One Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

PinSaveJUMP to RECIPE

This post may contain affiliate links.

1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 

1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 

Easy Recipe for Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

This dough just opened up a whole new pizza-making world. It only takes one hour to make and rise.

And it’s a now-or-later dough. Make it now or save it for another day.

This pizza dough is a blend of both quick-to-make and it can be make-in-advance.

This ridiculously easy dough combines the best of both worlds. I also kept it vegan and used whole wheat flour so it’s healthier. So you can eat more pizza.

The dough bakes up soft, chewy, and it’s thick and hearty with just subtle hints of wheat flavor. 

Even if you’ve never made yeasted bread or pizza dough, this whole wheat flour pizza dough recipe is nearly foolproof.  From start to finish, and in just over an hour, you’re eating totally homemade pizza.

1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Ingredients 

To make this easy recipe for whole wheat pizza dough, you’ll need: 

  • Bread flour
  • Whole wheat flour
  • Instant dry yeast
  • Granulated sugar
  • Olive oil
  • Warm water
  • Corn meal (for baking) 

sweetpotatopizza-2

How to Make Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

I’ve gone into detail below on how to make this easy whole wheat pizza dough. Keep scrolling to the bottom of this post for the full recipe! 

To make the dough, combine flour, instant dry yeast, a pinch of sugar, pour warm water over it, along with a drizzle of olive oil, and mix it for about 45 seconds with the paddle attachment.

Switch to the dough hook and knead for about eight minutes and that’s it. I used my stand mixer, which does the kneading for me, but feel free to get your arm workout in and knead by hand.

Knead the bread for a good six to eight minutes. Because the rising time is just one hour, and since wheat flour can be resistant to rising, you want to really knead this dough well to encourage gluten development so the dough rises well.

1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 

After kneading, the dough will be soft, smooth, firm, and not overly sticky. Spray the mixing bowl or another bowl with cooking spray, place the dough in the bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about one hour, or until nearly doubled in size.

A trick for creating a warm environment is to turn on the oven for one minute to 400F, then shut the oven off. Repeat: don’t leave the oven on, you are just blasting in hot air for one minute only.

Quickly slide your bowl into the oven and let it stay there to rise for an hour. It will be about 80F inside the oven after the brief one minute blast. This tricks the yeast into thinking it’s a nice, warm summer day in your kitchen, which is how do their best work.

One Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (vegan) averiecooks.com

The puffiness is a result of the gases created while the yeast work, and the dough needs to be punched down.

After punching it down, you have a choice: Cover the bowl back up with plastic and refrigerate it for up to two days; or, make pizza with it now. Depending on how large you like your pizza, you can likely use half now and refrigerate half for later.

When you’re ready to make pizza with it, turn dough out onto a floured work surface or a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat.

Roll it into the shape you want or stretch it into submission. It does have a mind of it’s own and will try to recoil, but just keep on rolling, stretching, and finger massaging it into the shape you want.

sweetpotatopizza-5

Baking the Pizza Dough

Top the dough with pizza sauce, olive oil, browned butter; with cheese or with the toppings you like, and bake at 425 to 550F+ for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Baking times and temperatures are variable, based on oven temps, toppings used, and personal taste preferences.

I bake at 425F for about 15 minutes when the pizza is pretty loaded with toppings. I don’t have a pizza stone or anything fancy and just bake on a Silpat-lined baking sheet. 

1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 

How Many Pizzas Will This Recipe Make? 

You can make one large rectangular pizza, filling a standard-sized baking sheet. Or make two medium or four smaller tortilla-sized pizzas.

I recommend rolling out the dough fairly thinly, because it will rise and puff in the oven. This is not thin crust pizza and bakes up fairly thick, but the thinner it starts out, the thinner it bakes.

1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 

What Happens If I Let the Dough Rise for Longer? 

I’ve let this dough rise for as long as two hours due to distractions and timing issues, and nothing bad happens. In fact, the pizza crust will be a bit fluffier.

If you want to allow it to rise for up to about two hours, or doubled in size, that’s fine. But the recipe does and will work with just a one hour rise.

1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 

What’s the Best Yeast for Pizza Dough? 

I used Red Star Platinum yeast, which is my gold standard.

It’s an instant dry yeast so you don’t have to proof it first with water and wait for it to get bubbly and foamy. Just sprinkle it right into the bowl with the other ingredients and pour water over the top of everything.

When I deviate from Platinum and use other yeast, especially for wheat breads, I don’t have as much success. My wheat loaves turn out flatter and denser and my white loaves never bake as puffy and fluffy.

