This is a wonderful recipe to make ahead and freeze. But it can be used at any time! Whenever I am planning my weekly menu and ask my husband for some requests, without fail I can rely on him to request pizza. We make it every two or so weeks at our place.
Homemade Pizza Crust
2 Tbls Yeast
3 1/2 cups water 110F, divided
3 Tablespoons acid medium, for soaking (whey, kefir, yogurt, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp honey
¼ cup honey
1 Tbls salt
8-10 cups whole wheat flour (or combination with kamut flour)
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Soaking Step (optional, if you want to skip soaking, proceed with the instructions below the line)
To receive the full nutrients and break down the phytates, try soaking the whole wheat flour in advance, otherwise, skip this step.
Combine 10 cups of flour, 3 cups of water requested in the recipe, substituting some of the water with about 3 Tablespoons of whey, kefir, yogurt, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice (no need to be exact), and 1/4 cup honey. Allow to soak for 12-24 hours. After soaking, activate the yeast in a small container with the remaining 1/2 cup of warm water and 1 tsp of honey. Allow to foam up for about 5 minutes. Add the proofed yeast mixture to the soaked flour, along with the salt. Knead for 5-10 minutes. If recipe is still sticky, add a little more flour as needed until it is able to be kneaded. Continue with recipe below.
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Preheat over to 500 degrees (if you are baking right away). Combine yeast, 2 cups of warm water, and a teaspoon of sugar or honey in a bowl, cover and let sit for 7-10 minutes. Add water, honey, and salt. Mix thoroughly. After dissolved, add flour bit by bit, beating thoroughly. After all flour is beated in; knead 5-10 minutes. Let rise for thicker pizza dough. Divide into four sections for four crusts. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
This works wonderful with all whole wheat flour (hard white or red wheat) or with a combination with kamut flour (provides a lighter texture). Whole wheat pastry flour makes it very crumbly. Great easy recipe and tastes fabulous!
Here are some topping recommendations (these are my hubby’s favorites!): Pepperoni, cheese, Italian sausage, green peppers, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese
Enjoy!
For the Freezer
Mix dough completely as instructed and then divide into 4 portions. Freeze the dough in individual Ziploc bags. You do not have to pre-bake the dough – simply put the dough immediately into the freezer. When you are ready to use, thaw in the refrigerator for several hours, bring to a room temperature and then roll out and assemble as desired.
Would you benefit from them if it meant not obtaining to operate so
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Wow, I cannot thank you enough for such a great recipe! I’ve been wanting a soaked whole grain recipe that makes enough to freeze! This was so yummy. I use about 1/3 kamut flour. I also used this recipe for the sauce and it was a home run!
http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2009/12/easy-homemade-pizza-sauce-recipe.html
I just wanted to share my measurements, as I noticed a lot of people mentioning that their dough wasn’t moist enough when soaking. I add about 4 to 4 1/2 cups of warm water to the flour, in addition to 4 Tablespoons of the acidic component. It comes out moist enough to soak all of the flour without being overly dry or soaking wet.
Thanks so much for this recipe. I have always had terrible luck with making homemade pizza crust and the second time making this my whole family agreed that it was better than delivery!
I just wanted to add my thoughts on this AMAZING crust recipe! Turns out perfect every time I make it. I’ve also started using the dough to make Calzones. It’s so easy, you just make the dough like normal but instead of rolling it out to a pizza size, you grab a small fist size of dough and roll it out into a circle. Then for filling I like to use sausage, peperoni, cheeses, and sauce. I put a spoonful of that on the dough, fold it over, pinch the open side, and bake for about 10 minutes. It’s so easy and great to use as easy lunches on the go.
Also, if I have a little extra dough I use it to make cinnamon rolls! Just roll it out, spread a cinnamon/sugar/nut/butter mix on it, roll it back up into a log, and slice, and bake!
is it possible to do with sour dough starter instead?
I am enjoying your site! Could self-rising white flour be used in this recipe?
How long do you let the dough rise before baking?
Letting it rise is not necessary, but it will certainly rise as you prepare the toppings, which is all I have ever done.
Thanks!
