My Favorite Pizza Crust... Including My Go To Tomato Sauce and Dessert Pizza

I found a pizza crust recipe years ago on what was then Food.com but looking online now I can’t find the original. The recipe was for a single crust, but I started by splitting the dough into two batches and now I’ve made the crust thinner and split it into three. This lets me turn the single batch of pizza dough into two savory pizzas followed by a dessert pizza. I love this recipe! It doesn’t require waiting for the dough to rise at all. Since I make three pizzas I have to keep getting up during the meal, but if the kids are hungry I can get the food on the table in 15-20 minutes and they’re willing to wait for pizza…. especially for the dessert pizza at the end. If you decide to make thicker crusts you might have to alter the cook times accordingly.

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

• 1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) Yeast
• 1 cup Warm Water
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil

Tomato Sauce

• 1 can Dice Tomatoes (14.5 oz.)
• Garlic Powder to taste
• Onion Powder  to taste
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes to taste
• Oregano  to taste
• Basil  to taste

Other Optional Pizza Toppings

• Pepperoni
• Canned Pineapple Chunks
• Cheddar Cheese grated
• Nutella
• Cinnamon
• Sugar

Instructions

Prep

Start by preheating the oven to 425° Fahrenheit and if using a pizza stone don’t forget to throw it in so it can heat up while it preheats. I then start by throwing the first three ingredients (2 1/4 tsp yeast, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 cup warm water) into the stand mixer bowl and giving it a quick mix. I then leave it for a couple of minutes to activate while the oven continues to preheat and I prep the tomato sauce.

Tomato Sauce

Ignore this part if using canned or jarred tomato sauce… or something else. I find jarred Alfredo sauce is also good especially with chicken leftovers, pineapple, and cheese on top.

As my third pizza crust is going to be a dessert pizza I only need tomato sauce for the first two pizzas. I find the contents of one 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes makes the perfect amount of tomato sauce. I pour it into a small pot, set it to simmer, and then add any seasonings I want to use to taste. Specifically, I normally use some variation of garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, and dried basil. This depends one what I can find easily in the drawer too. Once I add all the seasonings I use my immersion blender to break it all up and then leave it to simmer. I either leave the tomato sauce simmering until I need it for the pizza crusts or turn off the burner once it reaches the right consistency.

Making the Pizza

Add your 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil to your warm water mixture in the stand mixture. I then turn on my stand mixer on low with the dough hook attached. If a ball doesn’t form I add more flour. If for some reason you add too much flour you can add a dab of water. Worst case you just end up with more dough. When done I scrape the dough of the hook and down the sides of the bowl. I then divide the dough into three equal-ish portions. My normal dessert pizza is just Nutella and cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top so it doesn’t need pizza edges so in that case I save a bit less dough for the last pizza.

Leave the other two portions of dough ‘to rise’ and start rolling out your first pizza. I make sure to flour my surface, flatten my dough a bit, roll it one way, flip and rotate it 90°, roll it that way, and keep flipping, rotating, and rolling until it’s about the size of the pizza stone or slightly larger. Remember to keep sprinkling the dough and surface with flour so it doesn’t stick. If your pizza is going to be saucy fold up the edges, at a slight angle, to create the cornicione (which I just looked up) to keep the toppings on the pizza crust. If you floured the top of your pizza too much and it isn’t sticking you could brush off the flour and use a bit of water.

Once the oven preheats I pull out my pizza stone, put the pizza crust on it, and put it back into the oven to bake for five minutes. Sometimes the crust bubbles up while cooking so when I pull it out I either press it down or in the worst case crack the top of the bubble (if hardened). I then pour half of my tomato sauce on the pizza, spread it, and then add the rest of my pizza toppings. This normally consists of any deli meat in my fridge (I try to keep a package of pepperoni or salami), a can of pineapple chunks, and shredded cheddar cheese. If you’re using canned pineapple my kids love splitting the pineapple juice once I liberate all the pineapple out of it. Another way to distract them at the table. Once the pizza is decorated I put it back in the oven for another five minutes or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is all melted. While the pizza cooks I roll out the second pizza crust so it’s ready to go.

Once the pizza is done I cut it with my pizza cutter (directly on the pizza stone), dish it onto the kids’ plates to cool or onto a plate to serve, scrape off any leftover pizza bits, and then toss the next pizza crust on the stone to bake for five minutes. Sit and enjoy it until the next one is ready to decorate. Repeat.

