Thin Crust Pizza Dough

Step 1

Add yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl. Pour the warm water slowly over the top of the yeast, and let the mixture sit for five minutes to allow the yeast to activate.

Step 2

Add the whole wheat flour and about half of the all-purpose flour, then stir together until combined. If making the dough by hand, I like using a flexible bench scraper here, as it makes for easy cleaning later.

Step 3

Add the remaining flour, salt, and olive oil, and stir until it becomes a shaggy dough.

Step 4

Kneading with a stand mixer:Knead the dough on speed 2 for 10-15 minutes until the dough is stretchy. As the gluten develops, the dough should begin to form a clump around the dough hook and will no longer stick to the sides of the bowl. If the dough still sticks to the edges of the bowl after five minutes, add more flour about a Tablespoon at a time and a minute apart until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.Kneading by hand:Knead the dough for 15-20 minutes on a clean workspace until the dough is stretchy. As the gluten develops, the dough will go from sticky to tacky. If the dough still seems sticky after 10 minutes of kneading and leaves a lot of residue on your hands, knead in more flour one Tablespoon at a time until the dough is only tacky.

Step 5

Pinch off a piece of dough about the size of a quarter and slowly pull it apart in your fingers. If it stretches thin enough to see light through it, you have developed enough gluten! If it breaks and doesn't stretch much, knead for another minute and retest.

Step 6

Divide the dough into four, shape into balls, and place on parchment paper. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap to prevent the dough from drying out. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about an hour.**

Step 7

Place a pizza stone on the lowest rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 475°F/250°C. Always place a pizza stone in a cold oven to allow it to heat up with the oven and reduce the chance of burning yourself. If you place a cold pizza stone in a hot oven, you may crack the stone.

Step 8

Make sure the pizza stone has been in the preheated oven for at least 30 minutes to allow it to get up to temperature.

Step 9

Lightly dust your workspace with flour, then roll out the pizza dough, one at a time: Place your rolling pin in the center of the dough ball and roll the pin away from you. Rotate the dough round one quarter turn, and then roll the dough out again. Continue rolling out the dough until the round is about 12" or 30 cm in diameter.

Step 10

Dust a pizza peel or heat-safe cutting board (not plastic!) with flour. Transfer the pizza round onto the peel, then add your desired toppings. Work quickly, as the dough starts to stick.

Step 11

Lightly shake the pizza peel or cutting board with slowly increasing intensity to prevent toppings from falling off until the dough unsticks. Immediately slide onto the pizza stone in the oven. For a smooth transition, I like to rest the edge of the pizza peel on the back third of the pizza stone, then shake lightly until the pizza comes loose before removing the peel quickly in one motion. It takes a bit of practice to perfect, but you'll get the hang of it!

Step 12

Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven using a pizza peel or tongs and place on a cutting board. Let the pizza rest for two minutes before slicing and serving.