This Chocolate Chip Dessert Pizza is so easy to make with just 10 ingredients! My recipe features a homemade pizza crust, cream cheese sauce, plenty of melty chocolate chips, and a crumbly streusel topping.
The BEST Dessert Pizza Recipe
We’re taking pizza night up a notch with today’s dessert pizza!
Picture it now: chewy, yeasty crust, sweet cream cheese sauce, mouthfuls of melty chocolate chips, and a buttery streusel topping…sound pretty good? Now what if this dessert pizza was not only incredibly easy to make, but also 100% from-scratch? Jackpot, right?!
Today’s recipe was inspired by a chocolate chip pizza from Zach’s and my favorite pizza place in 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.
The highlight of every visit was the dessert. There were a few fruity varieties (like raspberry cheesecake pizza), but I bypassed them all for the chocolate. Naturally, I wanted the recipe, but despite persistent interrogation of at least three employees, nobody seemed to be able to tell me what was actually in it!
Much (delicious) research ensued before I finally got the recipe down, and the rest is history. This was one of the first recipes I shared on the blog and has remained one of my most popular recipes ever since (for good reason!).
What You Need
My dessert pizza recipe is simple to make with just 10 ingredients (including water, not pictured above). Here are the important ones:
- Yeast. We’re using instant yeast today, which means there’s no proofing or rising time. So easy!
- Flour. Make sure you know how to measure flour properly. All-purpose flour works just fine here, but bread flour will yield crispier results (if that’s your thing!).
- Cream cheese. Just like with my cream cheese frosting, we need to use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese here.
- Chocolate chips. I use mini semisweet chips, but you can really use whatever you prefer.
- Melted butter. Instead of cutting cold butter into the streusel with a pastry blender, we’ll use melted butter instead. It produces the same result with less time and effort!
SAM’S TIP: While some recipes opt for sugar cookie dough for their crust, my recipe uses a real homemade pizza dough for the crust, which keeps this a true pizza and keeps the recipe from being too sweet. It’s simple to make though (please don’t be intimidated by the yeast!) and comes together quickly.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Dessert Pizza
- Prepare the dough by combining the flour, yeast, and salt, then add the water and stir until the dough forms a ball.
- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
- Form the dough into a 12″ circle and place on a parchment lined pizza pan. Pinch the edges to make a crust.
- Prepare the sauce by combining the softened cream cheese with sugar and vanilla. Spread this over your prepared dough, then sprinkle with chocolate chips.
- Make the streusel by tossing melted butter with the vanilla, flour, and sugars until lumps form.Use a fork to combine thel ingredients and don’t mix for too long. You want crumbly bits, not a paste! Evenly sprinkle over the crust.
- Bake at 500F for 7 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving!
SAM’S TIP: If your pizza dough is very sticky (think too sticky to manage), you can add 1 tablespoon of additional flour at a time until it is manageable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Just make sure to wrap it really well before storing in the fridge.
Wrap your dessert pizza well with plastic or foil (or store in an airtight container) and place in the fridge. You can either enjoy your leftovers cold from the fridge or warm them up in the microwave or oven.
You could, but my homemade crust is super easy to make and tastes SO much better than anything you’ll buy in the store. It really makes all the difference in terms of flavor and texture here!
This is one of my favorite recipes on the blog. I hope you love it just as much as I do!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Chocolate Chip Dessert Pizza
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ½ cups (185 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup (155 ml) warm water
“Sauce”
- 8 oz (225 g) cream cheese
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (175 g) mini chocolate chips
Streusel
- 3 Tablespoons butter melted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup + 1 Tablespoon (50 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar tightly packed
Recommended Equipment
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.1 ½ cups (185 g) all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon instant yeast
- 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.⅔ cup (155 ml) warm water
- 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.
- Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes.
- Roll dough out into a 12” circle and transfer to prepared pizza pan. Pinch edges or gently fold over to form a crust.
Toppings
- 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.8 oz (225 g) cream cheese
- Add sugar and vanilla extract, stir well.¼ cup (50 g) sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Spread cream cheese “sauce” evenly over pizza dough.
- Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly overtop and press/spread into the “sauce”. Prepare your streusel.1 cup (175 g) mini chocolate chips
Streusel
- Add vanilla extract to melted butter, stir, and set aside.3 Tablespoons butter, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, use a fork to mix together flour and sugars.⅓ cup + 1 Tablespoon (50 g) all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 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.
Notes
Storing
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Leftover dessert pizza can be enjoyed warm or cold.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
This chocolate chip dessert recipe was originally published 04/29/2014. Photos and text have been updated and recipe has been updated for clarity and to include metric measurements
Kim
This looks delicious, but I want to make sure I’m not missing something. Is there really no rise time for the dough?
