Thin Crust Pizza Dough
Prep
20 min
Bake
12 min
Total time
32 min
Hydration
68%
Thin-crust pizza dough with fresh-milled hard white wheat works best at 68% hydration with a 24 to 48 hour cold ferment, open enough for a blistered rim and dry enough to stretch without tearing. Bake on a steel or stone preheated at 550F for a full hour, 6 to 9 minutes a pizza. Same-day baking works after a 90-minute bulk rise, with less flavor.
Key Takeaways
- Hydration: 68% — high enough for an airy crust, low enough to handle.
- Storage: Refrigerate dough balls up to 72 hours; freeze for up to 1 month.
- Substitutions: 25% bread flour can be subbed in for a chewier crust if you prefer.
About this recipe
Baking with freshly milled hard white wheat flour transforms an everyday recipe into something extraordinary. Within minutes of milling, whole-grain flour is bursting with natural oils and a sweet wheaty aroma — the part that fades first once flour sits — and it still carries the whole berry: bran, germ, and endosperm. Commercial white flour has the bran and germ removed and is stabilized for months of shelf life — fresh milling skips all of that, so you bake with the whole grain and with the aroma still in it. Crisp on the bottom, chewy at the edges, and powerful enough to support generous toppings without becoming soggy — that's the goal of a great thin-crust pizza dough. Fresh-milled hard white wheat gives this dough a subtle nuttiness without the heaviness people associate with whole wheat. A cold overnight ferment unlocks the flavor and improves both texture and digestibility. This recipe makes two 12-inch pizzas. Plan ahead: the dough develops its best flavor with a 24–48 hour cold ferment, but you can also bake it the same day after a 90-minute bulk rise. For Neapolitan-style results, bake on a preheated steel or stone at the highest temperature your oven allows.
Ingredients
- Fresh-milled hard white wheat flour500 g
- Cool water (65°F)340 g
- Instant yeast3 g
- Fine sea salt12 g
- Olive oil15 g
Instructions
- 1
Mill the wheat berries and let cool. Whisk flour and yeast in a large bowl.
- 2
Add water and mix until shaggy. Cover and autolyse 30 minutes.
- 3
Sprinkle salt over the dough, add olive oil, and mix until cohesive.
- 4
Perform 3 sets of stretch-and-folds spaced 30 minutes apart.
- 5
Cover and bulk ferment 90 minutes at room temperature.
- 6
Divide into two 425 g pieces and shape into tight balls.
- 7
Place each ball in a lightly oiled container, cover, and refrigerate 24–48 hours.
- 8
Two hours before baking, remove dough to come to room temperature.
- 9
Preheat oven with a baking steel or stone to 550°F (or as hot as your oven allows) for 60 minutes.
- 10
Stretch each ball gently into a 12-inch round, leaving a slightly thicker rim.
- 11
Top sparingly, slide onto the steel, and bake 6–9 minutes until the crust is blistered and the cheese bubbles.
fresh flour baking guide for beginners — hydration, gluten development, and grain choice tips that make this recipe work.
Learn about this grain: Hard White Wheat guide — flavor, milling notes, baking tips, and four in-depth guides on hydration, storage, and common mistakes. Or browse more Hard White Wheat recipes.
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