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
Zoe
I am definitely trying this soon! And what pizza place was it that this originated from? If it’s still open I’d love to take advantage of that deal!
Sam
Ah I can’t remember the name! There are a lot of places like it I know, all you can eat pizza places.
Katherine
PIZZA INN!!!
Alicia
Sounded a lot like cici’s except the one I used to go to didn’t have that much dessert variety
cory
This was delicious. I used a pillsbury pizza crust and prebaked it for 5 minutes at 450. then topped and cooked 5 minutes 450 and couple minutes under broil.. also added some ground pink salt on top. Love touch of salt in desserts. Think some cut up marshmallows under strudel would be an amazing s’mores pizza. So easy and fast with made crust!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the pizza, Cory! 🙂
Carine
Hey! So I just made this however decided not to bake till tomorrow at work. Will this be ok to wrap everything and store in fridge as is till then? I am hoping so. Dough was super easy to make. Nice soft pilable. Everything super easy and already smells amazing .
Sam
Hi Carine! I haven’t tried keeping it overnight, but it should work as long as it’s wrapped tightly so it doesn’t dry out. 🙂
M
Can I use pizza dough from the store?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, M! Yes, that should be fine. 🙂
Amy
This is amanjng! Can this crust also be used for other pizzas like pepperoni?
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed it, Amy! I actually have a pizza dough recipe that is similar that I would use instead. 🙂
Nanette
How do I get the recipe?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
If you scroll down the page, you should see it 🙂
Mary
If I wanted to make it easier could I buy a crust or use crescent rolls as a crust?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Mary! Yes, you can! I hope that you enjoy the pizza. 🙂
Nilsa Starzmann
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
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
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
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
This pizza place sounds a lot like my husbands home town pizza place Tallianos! Derby, KS!?
Sugar Spun Run
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! 🙂
Connie
I live in Derby and just had a piece of dessert pizza from Taliano’s. So I googled a recipe to make my own and ran across this one and your post. Crazy!!
Sandra Al-Dabit
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
I am glad that you enjoyed the dessert pizza, Sandra! Yes, please adjust it to your sweetness level next time. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Taylor
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
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
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
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
Super Easy And Delicious! Definitely making this again!!!❤😏
Sam
Thank you so much, Taylor! I am glad you enjoyed the chocolate chip pizza so much! 🙂
Bronwin
Can u make and freeze this to have at a later stage?
Sam
I don’t see why not but it’s honestly never lasted long enough for me to freeze it myself and find out.
Brianne
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
Hi Brianne! Unfortunately, I haven’t tried making a fruit pizza yet. 🙁
Kayte
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
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!