When life hands you extra Sourdough discard, make pizza dough! This dough is light and airy but bakes up golden and crusty. You won't go back to store bought dough when you realize how delicious homemade dough is!
What's in the dough?
Sourdough Starter- Since this is a sourdough discard pizza dough, it has sourdough starter in it! That means that this starter is not fed. I often use it right out of the refrigerator. If you ever have extra sourdough starter, keep it in the refrigerator in its own container after you feed the rest of the starter. It will keep in the refrigerator for a really long time and you can add it to all sorts of baked items like muffins, cookies, or crackers.
Whole Wheat Flour- I am always trying to get extra fiber and nutrients into my kids, so I add whole wheat flour wherever I can. If you didn't have whole wheat flour on hand, feel free to use all purpose flour for the whole recipe and skip the whole wheat flour. It will still rise and taste delicious.
Yeast- Because we are using sourdough discard instead of active sourdough, we need to add yeast to bump up the rising. If you would like a full sourdough pizza recipe, Deanna over at Homestead and Chill has a fabulous recipe. I'll link it here. The starter gives the pizza dough a chewy texture, while the yeast does most of the rising for the dough. Make sure you use instant yeast. One teaspoon is equal to half a yeast packet.
Stand Mixer- I find that a stand mixer is the easiest thing to use when making this dough. It can be very heavy and dense to work with when you first put everything together. The dough hook in the stand mixer will knead the dough nicely for you. If you do not have a stand mixer you can do this by hand, but it will take longer to have the dough come together and you will get a workout in!
How do you make the dough?
Fill a liquid measuring cup with one and a half cups of warm water. The water temperature is important here, because you do not want the water too hot and you don't want it too cold. Too hot and you will kill the yeast, too cold and the dough will take forever to rise. You want it just warmer than lukewarm.
Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and let it sit for five minutes. While the yeast blooms, in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the four cups of flour and salt. Mix the flour and salt around. I like to mix the flour and salt first to get the sold evenly dispersed. Yeast hates salt, so if you were to pour the yeast mixture over the salt directly, it would kill the yeast. This method allows the salt to mix throughout the flour and minimize the chance of that happening.
When the flours and salt are mixed together, add the starter, extra virgin olive oil, and water and yeast mixture . Turn the mixer on low at first and allow the mixer to do all the work for you. The dough is done when it forms one cohesive ball in the mixer and it will start hitting the walls of the mixing bowl. It should take about five minutes and for the dough to come together.
Let it Rise!
When the dough is all mixed together, cover it with plastic and let it rise. This process depends a lot on what the weather is in your area on the day that you are making this. At room temperature, it should take about four hours to double in size and get light and airy.
If you need to make this faster, put the bowl in an oven that is turned off. That will reduce any draft that might come through. If your oven has a "proof" setting, turn that on and let the dough rise for about two hours.
After the dough has risen, divide it into two balls and roll it out as you would any other pizza dough. Continue making your pizzas as you normally would and enjoy this delicious dough!
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! If you want to make it the day before, once the dough has risen, wrap it in plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator overnight and use it when you are ready. To freeze the dough, let it rise, and divide the dough into two pieces. Wrap each in plastic wrap and place them in Ziploc bags. Freeze them for up to three months. When you are ready to defrost them, place them in the refrigerator to defrost.
Like most pizza doughs, I find that the crust gets crispier if you cook it first and then add the toppings. If you are using a pizza stone, it's best to preheat the pizza stone before adding the dough to it.
Absolutely! The yeast does most of the rising for this dough and the starter adds chew and texture. If you do not have starter, no worries! You can still make this delicious dough by leaving out the starter. It won't hurt the dough or prevent it from rising in anyway.
Other Recipes to Try!
Did you give this recipe a try? I’d love to hear from you! Give me a shout on Instagram or Facebook and let me know (@Lynnswayoflife) !
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Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Sourdough Discard
- 1 tsp Instant Yeast
- 1 ½ cups Warm Water
- 2 tsp Salt
- ⅓ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the water and top with the teaspoon of instant yeast. Set that aside and let it sit for 5 minutes. The yeast should be frothy when you add it to the flour.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add both the flours and the salt. Mix that around for a few seconds to combine the ingredients.
- Add the yeast and water to the mixture. Add the starter and extra virgin olive oil. Turn the mixer on low and mix everything for 5 minutes until a cohesive ball forms and there is no flour left on the bottom of the stand mixer.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let that rise for 3-4 hours at room temperature. It should double in size.
- When it has risen, separate the dough into two balls. Lightly flour your surface and roll the dough out into the thickness you prefer for pizza. Add the toppings of your choice and bake at 425 degrees for at least 20 minutes.
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