If you do use Platinum yeast, the water should be warmed to about 120F to 130F, which is notably warmer than most other instant dry yeast, which typically call for temps in the 100F range.

1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 

Tips for the Best Whole Wheat Flour Pizza Dough

For the flour, I used both whole wheat flour and bread flour, and used 1 cup of each, plus another quarter cup of bread flour.

I didn’t want to exceed over half the total amount with whole wheat flour because it has less gluten, making rising more lengthy and challenging. Since this is a one-hour dough without time to spare waiting for pokey dough to rise, I didn’t exceed fifty percent wheat.

Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations with whatever yeast you use. Some people just dip their finger into water and if that’s the method you’re using, err on the side of warm bath water rather than hot because you don’t want to risk killing the yeast.

In bread-making, I don’t like to guess and always use my candy thermometer. I just never use it for candy.

1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 

Make sure to use sugar as it feeds the yeast and it’s necessary. I didn’t add salt for a variety of reasons.

Salt can inhibit rising and between the pizza sauce, cheese, meat and toppings, there’s plenty of sodium-laden ingredients on pizza. We didn’t miss the sodium in the crust.

To prevent the underside of the crust from become too browned while baking, a tip is to sprinkle a tablespoon of corn meal on the baking tray, and put the dough on top of that.

As insurance against air bubbles forming while baking, prick the dough a few times with fork tines before adding your toppings so the air has a place to escape.

1-Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough — The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 

Pin This Recipe

5 from 3 votes

One Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

By Averie Sunshine
The dough is soft, chewy, thick and hearty, versatile, and EASY! Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off! 
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 12
Save this recipe to your email
Enter your email and we’ll send it to you!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Ingredients  

  • 1 ¼ cups bread flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons 1 one-quarter ounce packet instant dry yeast (I use Red Star Platinum
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup warm water, 120-130F for Red Star Platinum, 95 to 105F for other yeast
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons corn meal, for sprinkling on baking trays

Instructions 

  • To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flours, yeast, sugar, olive oil, and pour the water over the top. Beat the mixture on medium-low speed for about 1 minute, or until combined.
  • Switch to the dough hook and knead dough for 7 to 8 minutes. It will be firm, smooth, not overly sticky, and elastic. (If making bread by hand, mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl by hand, then turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for about 8 minutes)
  • Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, spray mixing bowl or another bowl with cooking spray, and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about 1 hour. (I’ve let this dough rise for as long as 2 hours due to distractions, planning, and timing issues, and nothing adverse happens. Actually, the crust turns out fluffier. If you want to allow it to rise for about 2 hours, or doubled in size, that's fine. But the recipe does and will work with just a 1 hour rise).
  • After 1 hour or until nearly doubled in size, punch down the dough. Choose to either refrigerate in a covered bowl for up to 2 days for later use; or use it now. You may be able to use some now, some later, depending on desired size of pizza. If using it later, when ready to bake, simply remove it from fridge, and follow the directions below.
  • Turn dough out onto floured or lightly oiled work surface or Silpat. I usually use half the dough for 1 pizza, and save the other half for a few days later. Roll dough out into the size and shaped desired. I suggest rolling it on the thinner side since the dough will rise and puff while baking, and I prefer starting out with a thinner piece of dough so the finished crust isn't too thick. The dough is springy and will try to snap back and recoil, but just keep on stretching or rolling it into shape.
  • Transfer dough to pizza stone, Silpat-lined baking sheet, or sprayed baking sheet. Prick dough in a half dozen places with tines of fork, creating a place for air to escape while baking. If baking on baking sheets, placing a tablespoon of corn meal underneath the dough before baking helps prevent the underside from becoming too browned.
  • Top dough with anything from oil, browned butter, pizza sauce, cheese, various toppings, and bake. Baking temps can vary from from 425 to 550F+, and from 7 to 15+ minutes, depending on toppings, thickness of dough, oven variances, and personal preference. I bake at 425F for about 15 minutes when my dough is loaded up with toppings. Slice, and serve immediately.

Notes

Wheat flour: exceeding more than 50% wheat flour could adversely effect rising and I haven't tried it but don't recommend it.
Yeast: Based on the type of yeast used, water temperatures will vary. Red Star Platinum yeast calls for warmer temperatures than most, 120 to 130F; other brands and yeast call for much lower temperatures, about 95 to 105F. Warm water according to manufacturer's recommendations on the packaging. Taking the temperature with a digital thermometer is recommended, but if you're not, make sure the water is warm, not hot. Err on the cooler rather than hotter side so you don't kill the yeast.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 114kcal, Carbohydrates: 19g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 2mg, Fiber: 2g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

More Homemade Pizza Recipes: 

Puff Pastry Pizza — This EASY pizza is topped with oodles of cheese, pepperoni, bacon, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and has a puff pastry crust! 