Dessert Pizza

Once my dessert pizza crust comes out of the oven from baking for five minutes (and browned) I top it with Nutella. The Nutella is a bit hard to spread. I end up using my spoon to get dallops of Nutella out of the container and then spreading the dallops. If you want a simple pizza I then sprinkle it with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar and toss it back into the oven to bake for another five minutes. The Nutella hardens and is amazing. This dessert isn’t saucy at all and doesn’t roll off the edges of the pizza so you don’t need the edge crust. You can also sprinkle the pizza with frozen fruit if you want after you spread the Nutella and before you sprinkle the cinnamon sugar.

I prefer a thin crust pizza so I'm able to stretch this recipe to make three pizza crusts: two savory meal ones followed by a dessert one. Before making it for company you can test it out to see how thick you prefer the crusts so you know how many pizza crusts you get from this recipe. Remember to alter the cooking time accordingly.

This is a meal I make when I want to get the first pizza on the table in 15 to 20 minutes; yet am prepared to repeatedly get up while everyone eats to make the next pizzas. Eating while we make the second and third pizza makes for a more intensive meal, but there's less pre-meal cooking and less dishes than other meals may create. Since my the kids love pizza... especially the last dessert pizza... they are willing to wait between courses.

This is a breeze with our stand mixer with a hook attachment and our immersion blender (for the tomato sauce), but I'm sure they could be made easily without.

Pizza Dough

• 2 1/4 tsp yeast 1 package
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Tomato Sauce

• 1 can diced tomatoes 14.5 oz.
• garlic powder to taste
• onion powder to taste
• crushed red pepper flakes to taste
• oregano to taste
• basil to taste

Other Optional Pizza Toppings

• 1 package pepperoni
• 1 can pineapple chunks
• cheddar cheese grated
• mozzarella grated
• nutella
• cinnamon
• sugar

Pizza Dough

1. Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If using a pizza stone don't forget to add it before the oven heats up.
2. I start by throwing the first three pizza crust ingredients (yeast, warm water, and sugar) into the stand mixer bowl and give it a quick mix. This can sit for a minute while you make the sauce.

Tomato Sauce (ignore if using canned/jarred sauce)

1. Pour the contents of the diced tomato can into a small pot. Add any preferred seasonings to your tomatoes; to taste.
2. Break up the tomatoes with your immersion blender. You could probably also use a blender and then return it to the pot if there's too much liquid.
3. Leave the sauce to simmer until you're ready to pour it on the crust. Turn it off if it reaches your preferred consistency before than.

Back to the Pizza

1. Add the flour, olive oil, and salt to your pizza dough. I then use my dough hook and turn it on to low until it forms a ball and the sides of the bowl are cleanish.
2. If it's too sticky and isn't forming a ball you can always add more flour and mix it more. If it's too dry you can add a dab of water.
3. Divide your dough into two or three portions (depending on your preference and plan) and start by rolling out the first portion. I find it best to flour my counter and the dough. Roll it out one way, flip and rotate it 90 degrees, roll out, repeat while flouring when it gets sticky. Roll up the edges of the pizza crust to keep the toppings in if needed.
4. Prep the rest of your ingredients. Grate your cheese, empty your pineapple into a bowl with a fork for dishing, open your pepperoni, etc. Make sure everything is ready and accessible for the first pizza.
5. Once the oven preheats I take out the pizza stone, transfer the pizza to the stone, and put it back in the oven to bake for 5 minutes.
6. When the pizza crust is browned and ready take it out of the oven. Sometimes there are bubbles in the dough. I either squish the crust back down or, if hardened, break the top of the bubble.
7. I pour half of my tomato sauce on the pizza crust, spread the sauce so it covers everything, and then add the other pizza toppings. This normally consists of pepperoni, pineapple chunks, and shredded cheddar cheese.
8. Once decorated I throw the pizza back into the oven for five minutes or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is all melted.
9. While the first pizza cooks I roll out the second pizza crust so it's ready to go.
10. After the pizza is done I pull it out, cut it, dish it, throw the second pizza crust onto the stone, and then through it into the oven to cook for five minutes. Repeat the process.
11. Enjoy!

Dessert Pizza

• My default dessert pizza doesn't need the edges of the crust rolled up. After the crust precooks I top the pizza with Nutella (a bit hard to spread) and then sprinkle cinnamon sugar overtop. I then bake it for 5 minutes. During the process the Nutella hardens and it tastes incredible.

I hope you enjoy the pizza! I'd love to see what pizza recipes you come up with! You can tell me in the comments below, post on my Facebook page, or connect with me on Instagram.