Chocolate Chip Dessert Pizza is, in my humble opinion, the best kind of pizza ever made. With a simple thin crust, a cream cheese based “white pizza sauce”, lots of chocolate, and a crumbly streusel topping, I think you can see why this is such a favorite of mine!
So there’s this pizza place where Zach and I used to eat lunch together during college.
It wasn’t the best pizza place, but it was an all-you-can-eat deal where you paid about 5 bucks for unlimited pizza and soda and a mostly-wilted salad bar, and it was a college student’s dream. We ate so. much. pizza., but the best thing about this place was their variety of dessert pizzas.
They had a few varieties, cherry, apple, and other fruits, but I bypassed all of them for the Chocolate Chip Dessert pizza, and Zach and I piled our plates with as many slices as we could respectfully carry every single time.
Naturally, I wanted the recipe, but despite politely harassing at least three employees, nobody seemed to be able to tell me what was actually in this magical dessert pizza. Only that it was “Mostly dairy. I think.” Thank you, pizza-place guys.
Much, much taste-testing research ensued. I must have eaten a whole dessert pizza in a single sitting (for science, of course). Testing continued at home, and after many tasty, but not just quite right attempts, I finally got the recipe down. In fact, this dessert pizza was one of the first recipes I shared on the blog years ago (this was 4 years ago, even before the blog’s official “unbirthday”), and it has remained one of my most popular recipes ever since then.
The crust for this recipe is a very, very simple one (please don’t be intimidated by the yeast!). It’s thin and chewy and needs to bake only briefly, just long enough for the toppings to melt.
What Toppings Do You Put On A Dessert Pizza
For this dessert pizza, the only option here is chocolate. We first start by layering our base with a cream cheese “sauce”. this will help to hold the toppings in place and give the pizza a great creamy texture.
Next, we’ll add a cup of mini chocolate chips and press them into the sauce before topping everything off with a simple, crumbly, slightly crisp streusel topping.
And that’s it. Enjoy!
How to Make Dessert Pizza
Chocolate Chip Dessert Pizza
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (185g)
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup warm water (155ml)
“Sauce”
- 8 oz cream cheese (225g)
- ¼ cup sugar (50g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips (175g)
Streusel
- 3 Tablespoons butter melted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour (50g)
- ⅓ cup sugar (66g)
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar tightly packed
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 500F (260C) and line a pizza pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt and stir well.
- Add water and stir until ingredients are mostly combined. Use your hands to continue to combine until the dough is cohesive enough to form a ball.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes (until elastic). If needed, add additional flour 1 Tablespoon at a time if dough is too sticky and sticks stubbornly to your hands.
- Roll dough out into a 12” circle and transfer to prepared pizza pan. Pinch edges or gently fold over to form a crust.
- Prepare your cream cheese “sauce” by cutting your cream cheese into 8 pieces and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 10 second intervals, stirring between each, until cream cheese is easy to stir.
- Add sugar and vanilla extract, stir well.
- Spread cream cheese “sauce” evenly over pizza dough.
- Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly overtop and press/spread into the “sauce”. Prepare your streusel.
Streusel
- Add vanilla extract to melted butter, stir, and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, use a fork to mix together flour and sugars.
- Add butter mixture and use a fork to combine until mixture resembles coarse crumbles.
- Sprinkle evenly over pizza
- Bake pizza in 500F (260C) oven for 7 minutes or until streusel turns a golden brown.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool for several minutes, then slice and serve.
Nutrition
This chocolate chip dessert recipe was originally published 04/29/2014. Photos and text have been updated on 04/16/2018, and recipe has been updated for clarity and to include metric measurements
Original Photo
Nilsa Starzmann says
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I already know it has to be spot on exactly what I’m looking for. I’m pretty sure the pizza place you are talking about is Infinitos and if not it’s definitely the same concept and this is my favorite out of their dessert pizzas, I still take my kids there now and then for an awesome variety of food, like you said from salad, breadsticks, pasta, pizza all the way to the best dessert pizza you will ever have ( I can eat a half a pie of that alone) I read your recipe and can taste everything on that list in that pizza, as soon as I read cream cheese I thought YES!!! Thank you so much my search is over.
Sugar Spun Run says
I hope that this dessert pizza is everything you had hoped for and more! I can’t wait for you to try it! Keep me posted on how it turns out, Nilsa! 🙂
CaliMom3 says
This sounds delicious! I would like to make this for the office though and I won’t have access to an oven. A few questions. Can I make it ahead? Is it good cold? Does it get soggy? Thanks!
Sugar Spun Run says
You can make it ahead of time. It is good served cold or the people whom you are serving it to can microwave their own slice if they choose. 🙂
Jenovia says
This pizza place sounds a lot like my husbands home town pizza place Tallianos! Derby, KS!?
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that this pizza reminds you of a hometown favorite, Jenovia! If you try it, you will have to let me know how the dessert pizza compares. I hope that you both enjoy it! 🙂
Sandra Al-Dabit says
I tried it…it’s delicious!! Maybe a little less sweet would be ideal for me; I was a little overwhelmed with all the sweetness. Maybe I will use semi-sweet morsels next time, and a bit less sugar in the cream sauce. The cream cheese is really nice under the chocolate and streusel though, and the crust was easier to make than I thought it would be. Overall, very good 🙂
Sugar Spun Run says
I am glad that you enjoyed the dessert pizza, Sandra! Yes, please adjust it to your sweetness level next time. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Taylor says
My oven is broken and I only have a toaster oven, it doesnt go up to 500 only 450, any tips? I want to make this but worried about my oven temp!
Sam says
Hi Taylor! You can bake this dessert pizza on 450, it may need another minute (or 2, or 3) in the oven but it will be fine. Enjoy!! 🙂
deb says
Thank you for sharing! This was a hit at a pizza party we attended last night. It was gone in minutes and everyone raved about it. I think I will try a different crust though next time though, perhaps the coconut crust I make for a French Silk pie or a simple sugar cookie crust. The sauce and crumble were spot on!
Sugar Spun Run says
That is awesome, Deb! I am so glad that the dessert pizza got rave reviews. The sound of a coconut crust sounds delicious. If you try it, keep me posted on how it turns out. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Taylor says
Super Easy And Delicious! Definitely making this again!!!❤😏
Sam says
Thank you so much, Taylor! I am glad you enjoyed the chocolate chip pizza so much! 🙂
Bronwin says
Can u make and freeze this to have at a later stage?
Sam says
I don’t see why not but it’s honestly never lasted long enough for me to freeze it myself and find out.
Brianne says
I know you say this is the best with chocolate chip, but I would love to see the fruit versions from your memory of this pizza place. I assume the same “sauce” is used on the fruit ones, at least that’s what I’m gathering from your post. But I would love to see how you’d do the fruit part.
Sam says
Hi Brianne! Unfortunately, I haven’t tried making a fruit pizza yet. 🙁
Kayte says
This pizza tasted just like a dessert pizza I had as a child. I was on a hunt for quite some time to figure it out, when I stumbled across your recipe. I made it for my family, for the first time about a year ago, and they fell in love instantly! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Sam says
I’m so happy to hear it was such a hit! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you, Kayte, I appreciate it!