Puff Pastry Pizza - This EASY pizza is topped with oodles of cheese, pepperoni, bacon, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and has a puff pastry crust! Never underestimate the power of a kitchen shortcut like puff pastry on busy weeknights when you're looking for a family-friendly and kid-approved dinner recipe that's FAST to make! 

2-Ingredient Pizza Dough â€” The EASIEST homemade pizza dough you’ll ever make with just two ingredients!! NO yeast, NO kneading, and NO need to wait for it to rise! Homemade pizza just became your new reality!!

2-Ingredient Pizza Dough - The EASIEST homemade pizza dough you'll ever make with just two ingredients!! NO yeast, NO kneading, and NO need to wait for it to rise! Homemade pizza just became your new reality!!

French Bread Pizza â€“ This FAST and EASY pizza recipe incorporates a French bread crust. This handy shortcut saves you time on busy weeknights to make home-baked pizza a reality. Pizza is always a family FAVORITE and this thick and chewy variety will be a big hit!

French Bread Pizza - This FAST and EASY pizza recipe incorporates a French bread crust. This handy shortcut saves you time on busy weeknights to make home-baked pizza a reality. Pizza is always a family FAVORITE and this thick and chewy variety will be a big hit!

Pepperoni Pizza Bombs â€“ Pizza by way of soft, warm rolls stuffed with pepperoni and oodles of CHEESE!! Easy, ready in 15 minutes, perfect for PARTIES, and simply IRRESISTIBLE!!

Pepperoni Pizza Bombs - Pizza by way of soft, warm rolls stuffed with pepperoni and oodles of CHEESE!! Easy, ready in 15 minutes, perfect for PARTIES, and simply IRRESISTIBLE!!

Pepperoni Pizza Sliders â€” Pizza by way of supremely cheesy sliders!! EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and perfect for parties because everyone LOVES them! Totally IRRESISTIBLE!!

Pepperoni Pizza Sliders - Pizza by way of supremely cheesy sliders!! EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and perfect for parties because everyone LOVES them! Totally IRRESISTIBLE!!

10-Minute Skillet Pizza â€“ A FAST, EASY, and foolproof recipe to make pizza at home in 10 minutes!! Don’t call for delivery when you can make this pizza in minutes! Such IRRESISTIBLE cheesy goodness!!

10-Minute Skillet Pizza – A FAST, EASY, and foolproof recipe to make pizza at home in 10 minutes!! Don’t call for delivery when you can make this pizza in minutes! Such IRRESISTIBLE cheesy goodness!!

Mexican Taco Pizza â€” EASY, ready in 20 minutes, and like eating a taco in pizza form!! Taco-seasoned ground beef on top of refried beans with melted cheese and your favorite taco fixings!!

Mexican Taco Pizza - EASY, ready in 20 minutes, and like eating a taco in pizza form!! Taco-seasoned ground beef on top of refried beans with melted cheese and your favorite taco fixings!!

10-Minute Grilled Pepperoni Pizza â€“Such an easy and fast pizza! If you’ve never tried making pizza on the grill, you need to try it! It’s foolproof, delicious, faster than calling for delivery, and pizza is always a winner!

10-Minute Grilled Pepperoni Pizza - The EASIEST and FASTEST pizza you will ever make!! If you've never tried making pizza on the grill, you need to try it! It's foolproof, delicious, faster than calling for delivery, and pizza is always a WINNER!!

Mini Pepperoni Pizzas â€” These little pizzas are perfect for tailgating, as after-school snacks, or as mindlessly fast and easy party appetizers. 

About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

Get the latest recipes via email!

Leave a Comment

Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. I’ve been wanting to try that pizza dough for awhile so thanks for reminding me. I have to admit that when my kids were young we had boboli nights on Sunday. Though they are different than regular pizza they happen to be pretty good. Nothing like something hot from the oven instead of in a cardboard box.
    I recently posted one . As I haven’t made them for awhile because my kids are now gone :( it still brought back the same good feelings. I use pizza dough for garlic knots now!

    1. I know exactly what Boboli is and it’s nice that thinking about it reminds you of when your kids were young. That’s a nice memory :)

  2. Wow – I’m impressed and think your recipe will replace my store-bought pizza dough from Trader Joe’s – which definitely has sodium/salt in it.

    1. You’re the third person who told me they are going to put this up against the TJ’s dough. I have never tried it so if you do, please LMK how it stacks up! I know you watch your sodium too and it seems there’s almost no reason to salt pizza dough, which is then topped with many, many more things – all with salt in them! But that’s just me :)

  3. Ohhhhhh I love this!!! Homemade pizza crust is THE BEST! I love how amazing this looks and how quickly it can be made!