I made it today and it was fantastic. I don’t have a stone so I did the last minute on a wire rack. And I used kamut – I wouldn’t have known to try if I hadn’t read this.
Could self-rising white flour be substituted in this recipe?
Certainly.
Is it possible to soak too long? I soaked mine for about 24 hours and it expanded quite a bit. I made the pizza tonight and the cruse tasted a bit fermented, almost like beer bread. Is that normal?
Have you ever tried to BBQ a pizza with this crust? I’m searching for a BBQ safe soaked pizza dough!
No, I have not…sounds intriguing!
I just tried soaking the flour in prep for pizza tomorrow night. I followed the directions but the flour is still very dry, some of it completely dry. I even tried mixing it by hand to help. Should I have added more water to at least have it all moist? I’m wondering if I should have measured the flour more exactly…
Thanks!
Yah, you only want to add enough flour till it is moist and kneedable.
Has anyone adapted this (ok probably a half version) recipe for the bread machine?
Never mind. I gave a half batch a try in the bread machine and it turned out great!
I’ve been wanting to try that. Did you do the soaking step or skip it? How did you do it in the bread machine exactly?
Hey Lindsay, thank you soooo much for this recipe! i am in the works of soaking as we speak…i do have a couple questions about the soaking..i used 10-cups flour like you have in your recipe and added 3 cups water and the flour was still pretty dry…so i experimented and added enough water to make all the flour ‘wet’…and added 1 more Tbls Kefir..is that gonna be ok? oh, and i also used spelt flour does that make a difference? thanks again! God bless!
Spelt flour does make a difference because it requires more flour to replace other flours with. I believe the ratio is 1 1/4 cup spelt to 1 cup when replacing wheat flour. 1 Tablespoon kefir would not be sufficient to break down the phytates. You need at least 1 Tablespoon per cup of liquids.
Man, my grandmomma was from Sicily and she made the most incredible meatballs I ever tasted, like you wouldnt believe. Sadly, she died last year and she didnt leave a recipe for me so I’ve been trying to work it out on my own… slowly working my through the meatball recipes here, I still cant figure out what her secret ingredient was though!!!
Hi Lindsay,
I have been enjoying your recipes using the soaked flour. Thank you. Last night I tried the pizza recipe and this morning it was kind of a crumbly, dry mess. Now last night after i added the water it left the dough still dry but i had read in another’s comment that it’s not suppose to be actually soaking in a liquid. but shouldn’t all of the flour be moistened? was i suppose to have moisten it all and form it into a ball or something? Thanks again for sharing
Hey was wondering if i needed to add more yeast after soaking and adding yeast or are the instructions below the line for someone who does not plan on soaking the flour first
This part of the directions confuse me also. Are you adding yeast twice if you are soaking or where below the line do you continue with the directions? Is it the soaked flour-yeast mixture that you are adding to more yeast and water bit by bit and kneading for another 5-10 minutes?
I tried the recipe and it came out great. Thanks!
How silly of me, I just had to share, Last night I was sleepily whipping up some batches of dough for what I thought was tortillas to make the next day…in my haste and sleepiness I instead made a quadruple batch of pizza dough…Thankfully I can just freeze them for future use but wow am I prepared to make pizza!
Long time reader, first time commenter. You have to love the home made pizza. I’ve just bought my own dedicated oven so I will be making my own soon. Will comment again soon
Hi Lindsay,
I have enjoyed reading your blog for quite a while, and I have gained very valuable information on the soaking process. I wanted to ask, could you substitute plain all-purpose flour or bread flour(which is what most pizza crust recipes call for) in this recipe and then follow the soaking procedure? Thanks!
You can definitely just use plain old white flour. If so, there is no need to soak, so that makes it easier!
What about the use of white whole wheat? Soak or not?
Yes, it is best to soak any type of whole grain flour.
Thanks!!! I actually erred on the side of caution and soaked the flour. Gonna finish it up during the kiddos naps!
Hello,
Do you know of pepperoni that does not have nitrites….and all the bad junk in them? BTW….your pizza looks awesome!
