Perfect Thin Crust Pizza Dough recipe made with a blend of Whole Wheat and All Purpose Flour. It's crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside!
This dough recipe makes 3 medium thin crust pizzas. But, you can also use the dough to make 2 Large regular crust pizzas.
Make it for a fun Build-Your-Own pizza night, and let the kiddos add their own toppings! 🙂
Toppings for Thin Crust Pizza
I love pairing this crust with our Easy & Thick Pizza Sauce. Together, they make a crisp pizza that can hold the toppings up well! Just make sure to also follow our tips & techniques listed in this post for a perfect thin crust pizza.
You can make these pizzas with any toppings of your choice! If you are making a thin crust pizza, just try to go lighter and spread the toppings out in thin layers to prevent the crust from getting soggy. Some of our favorite toppings to use are:
The Best Baked Meatballs: Just crumble or cut the meatballs into small bite-sized pieces and it makes a perfect (sausage-like) topping!
- Diced up veggies: We like to use diced up onions, bell peppers, olives, and jalapeños.
- Leftover Meats or Chicken: This is a great way to use up any leftover meat or chicken. We have used leftover chicken and added Frank's Red Hot Sauce to make buffalo chicken pizzas, yum! Try our Shredded Chicken Taco Meat, or Mexican Shredded Beef.
- Cheese: Any shredded cheese will work. But I recommend shredding you own cheese, because it has fewer additives and a fresher, creamier taste! Our favorite combination lately has been a blend of freshly shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses (ratio of about ¾ mozzarella and ¼ parmesan).
Vegan Option:
You can make some delicious Vegan Pizzas!
Both the pizza dough and Easy & Thick Pizza Sauce are vegan. Just add some shredded vegan cheese, and veggies. For one of our meatless dinners, we have tried it with tofu taco crumbles, vegan shredded cheese, and bell peppers and onions. It was so tasty! 🙂
Don't Have a Stand Mixer?
If you don't have a stand mixer, you can still make this by kneading the dough by hand. That's how I first learned when I started making pizzas. It's kind of messy, but also kind of fun!
Combine the flours and yeast mixture in a large bowl. Mix with a large spoon, or your hands until just combined. Lay out your dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes. First time kneading?Here is a short tutorial for Kneading Dough.
Then move on to step 5 in the recipe instructions!
Tips & Techniques:
If you are new to making pizza dough, watching the Perfect Thin Crust Pizza Video will help give you a better idea of what steps are involved.
- The dough is slightly sticky after kneading in the mixer, so I just dust my hands with flour to prevent it from sticking as much. It also help make it easier to pull the dough out of the bowl.
- To form a ball, I just pull one side up and towards the center, then press down toward the opposite side.
- Repeat on each side, then pinch the seam, flip, and roll against the counter with the palm of your hand to form a smooth ball. (If you watch the video, this will make more sense.)
Tips for Baking Thin Crust Pizza:
- Make sure the oven is pre-heated 15-30 minutes before. You want the oven extra hot, to ensure even cooking and a crisper crust!
- Adding cornmeal to the baking pan not only helps prevent the dough from sticking to the pan, but it also gives it added texture and a little extra crunch.
- Lightly poking the dough with a fork keeps the dough from creating large bubbles while baking.
- I like using a vented Pizza Baking Pan. It allows the crust to cook evenly and crisper. You can get one here: Wilton Pizza Pan
Pizza Sizes:
We like our pizza crust thin, so in the video I cut the dough to make 2 medium thin crust pizzas, and 3 mini kid's pizzas.
If you plan on having a Build-Your -Own-Pizza Night, I would recommend dividing the pizza dough into 8-9 pieces. Also, forming the dough into a log shape before cutting makes it easier to divide into equal pieces.
This Perfect Pizza Crust recipe can make:
- 3 medium thin crust
- 2 large regular crust
- 9 mini pizzas (for Build-Your-Own-Pizza Night)
Baking time varies by size and toppings:
- medium thin crust: 13-15 minutes.
- large 20-23 minutes.
