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I got this recipe from a Mennonite friend who makes pizza every Saturday night using this basic pizza dough recipe.
Her pizza is incredibly delicious, and she bakes the crusts in multiple cast-iron pans to get crisp and chewy bottoms.
After years of making pizza for my family, I will admit I have some high pizza standards. This easy pizza dough recipe, paired with homemade pizza sauce, makes an outstanding crust that is so flavorful and way better than the white flour pizza dough crusts!
It’s healthier, way easier on my gut, and is so effortless to make! I mix the freshly milled flour with the sourdough starter, perform a few stretch and folds, then pop the dough in the fridge or stretch it out and top it with all the toppings. It doesn’t really need to rise after the initial bulk rise.
This whole wheat pizza dough recipe is easy to make because it works with commercial yeast if sourdough isn’t your thing. All the other ingredients stay the same. And if you loathe stretch and folds, mix the dough in a stand mixer, then leave it alone. I prefer to mix it all by hand and do a few stretch and folds so, I don’t have to clean my mixer but either method is mostly hands off! Which is perfect for busy moms.
Sourdough Pizza Dough With Fresh Milled Flour: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Fresh Milled Flour for pizza dough is best made from grains like hard white wheat or hard red. Spelt grain has less gluten than some modern wheat varieties, so use half-and-half to make pizza dough if you wish to use Ancient grains.
- Very Active Sourdough Starter- I generally feed mine 4 hours prior to making pizza dough. If you are using commercial yeast than omit the starter and add 1-2 Tbsp of dry active yeast to the water. If you’re planning to refrigerate it, use 1 Tbsp and 2 Tbsp if you’re using it soon. Everything else stays the same. This is a hydrated dough that yields fluffly and chewy pizza crust.
- Honey- maple syrup or organic cane sugar works in place of the honey.
- Filtered water- I use well water and advise filtered water anytime you’re working with sourdough.
- Olive Oil- when I run out of olive oil, I’ll usually use any neutral-flavored oil like avocado oil or sunflower oil (which are what I keep on hand).
- Salt- like sea salt or Redmond are my favorites.
- Note: this pizza crust is vegan, so you can use dairy-free toppings to make a vegan pizza.
Toppings:
Our family’s toppings of choice are usually pepperoni and cheese. However, it also depends on what veggies need to be used up. Today, I made one crust with pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, sliced tomatoes, red onions, roasted red peppers, and olives.
The second pizza was with homemade ranch dressing, cheese, canned chicken, bacon bits, tomatoes, and red onion. Both were delicious!
Make Healthy Sourdough Pizza Dough
Weigh your whole grains. I used 500 grams of hard white wheat berries. Or mill the grains and measure out 4 cups of freshly milled flour.
Ideally, your looking for a wheat berry that has higher protien inorder to bring the gluten out. Gluten is what makes the pizza dough pliable and stretchy. Less gluten, and the dough will tear.
When the sourdough starter is active and bubbly, add it to the water. Add in the olive oil, honey, freshly milled flour, and salt. Using your hands, mix everything well. The pizza dough will look shaggy and wet. Cover it with plastic wrap and come back to it in 20 minutes.
If you prefer not to get your hands dirty, simply combine the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and knead it over low speed (speed 2) for 20 minutes or until it passes the window pane test. Then let it rise for 4 hours, covered.
After 20 minutes of mixing the dough by hand, perform the first stretch and fold. The dough will be more stretchable and pliable at this point, and with each time, the gluten will be developed. Do a total of four stretch and folds every 20 minutes. Then allow the dough to bulk rise for 4 hours.
After 4 hours of bulk fermentation, you can either place the dough ball into a greased Ziploc bag (I spray mine with avocado oil) and refrigerate it. Or divide the dough into two equal pieces and roll out to the desired pizza crust shape.
Optional-Letting it Rise
If you have extra time, you can let the pizza dough rise in the pans a bit. This can take 30-50 minutes. However, my pizzas usually rest as I’m preheating the oven and topping them. This amount of time (probably 10 or so minutes) still makes a deliciously soft, tender, and thicker crust, but it’s not required.
Roll Out The Pizza Dough
Once the whole wheat pizza dough is fermented, smooth, and elastic, you’ll divide it in half (this recipe makes two medium-sized crusts). And form it into your desired shape.
I like to stretch my pizza dough into circular rounds because that is the shape of my pizza pans. Sometimes I’ll just roll out the entire dough ball onto an 18×13 sheet pan if I’m in a rush.
I like to grease my pizza pan well with olive oil and stretch each piece of dough directly into it.
If you’re avoiding excess oil than just flour a surface and roll out the pizza dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Do this on parchment paper if you are transferring the dough onto a pizza stone.
Add the Sauce & Toppings
Once the dough is stretched and shaped to your desired thickness, slather on the sauce. Then add your desired toppings.