Trader Joe’s has lots of nitrate/nitrite free meat
Check there!
Thanks so much for sharing such a great recipe! So happy with the way it turned-out. This was my first experience making a soaked-grain recipe for a bread. I've only ever soaked oats for oatmeal… so special thanks for an easy recipe for a novice!
I made this a few weeks ago for a friend of my husbands. He liked it so much he asked for the recipe. (I refered him here, of course). I froze half and just pulled it out of the oven! It smells SO yummy. I mixed some fresh basil into the crust (we’ll see how that tastes), used BBQ for the sauce, some mozzarella (sp?), some chicken, bacon, green pepper, red onion, and some fresh pineapple! I topped it with some parm cheese. I used to work for a nice pizza place and this is a VERY tasty combo. Anyway, I’m salivating and need to go feed my family! Thanks for this GREAT soaked recipe.
Robin
I just posted this on Facebook for my friends. Thank you!
I just have to say I love this recipe! I have made it for my family and it is a WEEKLY MUST! Everyone loves it! I am not the best cook, I am still learning, but the recipe is so easy and simple. Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I love your site! God Bless!
Jasmine Yount
I am so excited about making this today. I’m going to do a half batch and freeze both portions. It’s a snow day and I’m going to d a mini-marathon of cooking!
I found your blog via a friend’s and what a fun encouragement and resource it is! I’d been wanting to try soaking grains and had only made soaked biscuits so far–I soaked the flour last night and made the pizza crust for lunch–delish! Next time I’m going to work some roasted garlic and other yummy things into the dough.
I just wanted to say thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!!!! Your blog has helped me soooo much!!! I just made this pizza crust for lunch & we loved it!! You are such a blessing! Leanne
Lindsay, I love your website and I just made up the pizza crust and I am supposedly soaking it. I followed your instructions. However, it looks like a dough and isn’t soaking in a liquid. Is that normal? I thought if I am soaking the ingredients, that maybe they should be in a liquid. Please let me know. Thank you. We have loved all the recipes we have tried on your website.
Sounds like you did it just fine!
Lindsay, my family and I just love this pizza dough. I wanted to let you know about some of the things we do with ours:
Before putting the sauce on, we brush it with olive oil, cornmeal (which may change, since I seem to have a corn sensitivity), dried basil, dried oregano, dried thyme, dried parsley, and dried rosemary.
For the sauce, we use Tyler Florence’s tomato basil sauce recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/tomato-basil-sauce-recipe/index.html; it’s really yummy in the summertime with fresh crushed tomatoes instead of canned!).
For toppings, we do some kind of combination of meatballs (cut up), tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, fresh basil, feta cheese, zucchini, cut up bacon (cooked), dried oregano, and parmesan cheese (over all of the other toppings). Sometimes, we eat it all together like that. It all depends on what’s on hand!
My husband’s SAD-following, fast food and preservative-loving grandmother told me that she loved my pizza, and that I’ve ruined pizza for her forever, because she’ll never be able to eat it from any pizza place again. Whoohoo!
I made this dough a few weeks ago and pulled the dough out of the freezer yesterday. The kids and I made pizza for lunch. It was a quick and fun interactive meal, working togther putting it together. The kids loved it and so did I! Thanks for the recipe! It’s really good. I’ve made other crusts before and they just never turned out very tasty.
So a great lunch idea for moms out there is a quick cheese pizza with a steamed veggie! For the sauce I just used a can of organic tomato sauce and in a bowl stirred in garlic sea salt and basil then put it right on the pizza. It was yummy and easy oh and just cheddar cheese worked fine.
I’m not new to making homemade bread, but I’m very new to soaking. So I have a quick question about soaking, if you don’t mind.
Do I leave the mixture out at room temperature or do I need to stick it in the refridgerator for the 12-24 hours, then get to room temperature before mixing with the yeast?
Anxious to give this recipe a try! Your photo looks so delicious! Thank you for any help!
Always leave your soaking products on the counter, otherwise it is counter productive.
It needs to stay at room temperature in order to collect the natural bacteria from the air.
Thank you very much! I will be trying this recipe this weekend!
