How to make Whole Wheat Pizza
Click here to go straight to the printable recipe.
Whole wheat pizza? What??
I know.
Earthy, nutty whole wheat flour is not what you associate with pizza.
And honestly, neither do I! I still do think that the tastiest homemade pizza I've ever made is comprised of 100% white flour.
However, Mr. FG and some of his co-workers took on a four week eating challenge that, among other things, prohibited refined grains.
So, that's been giving me a nudge to try some new recipes, including this Cook's Illustrated recipe for whole wheat pizza.
It's not actually 100% whole grain...there's a 60/40 ration of whole wheat flour to bread flour. But I figured it was close enough to count as whole grain.
And while it's not quite as good as white flour pizza crust, it's surprisingly tasty!
Anyway, I planned to take some step-by-step photos and then post the recipe, but my friend Stacy from Humorous Homemaking sent me a message asking for whole grain pizza help, and I decided to just go ahead and write this post with fewer photos than normal.
Cook's does not recommend putting traditional tomato sauce on a whole wheat crust (they think it clashes), but I tried it and thought it was fine. So I'll share the no-tomato and the tomato versions for you.
A couple of things to know:
1. You need to plan ahead.
Cook's Illustrated likes to make whole wheat dough ahead of time so that the bran and such have time to soften. Something about the make-ahead process helps to mellow and sweeten the whole grain flavor as well.
So, this dough needs 18-24 hours in the fridge, which means you need to decide ahead of time that you're going to make it.
2. You're going to need a pizza stone.
There are ways to make pizza without a pizza stone, but dear ones, hear me:
If you're going to make homemade pizza on the regular, GET A PIZZA STONE.
(Yes. Yes. I am actually yelling that part.)
A super hot, preheated pizza stone will take your pizza from flabby and pale to brown and bubbly.
I know stones are big and heavy and annoying, but you know what's also annoying? Flabby, uninspiring pizza.
Pizza stones are not that expensive (Cook's recommends a $39 stone), you can find them pretty cheap at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and I've even had luck finding them at thrift stores. You could also ask around to see if a friend has an unused stone.
Also of note: a pizza stone pays for itself super quickly if it saves you from getting carryout pizza.
3. You have to put your pizza stone under the broiler.
Not always, but for this recipe, at least. The broiler can make some stones crack. Luckily, I have one that's already cracked, so I just put the two pieces together and go boldly forward. 😉
Cook's Illustrated recommends this square baking stone from Old Stone Oven, and it promises to hold up under the heat of a broiler.
4. You need to buy King Arthur bread flour.
I know it seems like white flour should all be equal, but it is not. King Arthur bread flour is expensive as flour goes, but it makes a big difference in pizza crust.
You only need a cup of flour for two pizzas, so a 5 pound bag will last you a long time and the price per pizza is very minimal.
I've tried using other flours instead and it is never quite the same. Trust me! Fork over the cash for the blue bag of flour, ok??
On to the recipe!
Whole Wheat Pizza (makes two large pizzas)
Printable Whole Wheat Pizza Recipe
1 ½ cups (8 ¼ ounces) whole-wheat flour
1 cup (5 ½ ounces) King Arthur bread flour
2 teaspoons honey
¾ teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 ¼ cups ice water
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 ¾ teaspoons salt
Dough
Combine whole wheat flour, bread flour, honey, and yeast in the bowl of a food processor and whirl to combine.
With the food processor on, add the water and process until all the flour is mixed in (10 seconds or so.) Let the dough sit in the food processor for 10 minutes.
Add oil and salt and process until a smooth, satiny dough forms. Turn dough out onto oiled or lightly floured counter and knead for a minute, or until it forms a neat ball. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl; cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 18 hours (up to 2 days).
To bake:
One hour before baking, adjust oven rack to 4.5 inches below broiled, place pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 ° F. Take the dough out of the fridge, divide it in half, shape each half into a smooth ball, and place balls on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover dough balls with greased plastic wrap (or damp tea towel). Let stand at room temperature while oven and stone preheat.
