olive oil
1 T kosher salt

Mix well, then add 1 cup of wheat flour in quarter-cup increments. Once the wheat flour is mixed in, you can begin adding up to an additional cup of white flour as needed. What I do at this point is usually mix in a quarter-cup of the white flour, then flour my countertop and begin kneading. As sticky, wet patches of the dough appear, I sprinkle on a little more flour, and as the flour on the counter gets absorbed, I reflour there, too.

Knead the dough for ten minutes, or until the dough is stretchy and smooth. I use the flatten, fold and turn method of kneading, and really take out my aggressions. Again, watch your flour levels, and add more (to the dough or to the surface) as needed.

Once you've kneaded your dough, place the dough in the oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl tightly with saran-wrap, and place in a warm location.

Let the dough rise for at least an hour. When the dough has doubled in size, it's ready.

I usually flatten it out with a rolling pin. This makes enough dough for one very large round pizza, or enough to fill a rectangular baking sheet (I think it's 9x13). Now, I usually just put the dough down, then a little olive oil, and then my toppings. I haven't tried pre-baking it. But since you need to bake this for about 14-16 minutes (at 425 degrees), the cheese gets pretty done. So prebaking the crust for about five minutes, then topping and baking ten minutes more, might avoid that issue.

This results in a thinnish, crisp-ish kind of pizza crust. It's no pizzaria crust, but I think it's my best whole wheat attempt.