Sam
Hi Kim! There is a brief rise time while preparing your sauce and that is sufficient for this recipe. 🙂
Tiffany Sternala
I haven’t made the dessert yet, but planning on making it for tonight. We have a few family members with celiac disease and will be making this on a gluten free crust. Has anyone tried this? I believe it will taste as awesome as it sounds as well!
Natasha
Absolutely delicious
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the pizza, Natasha! 🙂
Heather
I don’t have a pizza pan, can I bake this in a 9X13 pan and just cut into squares? Thanks!
Sam
Hi, Heather! The dough is a little thicker and would need more time in the oven. If you have a cookie sheet I would use that instead. 🙂
Heather
Thank you! I’ll use a cookie sheet. We are having pizza night with friends tonight and this is the perfect dessert to bring.
Gil Renaud
I tried tried this for a pizza party. I used a thin crust pizza and added a broken brownie on top of cheese sauce. It was a 5star success.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it Gil! 😊
Kaitlyn
This recipe was amazing! Been looking for a copycat recipe like this. Here in Tennessee we have a pizza chain called pizza inn and they have a very similar pizza! Perfect for the super bowl tomorrow. Thanks for sharing!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it! I’m going to put the Pizza Inn on my list of places to go because anything with chocolate chip dessert pizza is AWESOME!
Blakel
Omg I know the exact restaurant. My 8& 10 year old live for the chocolate chip pizza
Thanks so much for sharing
Sam
Haha isn’t it soooooo good!? Thank you for commenting 🙂
Amanda
I am excited to try this recipe soon! Do you think that I can make this ahead of time? It was requested by a coworker, but I won’t have time to make it.
Sam
Yes, you can make it ahead! I’d say up to 2-3 days in advance. I hope you love it, this is one of my family’s favorites!
Amanda
How would you recommend storing it?
Sam
Once it’s baked I usually just slice it up and then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Some of my family members like eating it cold, but I always prefer heating it up before enjoying!
Sam
If you don’t have an airtight container that’s large enough, allow it to cool and then wrap the slices in plastic wrap or foil, that also works!
Sam
Sorry, I’m just now realizing you’re probably asking how to store BEFORE baking. I would place it on the pizza pan and wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap and then refrigerate. Yes it will take up a fair bit of space in your fridge but that’s how I would do it.
Tonya S.
This is amazing!! Will always be making this on pizza night!
palak bhatti
wow looks yummy thanks for sharing i love your all recipes
Deborah
I would never have thought to make something like this, but it looks so incredible I think I may *have to* make it tonight. You are a genius–thank you for the inspiration (and recipe)!
Sam
I hope you love it, Deborah! One of my favorite desserts!
Heidi Eckert
Wow, you absolutely nailed it! It’s been 10 years since I have had my favorite dessert pizza and I’ve been craving forever. I am so glad I found your recipe. I was a little lazy and used a Pilsbury crust and it still tasted wonderful. You got the toppings just right! The pizza place I went to in Louisiana called Sicily’s had a cherry and blueberry variety that I want to experiment with next. Thank you so much for the recipe!!
Sam
That’s awesome to hear! This place also has a cherry and blueberry (and apple), I’m sure it wouldn’t be too difficult to do fruit variations. Thanks for commenting, Heidi! 🙂
Sommer Paul
Omg!! That’s the recipe I was hoping this was!! Have you tried to make with blueberries or cherries? The blueberry is my favorite!! I’ve gotta try it out!! How crazy!!! Thanks so much for sharing this with us!!
Sam
I’m so glad you like it! I haven’t tried it with blueberries or cherries yet, but definitely something to try in the future! Thanks for commenting!
Mishelle Herrmann.
Hey! Is this pizza place in Tyler Texas? I’ve been looking for this recipe for years, my home town of Tyler is the only ace I can find it!
Sam
It’s actually based off a place called Infinitos in PA, but it seems that a lot of these pizza places have the same chocolate chip dessert pizza. 🙂
Melissa
I can’t believe I have FINALLY found a recipe for this dessert pizza! I LOVED going to Sicily’s pizza and this dessert pizza was ALWAYS my favorite. Thank you for posting this. I can’t wait to try it!
Sam
I really hope you love it as much as my family and I love it, Melissa!! 🙂
Melody
How would you change the recipe if I used a pre-cooked pizza crust?
Sam
Hi Melody,
I haven’t tried it with a pre-cooked crust so I can’t be certain, but since the crust is already baked your primary concern will be making sure that the “sauce” and chocolate chips reach that ideal melt-y stage (you can’t judge the chocolate chips by looking at them — they will retain their shape) and the streusel topping is browned just enough to be slightly crisped (as in the pictures).
I think that 5-7 minutes is a brief enough time that it *shouldn’t* burn the crust but should do the trick of getting the toppings just right, just make sure you keep an eye on the crust!
I hope this helps!!
Melody
I’ll give it a try. Thank you!
Sam
No problem! 🙂