Once and hour is up, heat the broiler for ten minutes. Meanwhile, coat one ball of dough with flour and place on a lightly floured countertop. Stretch dough into an 8-inch circle. Let it rest for a few minutes, and then stretch it, rotating as you go, into a 12-inch round.
Place the dough on a large square of parchment paper. Top with tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, or garlic oil, basil, and cheese (see directions below.)
Use a pizza peel or an overturned baking sheet to slide pizza onto preheated stone. Turn oven to 500 ° and bake 8-10 minutes, rotating pizza halfway through baking.
Removed pizza from oven, set on wire rack, and brush crust with garlic oil or butter.
Repeat with second crust.
To make a traditional pizza:
Use whatever tomato sauce you love. Spread a thin layer over the dough, top with shredded mozzarella (about 1.5 cups), and add pepperoni.
To make a white pizza:
Spread 2 tablespoons garlic oil over pizza, sprinkle with ½ cup of basil leaves, and top with 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella (can add some shredded Parmesan as well).
Garlic Oil
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon dried oregano
â…› teaspoon red pepper flakes
â…› teaspoon salt
Heat oil in an 8 inch skillet until shimmering; add remaining ingredients and cook for 30-60 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
P.S. Here's the cheese I love for making pizza. It really makes a difference!
Hi, your pizzas always look so good. The garlic oil reminded me of a white garlic pizza sauce I tried and liked.
https://www.bakedbyrachel.com/white-garlic-pizza-sauce/
Talking about whole wheat recipes reminded me about these brownies I want to try. What has stopped me is I'm terrible at brownie making. Maybe this weekend.
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/whole-grain-brownies-recipe
We only do whole wheat pizza dough. We generally use the Williams Sonoma recipe. Sometimes when we’re in a hurry we don’t give it a rise time and that’s fine. There’s definitely not a several hour wait (Laurens kitchen breadbook recommends water first and more water for WW, but no super lengthy wait.). They definitely recommend tomato sauce, and toppings like broccoli. We also just use storebrand WW flour. Not enough people buy King Arthur in our area (I suspect because it is twice as expensive) so the King Arthur often tastes off because it has gone bad. Brand isn’t as important as freshness with WW.
—someone with PCOS
Yes, I should have mentioned that! I have a grain grinder, so I'm using freshly ground whole wheat flour when I'm baking. But oh man, sometimes the stuff from the store can have a slightly rancid taste to it if it's been sitting there for a while.
The whole wheat pizza definitely looks really good! I also think that white grain spaghetti tastes better than whole wheat pizza for some reason.
Best of luck with the challenge!
While I don't always purchase it, King Arthur flour really performs and tastes the best in baked goods, to me. Sometimes when trying to eat healthier, things aren't exactly as good as their unhealthy version, but close enough. I think the bit of variation to accommodate a healthier lifestyle is worth it. It's all about balance, IMO. I have been experimenting with some of my old favorites to introduce healthier versions for my family. Some are hits and some are misses, but honestly, most are decent. I love your broken pizza stone. It reminds me of a post I am working on where I am using my whisk that no longer has a handle but I still use it. It's still works great! I am going to try a white pizza soon. Yours looks so delicious!
About that stone.. I have a pizza stone that I got a yardsale that came from Avon, I think) and it came in tiles that you peice together to form a full stone so basically you have the same thing with less peices to put together.
That looks like something I would pay for!!! I don't mind whole wheat crust as long as it's saucy. The nutty taste sounds yummy with lots of tomato sauce.
Thanks you so much for the pizza stone idea. I do love me pizza (although I'm going to end up buying store made dough because...yeast hates me?)
We're the weirdos that only make whole wheat pizza at home. It is so filling, nutty, and delicious. We mix some garlic powder and dried basil right in with the crust to bump up the flavor. We always top our pizza with sauteed veggies and homemade tomato sauce. We've learned to only cook a small pizza since we can each only eat 1 slice with the whole wheat crust.
