It’s been a while since I’ve made any sort of bread dough from scratch, much less one that tasted good. When Matt had the idea to make calzones today, I thought I’d give it another shot with some fresher ingredients we had bought just the other day, and finally, I can say that I made a pizza dough with a recipe worth keeping! Despite being a whole wheat-based dough, it was light and absorbed flavor easily, making it a soon-to-be staple in our home… at least when we’re in for a bit of carb-y goodness.
From experience, though, I gotta tell you to follow this recipe to the letter… including the amount of time it takes to rise in between. It may feel like forever (especially to a very hungry husband), but the time taken is well worth the end result!
Ingredients
* 1 tsp white sugar
* 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 F/45 C)
* 1 tbsp active dry yeast (yeast packets often come with this amount already)
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 1 tsp salt
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 cup plus 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
Method
1. Dissolve sugar in warm water in a large bowl. Once incorporated, sprinkle the yeast on top, and allow to sit for about 10 minutes or until foamy.*
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture until incorporated. Mix in the whole wheat four and 1 cup of all-purpose flour, combining until the dough starts to come together. Take the remaining all-purpose flour and flour your countertop, then tip the dough onto the surface and knead until all the flour has been absorbed and the dough ball is smooth, about 10 minutes. Oil up a bowl and place the dough in, turning once to coat, then leave in a warm spot with a towel over the bowl until doubled in size, about an hour. (I think I let mine go for 80 minutes!)
3. After the dough has doubled, tip onto a lightly floured surface (at this point, I used the whole wheat flour for this purpose). Form the ball into the tightest ball you can, and allow that to rise again for another 45 minutes.
4. After risen, divide dough ball into however many you need — the whole thing for a thick-crust pizza, half ‘n’ half for a thin-crust pizza. Or, if you’re making calzones, divide into quarters. Roll the appropriate-sized ball with a rolling pin until it won’t stretch any further, then drape the dough over both your fists and gently pull the edges outward while rotating the crust.
At this point, you may either choose to make a homemade pizza or, in our case, make your own calzones! Recipe for that to follow. 
*ProTip: Buy yeast no more than a week before you plan to make your dough. This isn’t a hard and fast rule by any means, but I find that I tend to use the yeast that’s in my cupboard… and lord knows how long that’s been in there. The fresher the yeast, the better your dough will turn out! (This is probably why I’ve screwed up so much dough in the past, actually…)
Thanks for posting this! Good Whole Wheat pizza dough is so hard to find!
You’re so welcome.
I was pretty happy to see how well this turned out, considering how right you are!
Thanks for posting this!
Very welcome! I hope y’all enjoy it!