Whole Wheat Pizza Crust Recipe

We love making pizza in our house. Until we switched to real food we always started our homemade pizza with Trader Joe's pizza dough. Unfortunately, the Trader Joe's crust uses all-purpose flour for the base, which means we don't buy it anymore. We've tried Trader Joe's whole wheat dough, but we were underwhelmed. In the end, my very talented husband came up with his own very simple whole wheat dough recipe.

Note: This recipe makes a thicker, chewier dough - like hand-tossed thickness - if you want thinner, crunchier crust cut the flour by 3-4 oz or ½ - ¾ of a cup.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Ingredients
26 oz (~5 cups) whole wheat flour (we use King Arthur's white whole wheat) 
1 packet active dry yeast
1¾ tsp salt
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp honey
1¾-2 cups WARM water

Directions
Using stand mixer bowl, whisk together flour, active dry yeast, and salt. (Note: you can 'proof' yeast by soaking it in the warm water, but this step is unnecessary unless the yeast is old and you are afraid it will no longer work.) Using the stand mixer with the dough hook at a medium speed, slowly add water, olive oil, and honey. Continue mixing for 5-10 minutes at a medium speed until dough is well kneaded. 

Remove mixing bowl from mixer, cover bowl with dishcloth, and let it rise on the counter for ~30 minutes. Separate dough into two equal sized balls. The dough is now ready to use, refrigerate, or freeze. Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes. 

If refrigerating, store in airtight container for up to 16 hours. Remove from refrigerator ~30 minutes before using to bring to room temperature. If freezing, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. Remove 4-5 hours before using, or thaw in refrigerator overnight.