I like the idea of making the dough beforehand... then I will have two days to decide when to make pizza! (Which would then be super quick since I wouldn't have to make the dough)
"...you know what’s also annoying? Flabby, uninspiring pizza."
That made me laugh so much!
Thanks for the recipe! I went to a college that "outlawed" refined grains. I nearly stopped eating pizza and bread because of how awful the whole wheat crusts were. I'm sure homemade is better, though! I'm trying to follow the "if you're going to eat bread/pasta, it needs to be a whole grain" rule. With mixed success. 😉
Whoa! What kind of college was that?
When we have homemade pizza crusts, it is always whole wheat. I prefer the taste. My favourite recipe also has a few tablespoons of ground flax seed in it. And like Nicoleandmaggie, I agree that broccoli is a great pizza topping.
I make pizza every Friday night. I use a pizza STEEL which is 100 times better than a stone. They are pricey ($75?? about) but completely worth it. Also for the best pizza dough such as they make in Italy, you need to use 00 flour. You can get it on Amazon. But generally I use King Arthur or recently Central Milling Organic from Costco is excellant as well. Another thing as you suggested, use only whole milk mozerrella. That gives the best flavor.
I often use 40% whole wheat flour and always add garlic powder and oregano into my crust. I don't preheat the stone, though, because I'm always afraid I'll screw something up and burn myself. Instead, I put the crust in (on a room-temp stone) for a couple of minutes, take it out, put the sauce and toppings on, then bake for another 15 minutes. I also put cornmeal on the stone before I roll out the dough. We make pizza every Sunday night we're home.
Baking pizza in a cast iron skillet yields a crunchy crust too. After you grease the skillet, sprinkle cornmeal on it then pat your crust into the pan.
I made homemade pizza last night. I always use 50/50 whole wheat/bread flour and I've recently upgraded to King Arthur, as it tastes better and is more consistent to work with. My dough takes 2 hours from beginning to end. I have found that white whole wheat flour still gives you the benefits of WW but is milder in flavor, so if you are serving people who prefer white flour, it's a good way to ease them into WW.
I hadn't read your tip about grating my own mozzarella--I will have to try that. And now I'm curious about a pizza steel as mentioned above by Christina. Truthfully, though? I make 2 pizzas, one on an old metal pizza pan with holes drilled in to let the air circulate, and one on a stone, and I really don't notice much difference with crust taste or texture. Both crusts consistently come out crispy on the bottom but with good "chew" for the rest of it (is that a good descriptor?). For me, good quality bread flour is the game-changer.
I don't really understand the part about the broiler. Would this just be for an electric oven?
I make a gluten free pizza for me once in a while. I don't go to all that trouble, and use any combination of gluten free flours and it's still good. I'm afraid beginners will opt out of making pizza when such high standards are suggested. At first less complicated and particular methods can be used and they're still good
I have had two pizza stones that I used all the time. 3 years ago, our family took a pizza tour in New York. Changed everything. We got a recommendation to buy a pizza steel instead. These can get much hotter. And much cheaper than a stone. I even throw (or gently place, cause they are heavy!!) on my bbq. Makes a crispier bottom for the crust, but keeps the dough chewy. The tour guide also recommended using fresh mozzarella and the block mozzarella (cubed only). Has completely changed my pizza. Even my NY friends came over for pizza one day, and gave me a thumbs up!
Thanks!
I get hung up on pizza sauce. I haven’t found a good one. What all do you recommend? Thanks!
America's Test Kitchen's recipe basically has you saute some garlic in a pan on the stovetop for a minute or two and then add a can of crushed tomatoes. Cook that down for 15-20 minutes to reduce it. That's all--but I add Italian seasonings because I like it better. It's pretty easy and a low-cost experiment if you end up not liking it.