  4. You always have the best bread recipes! I’m also usually more of a thin, crispy fan, but I tend to prefer a thicker, softer crust when using whole wheat…it just tastes so nice and hearty! I make pizza at home more often than I’d like to admit, and try a new crust recipe almost every time. Will have to add this to the list!

    Oh, and I CAN’T WAIT for you to post on that sweet potato and goat cheese pizza. I die.

    1. Well if you try a new crust recipe all the time, if this one makes it into rotation, LMK how it goes! And the sweet potato and goat cheese pizza…yes probably this week or next. I didn’t want to overwhelm people with pizza…not that that would be awful :)

  5. Loving the pizza dough!! I like that you can refrigerate the dough or use it right away!! Nothing beats fresh, light dough, especially for pizza!!! Dam I’m craving some good bread!

    1. The dough would be perfect in one of those roll-up style creations you just made! It gave me ideas of some things to try!

  6. There is nothing better than homemade dough! This looks excellent and it comes together so easily!

  7. Sweet, Averie! The thicker the crust the better for the folks around here. My family absolutely LOVES it when I make homemade pizza dough. When the boys were small, I made it every single week on Sunday afternoons. I would make huge sheet pans and do half with goodies for Isaac and the other half for the boys. They would love it if I did it again. I love your recipe. It looks simple and absolutely delicious! I’ll let you know when I make it!

    As for the superbowl…bleh. Like you, I am out of the loop and oh so happy to be so! :-)

    1. Happily out of the loop, indeed :) And I thought you may like this recipe & LMK if you try it. What nice memories that you made pizza dough every Sunday afternoon when your boys were little. That’s such a sweet memory to look back on :)

      1. So, I made this recipe tonight for my family and it turned out EXACTLY the way your recipe shows. It was such a hit in our house that my youngest son, who is a pizza lover, consumed 9 pieces of this baby! I am not even kidding and his older brother ate his fair share, too! Fantastic and easy to follow recipe. This is our go to recipe for pizza dough from here on out. :-)

      2. Michele I am thrilled that this will be your go-to pizza recipe from here on out! I know you told me before you used to make pizza dough EVERY WEEK when your boys were younger, so I take this as an honor that this recipe replaces all!!! that have come before it. I am so happy it’s such a hit – and that Mr. NINE Pieces was so happy about it, as well as his brother, and you. Thanks for making it and for the field report and this comment. I appreciate it (and others will too if they see it!) :)

  8. For some reason I am always super intimidated when it comes to making homemade pizza crust. This recipe, however, sounds easy enough! Plus, I love that it is whole wheat AND vegan :).

    1. A great, super easy recipe for beginners with yeast. Dump everything in a bowl, knead for 8 mins, wait. Roll out, top, bake. Easy!

  9. Can we just talk about how you just made my day?? I keep buying my pizza dough at TJ’s and it’s great, and I love it, but I feel like a bad foodie not making my own, and it’s been on my list for quite a while. Then you go and make this perfect looking one. Happening. ASAP. Cannot wait. Also, how do you make a mound of dough look beautiful??? You could take a picture of a rock, and it would be beautiful. Jealous.

    1. Well as much as I love TJs, I have tried to start recreating as many things from them that are on-rotation, from mango chutney to hot pepper jelly and although I never got into their pizza dough, maybe I can save you some $$

      And thanks for saying that about the pics. It was actually SO HARD to make it look good. I probably took 100+ frames of white dough. The pics were both under and over exposed, all at once. Talk about tricky…harder than I thought it would be, so thanks for noticing!

  10. You continue to amaze me Averie! This is a great recipe and I love that it only takes an hour. Those who do not have patience for bread making can have almost-instant satisfaction. YUM!

  11. Easy homemade pizza dough sounds soooo good. I bet it tastes so much better than that from pizza places, not to mention healthier.

    1. Exactly! And cheap! Like you could make 2 to 4 pizzas with literally about $2 worth of ingredients for the dough; coming to 50 cents, if that, per entire pizza!

  12. I cannot wait to try this pizza dough. I make pizza at least once a week, especially for my picky toddlers. I always love trying new and pizza dough recipes so this will be on the menu soon. I can’t wait to check out those pretzels too!

    1. Picky kids? I think this will be a hit with them! My almost 6 yr old loves it, but I’m blessed in that she’s not picky at all. Lucked out there :)

  13. We’re throwing a pizza party together. No excuses. San Diego isn’t that long a walk from LA, right?