We did try this recipe tonight and it worked very well for us! Had to use more water and flour to get the right consistancy for the soaking and final product, but other than that, worked great. Also used Rapunzel instead of honey (running low on honey at the moment). Worked well.
Next time, we will add some extra seasonings and such to the dough to give it more flavor. We did make “stuffed crust” by adding some string cheese to the crust (pulled apart in smaller pieces to melt easier and wrapping the dough around it). Came out perfect! We also made a “dessert” pizza, which I honestly think we’ll need to stick to white flour for, because well…it’s dessert pizza. We can cheat here and there.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe! First time soaking and it worked out well with your directions!
I’ll be experimenting more with soaking in other recipes.
Meant to say “Rapadura” not “Rapunzel”, but same thing. Exhausted, pregnant, and sliced my finger wide open tonight…so I’m not thinking straight.
Did want to add a tip for anyone interested in getting a round pizza. If you’re like me and have a difficult time getting that round pizza, you’ll apreciate this tip.
Learned this off the Food Network WAY back in the day when we had cable. Roll your dough up into a ball. Using your index and middle fingers, press down in the middle, and start working your fingers in a circle to push out the dough. The dough should be pushing itself out as you continually work in a cirucular motion to push the dough out. Once you can stick a bigger part of the top of your fingers onto the dough, you can work more quickly by using the top of your fingers to continue to work in that circular motion to push the dough out.
I’m sure someone else has a better way, but this worked so well for me and I’ve been doing it ever since! Hope this helps someone.
Does it need to be covered or do I just leave it uncovered while soaking?
I usually cover it with the lid or cloth napkin simply to keep the dust out.
Help! Last week I made a batch of this pizza dough (not soaked) and froze it. I took it out of the freezer this morning and tried to roll it out for dinner tonight. It was so dense it would not roll at all. Do you have any idea where I went wrong?
Did you allow the dough to sit out on the counter to thaw? I find it beneficial to allow it to get to room temperature before rolling it out. I usually pull out the frozen dough at the beginning of the day to thaw and just sit it on the counter for the day. Works just fine!
LIndsay – thank you for posting this recipe! My goal is to create my own ‘homemade frozen pizzas’ – all of the fresh ingredients but with the convenience of grocery store frozen pizzas. Do you how I would alter your recipe to make this crust and freeze it with sauce and toppings? Any ideas would be appreciated!
I have never tried it. You would most likely have to pre-bake the crust somewhat before putting the toppings on and freezing.
I am so glad you presoak your flour! You are a wise mother, who knows about nutrition! Have you read “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon? Our family uses it as our nutrition “bible” so to speak, and have been to many seminars. I will use your presoaked recipe for pizza dough. Thank you for getting the word out there on REAL nutrition for families.
Also, what kind of mozzarella do you use? It is so hard to find stuff that isn’t part-skim.
I use whole milk mozzarella from TJ or Azure Standard.
Would sourdough starter work with soaking the flour, as in does it eliminate phytic acid? How much would you use in this recipe? Would the soak time be the same? Thanks!
Yes, you could use sourdough, although I have not tried it. I would probably recommend just using 1/4 cup or so…replacing some of the water with it. Same soak time would be appropriate.
I’m wondering how this recipe works if I don’t soak. I’m actually kind of scared to try soaking just yet, and since I’m in Canada, flour is always a bit different, and measurements will be off. Do I still add the acid if I’m not soaking?
You can definitely make this recipe without soaking! I used to make this recipe all the time without soaking. Just skip the soaking step and proceed down the recipe after the lines.
Could it be that there is not enough flour (I used 8 cups)? What speed do you use in the Bosch? Is the temp. of the water pretty important (what does DIVIDED mean in this instance)? I told you…I’m a real beginner!
Yes, most likely you will need to add more flour. I usually use at least 10 cups as listed above. I then continue to add more flour if needed until the dough is no longer sticky. You should be able to kneed it on the counter and prepare to roll it out without it completely sticking to your hands. I usually run my Bosch at the #1 speed. Divided means that some of the water will be used to activate the yeast. You want the water to be very warm to your touch so that it makes the yeast foam up. If the yeast does not foam up and expand, then the water was either too hot or too cold. It needs to be comfortable to the touch. Hope that helps!
