Healthy Pizza Dough Recipes

I'm a believer in healthy pizza that tastes great and doesn't add to my risk of heart disease. While the toppings go a long way toward modifying the health of a pizza, the majority of calories start in the crust. In fact, most pizza dough recipes include tons of white flour and oil, making for a nutritionally-empty pizza base. Believe it or not, with a little whole wheat, anyone can make healthy pizza dough that has a fraction of the calories and all the flavor of a traditional dough recipe.

This article is my personal collection of healthy whole wheat pizza dough recipes, developed and perfected meticulously over two years. Pizza is a big part of our life in this house, so you better believe I've had plenty of chances to tweak these recipes to perfection!

Flour

Different brands of flour have varying ingredient quality and levels of protein. Even the location from which the brand sourced the ingredients can exert an influence on the final product. These differences vastly improve or decrease the performance of some flours over and above others. For this reason, it's useful to start with the best. The cost is usually just a matter of cents or dollars, but it can mean a stunning success or an abject failure. While it's wise to do your own research, especially if a family member has food allergies, the short list below encompasses the most common high-quality brands.

Recommended Flour Brands:

• Bob's Red Mill
• King Arthur
• Great River Organic Milling

Yeast

Yeast is temperamental, to say the least. It needs love and coddling once it hits the liquid. Before all that warmth, however, it should be left in the cold. No, really! Happy yeast has just a few, easy requirements for storage:

• coldness
• dry air
• darkness

So pack your yeast in an air-tight container and stick it in your freezer. Yeast will last months and years with this method.

Water Temperature

Yeast exposed to liquid loves temperatures between 78ºF to 80ºF. However, a temperature above 140ºF will instantly kill yeast, and temperatures below 40ºF will stop the yeast from working altogether. To ensure a proper yeast environment in the dough, use water that feels a bit warmer than body temperature.

Baking Stone

I cannot recommend enough using a baking stone (also called a pizza or bread stone) for your healthy pizzas, or healthy bread, for that matter. The perfect pizza crust requires a consistent and very hot surface. The baking stone provides that surface, while also absorbing excess moisture. In a pinch, the back of a cookie sheet or a pizza pan will do--just sprinkle it with cornmeal first. But oh, if you've had pizza baked on a baking stone, you will be reluctant ever to have any other kind.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (250g) Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) Yeast*
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 3/4 cup Warm Water
• 1 TBS Honey
• 2 3/4 tsp Vital Wheat Gluten
• 1 TBS Olive Oil

Directions

*If using active dry yeast, place it in a large bowl with the water and honey for 10 minutes, or until yeast is frothy. If using instant yeast, please disregard this step.

Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. Turn out dough onto a lightly-floured surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth. If using a stand mixer, use the dough attachment and knead on a low setting for about five minutes, or until dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl cleanly.

Cover dough with a tea towel and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.

You may either roll out dough, cover with toppings, and bake, or roll out dough and bake for three or four minutes before removing to put on your healthy pizza toppings. Afterward, finish baking until crust has browned and cheese is melted.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (100g) Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• 3/4 cup (90g) All-Purpose or Bread Flour
• 2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) Yeast*
• 3/4 cup Warm Water
• 2 tsp (14g) Honey
• 1/2 tsp Salt or Salt Substitute

Directions

*If using active dry yeast, place it in a large bowl with the warm water for 10 minutes, or until frothy. If using instant yeast, please disregard this step.

Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. Turn out dough onto a lightly-floured surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth. If using a stand mixer, use the dough attachment and knead on a low setting for about five minutes, or until dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl cleanly.

Cover dough with a tea towel and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.

Roll out dough, cover with toppings, and bake as desired (the hotter the better!).

Ingredients

• 2 cups (250g) Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) Yeast*
• 3/4 tsp Salt or Salt Substitute
• 1 cup Warm Water
• 1 TBS Honey
• 2 3/4 tsp Vital Wheat Gluten
• 1 TBS Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning OR 1 1/2 tsp Fresh Oregano and 2 tsp Fresh Basil

Directions

*If using active dry yeast, place it in a large bowl with the warm water for 10 minutes, or until frothy. If using instant yeast, please disregard this step.

Mix everything together in the bowl, adding the herbs last. Turn out dough onto a lightly-floured surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth. Be sure not to add too much flour to stabilize the moisture of the dough. If using a stand mixer, use the dough attachment and knead of a low setting for about five minutes, or until dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl cleanly.

Cover dough with a tea towel and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.

This dough is quite flexible. You may either roll out dough, cover with toppings, and bake, or roll out dough and bake for three or four minutes before removing to put on your healthy pizza toppings. Afterward, finish baking until crust has browned and cheese is melted.