You like to experiment with different pizza recipes.
Tipo 00 & bread flour work great–but what about whole wheat?
(Nutrients are good for you, after all. #HealthyPizza).
Can You Use Whole Wheat Flour Instead of Bread Flour for Pizza Dough?
Yes, you can use whole wheat flour to make pizza dough, but whole wheat flour creates a chewy texture that is less airy and bubbly than other alternatives and has a more pungent taste. You can try using White Whole Wheat, which should work better for pizza. To make the perfect crust, refined flours like all-purpose, bread flour, or Tipo 00 flour are ideal choices (depending on the pizza style).
If you want to experiment with whole wheat flour, try mixing it with all-purpose flour or bread flour. You can also try white whole wheat flour, which has a lighter, milder flavor than traditional whole wheat.
As a home chef, I love experimenting with different ingredients. Here are the pros and cons of making pizza with whole wheat.
Why Is Whole Wheat Flour Not Ideal for Pizza?
Whole wheat flour is less elastic and harder to form.
After baking, your crust will feel denser and chewier than other flour options. The crust may crumble a bit too.
If you swap all-purpose flour for bread flour (or Tipo 00 really), your dough will taste roughly the same, but if you use whole wheat flour, you’ll definitely notice the difference. Pizzas made with whole wheat crusts have a distinguishable, nutty flavor.
Most people prefer the taste of crusts made from all-purpose flour, bread flour, or Tipo 00.
HOWEVER, taste is always a personal preference! If you don’t mind the flavor and texture of a whole wheat crust–by all means, make wheat pizza!
Advantages of Using Whole Wheat Flour to Make Pizza Dough
Whole wheat flour may not be the best choice for making pizza dough, but it does have superior nutritional benefits. Wheat flour has more fiber, antioxidants, and minerals than white flour.
Why? Because manufacturers don’t strip wheat flour of its nutrients during the manufacturing process.
A kernel of wheat has three parts:
- Bran: hard coating of a kernel
- Germ: sprouts of a new plant
- Endosperm: the energy supply
The bran and germ parts of the plant are full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and fats. In contrast, the endosperm is primarily full of starches. When manufacturers remove the bran and germ components to make refined flours, the vitamins and minerals disappear.
Because whole wheat flour doesn’t lose bran or germ, it retains vital nutrients, including fiber, vitamin E, vitamin B, iron, riboflavin, folate, magnesium, copper, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and manganese.
Adding a nutrient-dense whole wheat flour to your diet can:
- create a sense of fullness that helps you eat less
- lower cholesterol
- control blood sugar
- lower blood pressure
- diminish chronic inflammation
- reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes
Related post: The best flour for pizza 🍕
How to Make a GOOD Whole Wheat Pizza Dough:
If you want to dabble with whole-wheat pizza dough, here are a few tips to get you started:
- Use white whole wheat flour in place of whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour has a dark color and an earthy, robust taste. White whole wheat flour is a milder version of traditional whole wheat. When baked, your pizza will look like a pizza cooked with all-purpose or bread flour.
- Add honey to your recipe. Adding honey to your recipe can help you create a beautiful golden crust. Honey also adds moisture to baked goods, preventing a crumbly crust.
- Use a mix of whole wheat flour with another flour. For example, if a recipe calls for 2 cups of flour, mix 1 cup of whole wheat flour with 1 cup of bread flour. You’ll receive half the fiber, vitamins, and minerals in your pizza dough without sacrificing taste. Experiment by swapping small amounts of whole wheat flour for bread flour in your recipes. You can begin by substituting 25% whole wheat flour and work your way up. Add just enough to get the health benefits without changing the taste of your crust.
- Add olive oil to your dough. Adding olive oil to your dough will make it easier to stretch. Whole wheat flour can be challenging to form, so adding oil may allow you to stretch the dough without creating holes.
Arthur makes a great White Whole Wheat 👇
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Whole Wheat Substitution Ratio
For most uses, you can use a 1:1 ratio substituting for all-purpose flour, with one crucial distinction: measure by volume, not by weight.
Whole wheat weighs less than all-purpose flour!
If you’re weighing your flour for the recipe, you might consider figuring out what the “cups” would be instead. I.e. you can substitute 1 cup of whole wheat for 1 cup of whole grain!
Alternatives to Whole Wheat Flour
There is no substitute for whole wheat flour in terms of nutritional value. If you want to add vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber to your pizza dough, you’ll want to use whole wheat.
White whole wheat flour is an option if you don’t like the taste of traditional whole wheat. White whole wheat flour contains the same fiber-rich bran and nutrient-rich germ but tastes more like pizza made from all-purpose or bread flour.
If you want a traditional pizza crust, stick with all-purpose, Tipo 00, or bread flour.
Tipo 00, also known as double zero flour, is commonly used to prepare Neapolitan pizza. Prepare dough made with Tipo 00 in outdoor pizza ovens that can heat up to 900 degrees.
Bread flour is the ideal choice for Detroit or Sicilian-style pizza. While Tipo 00 makes a perfectly crunchy crust. If you want to cut costs, try all-purpose flour, the cheapest flour of the bunch.
Related: What’s so special about 00 flour?
Whole Wheat Flour F.A.Q.s
Is whole wheat flour good for pizza dough?
You can use whole wheat flour to make pizza dough, but better choices are available. If you want to experiment with whole wheat flour, try using white whole wheat flour or a mix of whole wheat and bread flour. That way, you can add vitamins and minerals without sacrificing taste.
What happens if I use whole wheat flour instead of bread flour?
You can substitute whole wheat for bread flour, but you will end up with a more pungent flavor, and a more dense, chewy texture. However, you will be getting great nutrients (from the wheat bran and germ). Depending on what you’re baking, the texture and flavor could be more pronounced, or less!
Can you substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour in pizza dough?
Yes, but you’ll end up with a more pungent flavor and denser, chewy crust. I recommend using White Whole Wheat flour, as this will be more similar to traditional pizza. You could also add a bit more oil to the dough (to change the structure and texture of the dough).