I like to add a thin layer of cheese, then add the toppings, and finish with another light layer of cheese. This makes it look like it came from a pizzeria!
If your feeling extra adventorus brush the crust with melted butter and sprinkle with some herbs and seasonings (like garlic powder, pizza seasoning, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese, etc..)
Bake the Pizza
Once your wholesome pizzas are assembled, slide them straight into the preheated oven. Bake the pizza at a high oven temperature of 480°F for 15-18 minutes. The cheese should melt, and it should be speckled with brown spots on top. The crust should be golden brown.
Watch the pizza so it doesn’t brown too quickly. The last few minutes of baking can go from almost done to almost burnt, so be careful not to forget about it.
Serve
Remove the pizzas from the oven and place pizza pans on pot holders. Allow the pizzas to cool for 5-10 minutes. Then slice each pizza pie into 8 equal pieces. I like to use a sharp spatula to cut through any stubborn edges.
We cut our pizzas with a round pizza cutter, then trim any stubborn edges with a sharp spatula or bench scraper.
I love serving this healthy homemade pizza with a green lettuce salad, like Greek salad or Caesar’s salad.
How To Freeze Sourdough Pizza Dough:
There are a few different ways to freeze this pizza dough.
- Grease the inside of a Ziploc and form the dough into a ball. Place it into the Ziploc bag and remove as much air as possible (to prevent freezer burn).
- Prick the dough with a fork throughout the center. Par-bake the crust for 5-7 minutes without the toppings. Let it cool, then double wrap in plastic and freeze. You can add the toppings before baking.
- Pre-bake the crust as directed above, and only after cooling the crust, add the sauce and toppings. Flash freeze the pizzas, then double wrap each pizza and freeze inside Jumbo freezer bags. This makes great freezer meals for expecting moms! Double or triple the pizza dough to make plenty!
FAQs About Sourdough Pizza
Can I Use Yeast?
Yes! This pizza dough was adapted from a basic recipe that called for commercial yeast. Because this is freshly milled flour pizza dough, it could benefit from the starter’s extra hydration, so all the ingredients remain the same. Originally, the recipe called for 1-2 Tbsp of dry active yeast instead of the 1 cup of starter.
Can I Use White Flour?
Absolutely! This recipe was originally a white flour recipe that called for all-purpose or bread flour. Use 4 cups of white all-purpose flour or Einkorn flour.
Can I Freeze Sourdough Pizza Dough?
To freeze a pizza crust made with a sourdough starter, ensure it has completed the bulk fermentation process and that the gluten is fully developed. Freeze it whole in a greased gallon freezer bag.
Once frozen, let it sit in the fridge overnight to thaw. Take it out of the fridge two hours before shaping, and let it come to room temperature and rise a bit. Then shape into a crust and bake with desired toppings. You could let it rise in the pans for 30 or so minutes to ensure a fluffier crust.
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Whole Wheat Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe
Equipment
- 2 large cast-iron pans, (or steel pizza pans)
- 2 hot pads
Ingredients
Sourdough Pizza Dough:
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 cup active sourdough starter
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 cups whole wheat flour, (500 grams hard white wheat berries)
Instructions
- Weigh 500 grams of hard white wheat berries and run them through a grain mill. You should have 4 cups of freshly milled flour.
- In a large bowl, mix together 1.5 cups of water, 1 cup of starter, 2 Tbsp of honey, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1.5 tsp of salt, and 4 cups of the freshly milled flour. Dough will look shaggy and sticky. Cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to sit for 20 minutes. **See mixer instructions below.
- After 20 minutes, do your first stretch and fold. Repeat this every 15 minutes for a total of four times.
- The dough will be very stretchy and elastic after the final stretch-and-fold. You can either refrigerate the dough in a greased bag or let it rest for 4 hours to bulk ferment.
- After bulk fermentation (or after rising 4 hours), divide the dough in half and shape it into the desired pizza shape. Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake the pizzas for 15-18 minutes in a preheated 480°F oven. Enjoy!
Notes
- Pizza toppings shown: I made one crust with homemade pesto, mozzarella, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, black olives, and red onion. The 2nd pizza was topped with homemade ranch dressing, mozzarella, bacon bits, cooked chicken, tomatoes, and red onion.
- This crust can be used to make a Vegan crust.
- To make with commercial dry active yeast, use 1-2 Tbsp and mix it into the warm water. All the other ingredients remain the same.
- To Make Dough in a stand mixer, combine all the dough ingredients and knead for 20-25 minutes, until it passes the windowpane test. Then bulk rise the dough for 4 hours. If you make pizza dough this way, you don’t need to do stretch and folds as you will develop the gluten from the kneading. Fresh milled flour doughs require longer kneading times than regular white flour doughs.
Nutrition (per serving)
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