- minis: bake for 8-10 minutes.
Types of Flour for Thin Crust Pizza Dough:
You can use any whole wheat flour, I just prefer "White Whole Wheat" ( I usually get the King Arthur brand). We like the flavor and it makes it slightly healthier!
Another option is to eliminate the whole wheat and just use All-Purpose Flour, but you will need to increase the amount of flour by ¼ cup.
Enjoy! 🙂
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Thin Crust Pizza Dough {Easy Homemade Pizza Crust}
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup warm water between 100-110°F. ( I just warm it in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time until it reaches the temperature.)
- 1 packet active dry yeast (1 packet = 2¼ teaspoons)
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 1.5 tablespoon olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur's brand. See notes if you want to just use all "All-Purpose Flour" instead.)
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
Additional:
- about 1 tablespoon olive oil for oiling bowl & rolling surface. Extra all purpose flour for dusting.
Instructions
- Pour warm water, sugar, and active dry yeast packet into a bowl and give it a little stir. Let it rest for 10 minutes until foamy to “activate.”
- Meanwhile, combine the flours in your stand mixer. (See notes below if you do not have a mixer.) I like to shake the flour in its container to “lighten” it. Scoop it out with a measuring cup and level off the top with a straight edge (like a butter knife or scraper).
- Once yeast is ready, add olive oil and salt to it. Give it a quick stir, then pour it into the flour bowl.
- Using the dough hook, turn mixer on “Stir” for 1 minute, then increase to level “2” for 5 minutes. Towards the end of mixing, the dough should have formed a ball and and no longer be sticking to the bowl. If not, add a tablespoon of flour at a time and continue mixing until no longer sticking. (When you turn it off, it will be slighlty sticky to the touch, but that's ok!)
- Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball.
- Then place it into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise for about an hour (until doubled in size).
- Once risen, pre-heat oven to 425°F.
- Punch down dough, and form into a ball in the bowl. Then lay it on a lightly oiled surface to shape into a log (easier to divide that way), and cut it into desired pieces. (See notes below for different sizes.)
- Form each piece into a ball, cover and let rest for about 10-15 minutes. (This is optional, but I feel it makes the dough easier to work with and stretch.)
- Flatten out each dough ball and shape into a pizza on your oiled surface. (Don’t worry about flattening it out completely, you can stretch it out some more on your pan.)
- Spray your baking sheet with non-stick cooking oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. (I use the vented pizza baking sheet because it cooks the crust evenly.)
- Place your dough on your baking sheet. You can easily stretch it out to form a bigger and thinner pizza at this point, then form a crust by pinching along the edges. Lightly poke the entire dough with a fork (this keeps it from creating large bubbles while baking).
- Top with some Easy & Thick Pizza Sauce , and desired toppings. Bake for the indicated time in the notes (depends on the size).
Video
Notes
Types of Flour:
- You can use any whole wheat flour, I just prefer "White Whole Wheat" ( I usually get the King Arthur brand). We like the flavor and it makes it slightly healthier!
- Another option is to omit the whole wheat and just use All-Purpose Flour, but you will need to increase the amount of flour by ¼ cup.
Don’t have a stand mixer?
You can knead it by hand! It’s messy, but it’s also kind of fun. 🙂 Combine the flours and yeast mixture in a large bowl. Mix with a large spoon, or your hands until just combined. Lay out your dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes.Here is a short tutorial on how to knead by hand: https://youtu.be/wyXz3Yl9arQ Then continue following from steps 5-13!Pizza Night & Pizza sizes:
We like thin crust for our pizzas, so I usually cut into 3 pieces and it makes 3 medium thin crust. This dough can make:- 3 medium thin crust
- 2 large regular crust
- 9 mini pizzas for “Build-Your-Own Pizza Night”
- minis: bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Medium thin crust: 13-15 minutes.
- Large 20-23 minutes.
Recommended Equipment:
(click the item if you need to order)Watch the VIDEO on how to make the Perfect Thin Crust Pizza. Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube Cooking Channel so that you never miss a recipe video! 🙂