Hello Lindsay,
I just found your websight last week. I used your scone recepie a few days ago and it turned out wonderfully. I have been gleaning a lot of information from your site and am very greatful to have found it. I am very new to soaking the grains before using so I especially appreciate your soaking directions on your recepies. However, I am still not sure on how to do it on a few recepies like this pizza crust. So you use 3 cups of the 3 1/2 total cups of water to soak the flour. After it is soaked you would then soak the yeast (is it quick rising yeast?) in 1/2 c water and add honey. Then I would add the rest of the honey and salt but no more water? Will it all disolve in only 1/2 c of water? then it says to add the flour bit by bit but my flour is all wet. Do I just plops in globs of it? Also do you have to have a heavy duty mixer to do this? i only have a vita blender or tiny hand held mixer.Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to help me understand. I have been wanting to cook like this for a long time, but cooking is not my gifting so I need someone to spell it out for me. My mom never taught me how to cook and i don’t have any family or friends that are interested in cooking all natural and organic. Have a blessed day.
I updated the recipe to make it more clearer. When the recipe includes yeast, there is a separate process called activating or proofing the yeast that is not related to soaking. This is what is described in the recipe. You want to allow the yeast to “proof” or foam up to make sure the yeast is fresh and still active. It does not matter what kind of yeast you use. I use a simple active dry yeast for my recipes. Follow just the soaking instructions and you should be fine. Once it has completed kneading, you can roll it out and put on all your toppings and bake it, or you can put the dough in the freezer. I use my bosch mixer for kneading the dough. You could divide this into smaller batches if you do not have a mixer. It will not work with a hand held mixer. The vitamix may be able to handle a smaller portion of this recipe. It makes 4 pizza crusts, so divide the recipe by four and try that. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much. I will try in a few days and see how it works. You are such a blessing.
I thought you use saf instant yeast? I just bought that kind and now I’m confused on the conversion, since most recipies call for active dry. Can you help me? Thanks!
This dough came out perfectly. I made it, then froze it for about two weeks, then we used it for pizza last night! We recently purchased a pizza stone, which has proved very useful for getting an evenly baked, crispy-but-not-burnt, and just downright tasty crust. After thawing the dough, it was easy to roll out. I didn’t have to use any flour. I will definitely be keeping this recipe!
Just a note on pizza stones: I love them! I had no idea that they could be used for baking cookies (giant cookie cake, anyone?), biscuits, and other bread items, but it works wonderfully for all those purposes!
I have a question. Since my son is allergic to wheat,how would I still make a pizza? What type of flour do you recommend?
I am not sure. I have seen other recipes on the web for gluten free pizza crusts. Check out epicurious.com.
My son is also allergic to wheat. He does not have celiac disease (which involves gluten), but is allergic to the bran in wheat, barley, and rye. If your son has the SAME allergy (to the bran) it may work to soak the flour before you use it (Lindsay gives instructions in this recipe). I have also found that if my son eats something with bran in it (like unsoaked whole wheat flour), if I give him pickles as soon as possible afterwards, his allergic reaction is either diminished or completely averted. Hope that helps!
I am making this tonight for the first time and trying it out on a bunch of friends! I am so excited and hope it turns out well. Thanks for sharing. I just love your blog and am always so inspired and encouraged by so many of your posts. Thank you for loving the Lord and serving Him in your home.
What size pan are you using? Do you spray/oil it first or anything?
That is one wonderful looking pizza. We live in a small town and only have francise pizza so we prefer homemade. You mentioned that the crust doesn’t raise much after freezing??? Will it then be a thin-crust or does it still puff up some?
Thanks.
Gina
This makes four 15 inch crusts. Yes, I usually grease the pan with olive oil. The frozen versions still rise but not as much as the fresh crust, so it is more of a thin crust, but it also depends upon how thin you roll it out as well. You could make four smaller size crusts but make then thicker.
I made your crust a few days ago (but didn’t soak) and really liked it. I’ll probably soak next time. I really like your blog!
