Every Friday in our house is pizza night. It used to mean ordering delivery from the local pizza joint (and occasionally, it still does—yum), but more often than not, now we do homemade pizza. We usually load it full of whatever veggies we have kicking around the fridge or coming off in the garden and blanket it with cheese. Sometimes we’ll throw on some bacon or sausage, but usually our homemade pizzas are veggie-heavy.
One of the ways I like to make doing homemade pizza crazy easy on Friday (because, really, who wants to do a lot of work for dinner on Fridays?) is to have a constant stash of homemade pizza dough in the freezer. Freezing pizza dough makes it so easy to whip up a homemade pie. I usually just make a big batch of this at the beginning of the month, and it gives us enough crusts to make it through the month. When Friday comes ‘round, I just pull one of the bags out of the freezer in the morning and let it defrost and rise on the counter during the day. Usually by pizza time, it’s nice and puffy and ready for baking.
I’ve been perfecting my freezer pizza dough recipe for years, and we absolutely love this one. It’s chewy, doughy, crispy and crunchy in all the right spots. The key to baking it up right is all in your baking method. I know a lot of folks swear by a pizza stone, but I’ve never been able to get good results with one, so I use a pizza pan with holes in it (like this one). The holes are key! They help the crust get nice and crisp on the bottom. I also tend to pre-bake the crust for just a few minutes before putting toppings on (like I do with my grilled flatbread pizza), but your cooking method may vary based on your oven, pan and doughy/crispy pizza crust preference.
I’ve made this freezer pizza dough recipe with all kinds of flours, and I really love the taste and texture that comes from using white whole wheat flour. White whole wheat flour is amazing for baked goods. It’s a 100% whole grain, but since it is ground from the lighter-flavored white wheat berry, it doesn’t have as much of a gritty, nutty whole grain taste or texture. You basically get the taste of white flour and the nutrition of whole wheat. Win! White whole wheat flour definitely deserves a spot in your pantry. I love King Arthur’s organic white whole wheat.
Enjoy!
Whole Wheat Freezer Pizza Dough
Who says homemade pizza has to be hard? This make-ahead dough means that making a healthy pizza on a Friday night is easy peasy!
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6-6 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 4 1/2 teaspoons yeast (or two packets)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in the order listed in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (start with the lower amount of flour).
- Turn the mixer on low and let mix until smooth, but still sticky, about five minutes. The dough shouldn’t stick to the edges of the bowl, if it does, add in additional flour, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together.
- Turn the mixer up a notch, and let it kneed the dough until it is very supple and smooth, about 10 minutes.
- Divide the dough into four even balls, and freeze in zip-top freezer bags.
- To defrost, let dough defrost at room temperature for 4-6 hours, or until puffy and warm. Or, for a quick defrost, place sealed zip-top bag into a sink full of hot water for 30-45 minutes, or until dough is puffy and warm.
- To use, preheat oven to 475°, and spread dough onto a medium-sized (about 14”) pizza pan. Pre-bake in oven for about 5 minutes, then remove from oven, add toppings, and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is brown and the cheese is brown and bubbly. Let rest five minutes before slicing.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 32 Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 525Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 70mgCarbohydrates: 107gFiber: 16gSugar: 2gProtein: 20g
At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.
