Homemade sourdough whole wheat pizza dough makes the best-tasting homemade crispy crust you will ever eat. It contains only six ingredients. It's light, crispy, delicious and perfect for family pizza night.
Everyone loves pizza, and making it at home is much easier and tastes better too!
When it's made the traditional way, pizza dough takes time to make; mixing, kneading, and the dough needs to be proofed at a warm room temperature between 80 and 90 degrees f.
That's why I like to make my pizza dough in a bread machine. The ingredients are mixed together, kneaded, and proofed. It's less messy, and a time saver!
I also use my bread machine to make this rosemary sourdough bread.
Jump to:
- Why you will love this recipe
- Here is what you will need
- How to make whole wheat sourdough crust
- Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Don't have a bread machine? Here's gow to make pizza crust the traditional way
- How to store pizza dough
- How to use pizza dough
- 💡Tips
- You might like these recipes
- 📖 Recipe
Why you will love this recipe
- It's an easy sourdough pizza crust recipe in a bread machine, and you can also make this whole wheat pizza crust the traditional way too.
- It's healthier and made with a few simple ingredients.
Here is what you will need
This is an overview of the ingredients and steps to make this recipe; scroll down for a printable recipe card with exact measurements and detailed instructions.
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🛒Ingredients
- Active sourdough starter
- Whole wheat flour
- White bread flour
- Yeast
- Salt
- Honey
🥄Equipment
- Bread machine or stand mixer
- Large bowl (for traditional method)
How to make whole wheat sourdough crust
Step 1. Dissolve the yeast
Mix together in a small bowl yeast, honey and salt in warm water (81 to 100 degrees f). Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes until it starts to foam.
Step 2. Place ingredients into bread machine
Measure the flour and pour it into the bread machine along with the sourdough starter and the yeast/ water mixture. Select the dough cycle and press start.
Step 3. Remove the dough
Once the cycle is complete, open the bread machine. Punch the dough down, and remove it from the bread machine.
Step 4. Rest the dough
Roll the dough into a cohesive ball and place it on a piece of parchment paper. Let dough rest for 15 to 20 minutes before stretching or rolling it out.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
White bread flour can be substituted with an equal amount of all white unbleached purpose flour which will produce a chewy crust, or for a crispier crust you can use 00 flour which makes an excellent crispy thin crust pizza.
Active dry yeast can be substituted with an equal amount of bread machine yeast.
NOTE: If you use bread machine or instant yeast, you can skip the step of dissolving the yeast in water and add it to the bread machine along with the honey, salt and water.
Don't have a bread machine? Here's gow to make pizza crust the traditional way
Dissolve the yeast, salt, and honey in warm water in small bowl. Combine starter and yeast mixture in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Gradually add the flour until the dough is slightly sticky.
Knead the dough with your hands or stand mixer adding more flour as you go until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough in a warm place to rise. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and allow it to rise once more.
Punch the dough down and let it rest for a few minutes before rolling it or stretching it out on a work surface.
How to store pizza dough
Once the pizza dough is made, you can store it in the refrigerator for up to a week. Roll the dough into a tight ball and coat the dough ball with olive oil. Wrap it in plastic wrap.
If you are storing dough for two crusts, divide the dough into two equal pieces and roll them into balls. Cover the dough balls with olive oil, and wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or an airtight container.
Storing the dough in the refrigerator will enhance the flavor of the pizza dough. The fermentation slows down which will increase the flavor.
To use the refrigerated dough, remove it from the fridge and let come up to room temperature before stretching or rolling it out.
How to use pizza dough
Aside from making a traditional homemade pizza with tomato sauce or your favorite pizza sauce and cheese, you can use whole wheat sourdough pizza dough to make stromboli, Buffalo chicken pizza or calzones.
💡Tips
- Use filtered or bottled water to make your dough. Most tap water contains chlorine which can interfere with the rising process, especially with fermented dough such as sourdough.
- Accelerate the rising time for the traditional method and heat your oven to 175. Place the dough in a bowl, cover it and place it in the oven. Allow it to rise until it has almost doubled in size.
- If the dough is too sticky, gradually add flour until it is stretchy but not sticking to your hands. If the dough seems dry, try adding a little water gradually until the dough becomes more stretchy
Yes, you can. The dough will be more dense than pizza dough made with all white flour or half whole wheat and half white flour. You will need to add approximately 2 teaspoons more of water per cup of flour.
Sourdough is a fermented dough The addition of fermented dough also aids in the process of rising the dough and it makes a super flavorful pizza crust. You will need a sourdough starter to make this recipe.
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📖 Recipe
Click on serving size to scale this recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 2 teaspoons [yeast]
- ½ cup warm filtered water
- 1 ½ teaspoons [sea salt]
- 1 ½ teaspoons honey
- 1 ½ cups all purpose white flour or bread flour
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
Instructions
Bread Machine Method
- Dissolve yeast, salt and honey in warm water.2 teaspoons [yeast], ½ cup warm filtered water, 1 ½ teaspoons honey, 1 ½ teaspoons [sea salt]
- Place the sourdough starter into the bread machine along with the flour and the yeast, water mixture.1 ½ cups all purpose white flour, 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- Set the bread machine to the dough cycle and press start.
- Once the cycle has completed, remove the dough from the bread machine and let it sit for about 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature before shaping it into pizza crust. Alternatively you can wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate for up to a week.
- Follow your faovrite pizza recipe to make a pizza.
Traditional Method - without a bread machine
- Dissolve the yeast, salt and honey in warm water2 teaspoons [yeast], ½ cup warm filtered water, 1 ½ teaspoons [sea salt], 1 ½ teaspoons honey
- Place the sourdough starter into a mixing bowl and add the yeast & water mixture1 cup sourdough starter, 1 ½ cups all purpose white flour, 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- Gradually add up to 3 cups of flour until the dough is no longer sticky. You can use a mixer or a spoon for this.
- Knead the dough 8 to 10 minutes using mixer or your hands.
- Coat the dough with oil and place into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm place and allow it to rise until it has doubled in size. This can take a few hours.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and allow it to rise for an hour longer.
- Follow your favorite pizza recipe to make a pizza
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and can vary based on cooking methods and ingredients used
Ginny says
This pizza dough is Awesome! I was looking for more recipes to use my starter in when I stumbled onto this one. LOVE IT!!!
Kim sourdough novice says
, I used half white bread flour and half whole wheat. Maybe my flour was dry or maybe I should have used all purpose flour. But ended up adding approximately another half cup of water. That’s not a big deal though. I can’t wait to try it.
I’m wondering about the amount of yeast. I’ve used another bread machine pizza recipe that calls for 1 teaspoon yeast and 4 cups of flour. Do you think extra yeast is needed because the sourdough starter is unfed?
Anne says
Yes Kim, it is because the sourdough starter hasn't been recently fed.
Pammer says
I can’t wait to try this......Does it matter what the hydration is for the starter?
Anne says
Hi Pammer, I'm not sure what you mean by hydration. I use filtered water which gives me the best results, I have not tried anything other than water.