I made this yesterday and it was so good! I work outside the home so I mixed the flour, water, and apple cider vinegar (as my acid medium)in the morning and proceeded with the recipe when I got home. It is so easy and my husband loved it!
We made this recipe for lunch today and it was a smashing success! I followed the soaking directions, only I added just 2 TB of vinegar (b/c I wasn’t brave enough to try 3 yet!) We could not taste any sourness at all (so next time I’ll do 3), and the dough stretched out beautifully so I could make thin crusts, just as my husband likes. I froze the extra dough for a quick meal later on. Thanks for another great recipe, Lindsay, and I especially appreciated the soaking directions!
i just wanted to mention that I made this recipe (halving it) a week ago. I made a pizza and froze the other crust. Today I made two strombolies from it, just rolling it up, filling with torn up kale, broccoli, some leftover ground turkey, a little tomato sauce (actually your tomato soup recipe (my husband commented while we were eating that soup, that it would make a good pizza sauce!)), and a small crumble of queso fresco. I baked it for about 40 minutes at 350, and sprinkled a bit of parmesan on top of each portion. This was absolutely delicious. My girls gobbled it up and this is the only way I’ve been able to get my hubby to eat greens! They loved it.. So, further simplification… dual purpose recipe! Oh, also, I added a little bit of chives and garlic powder into the dough recipe.
Hi. I really like this blog and have learned so much. I would like to know after you freeze the dough how long do you let it unthaw before making into a pizza and do you let the crust rise before baking? My family really likes this pizza crust recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I usually pull out the crust and put it in my fridge in the morning before making it that evening. It will soften fairly quickly. I then will pull it out and place it on the counter for an hour or two prior to dinner to let it get to room temperature. It is much easier to roll out that way. Normally it will not rise after it has been frozen. The very first batch will rise, but if you freeze any additional batches they will not have such a rising affect. Hope that helps!
I have a silly question. Do you add the toppings then bake, or prebake the crust then add toppings and bake again?
I roll out the crust, add the toppings and then bake. Pre-baking is not necessary.
Hi Lindsey! I am again today, so blessed by your blog. I found several recipes I was looking for, and I love that even recipe hunting can turn me back to Christ, every time I visit your blog. Thanks! You have a very sweet ministry.
On another note, maybe you’ve already posted this somewhere, but what type of wheatberries do you use for different baking? Bread= hard red, pizza crust=hard white? that type of thing.
Also, do you freeze your pizza dough or the finished baked crust? Eryn
I freeze the pizza dough. IT works great! I wrote about the grains I use for different items in the Variety in your Grains post. Hope that helps!
My pizza crust recipe is basically the same (all the same ingredients). I haven’t been soaking mine, but that is the goal. I have been using Kamut flour & adding garlic powder, basil & oregano to the dough. It is the best pizza crust we have ever tasted! We have others raving about it, also.
If you have access to some Kamut, give it a try! It’s organic & unhybridized, has more nutrient value than wheat, and makes a lighter texture. Love the blog!
Brooke, thanks for the suggestion about Kamut. I do have it and use it mainly for pancakes. I will have to give this a try. You use only Kamut or do you mix it? I haven’t thought of that, mainly because it has tended to result in crumbly baking products in the past.
If I have plenty of the Kamut, I use it 100%. If not, I just mix it with hard wheat. In the pizza crust, it is so light & tasty. Much less dense and whole grain flavor than just whole wheat.
How do you make the thick crust with that twirly pattern on your pizza?
That’s hard to explain without demonstrating. I curl it over with my hands. Fold and roll.
Hi Lindsay! Any chance you could video a quick demonstration of your twirly pizza crust pattern and put it on youtube? In all your spare time, of couse. (smile)
By the way, my grain mill arrived yesterday. My first batch of bread is rising now. I have left over flour, so I’m planning on suprising my dh with pizza for dinner!
I was also just thinking this week that I wanted to keep my eye open for a used yogurt maker, then I saw your crockpot yogurt post. How delightful. Now that’s next on my todo list.
Thanks for all your writing. It’s encouraged me in a plethora of ways!