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 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.
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.
- 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.
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
Hannah Foos
I’m sure it was my fault since I used active dry yeast and some weird cream cheese I mistakenly got, but I hated mine. The cheese started with an N. Mine came out so floury tasting, but the top was delicious. I really want to try to make this again the right way.
Sam
Hi Hannah! The active dry yeast probably caused some issues with the crust. The yeast wont have time to activate and could end up making the crust taste like flour. 🙁 I hope it goes better next time. 🙂
Christy
I’m making this weekend! Do you use salted or unsalted butter for your streusel topping? I use both depending on recipe and would think the salt would be a nice balance on this one.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Either will work here since it’s such a small amount. We hope you love it, Christy!
Christy
Thank you! I’m going to go with salted. Can’t wait to make it with the kids this weekend!
Laura
What type of chocolate chips did you use? Milk chocolate or semi-sweet? Thank you! 😊
Sam
Hi Laura! I’m not sure I’ve seen milk chocolate mini chips, but the ones I use are semi-sweet. 🙂
Sasha
Exactly what I was looking for, turned out amazing! My one little tweak was that I added a handful of mini marshmallows after it came out and broiled for about ~20-25 seconds for a bit of a s’mores effect. So good!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yum, that sounds delicious Sasha! We’re so happy this one was a hit for you 😊
Brittney
How can I store this if I have to make it a few days before I need it?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Brittney! You can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. 🙂
Lisa G
Hi! I made this before and the fam loves it! My son is requesting it for his “birthday cake”. If I have to make it ahead, do you recommend that I assemble and refrigerate unbaked or do I bake it, store it, then reheat in the oven? If the second option seems better, what temp should I set the oven to? In my head I’m thinking around 350 for a few min to warm through…?
Sam
Hi Lisa! I’m so glad the recipe has been such a hit! Either would work, if you want to reheat I would agree, just a lower temperature (350F would work well) for a few minutes to warm it, I might recommend wrapping in foil first to help keep it from drying out. I hope that helps!
Jacqueline
That pizza place wouldn’t happen to be Godfather’s pizza would it? I worked at one back in 2004 and i must say i was obsessed with the desert pizzas. A cinnamom roll icing would be drizzled over the top. I highly recommend you try.
Miranda
So funny I used to work at Godfathers too (1996). Their streusel dessert pizza was too die for!
Tina
It reminds me of one I’m searching for from a place in Texas called Pizza Inn!
Kaitlin
Super yummy! I don’t know what pizza place you were talking about but I used to go to Pizza Pie Cafe I college and I was obsessed with their dessert pizzas. This satisfied that missing pizza from my college days. How do you recommend we store any extra pieces? In the fridge?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Kaitlin! I would wrap and extras tightly and store in the refrigerator. 🙂
Ashlyn
Let me start off by saying I’m pregnant and have been craving a dessert pizza for over a week. I haven’t been able to find a single pizza restaurant near me that makes one. There are a couple that make a smores version, but that’s not what I wanted. THIS recipe is exactly what I wanted. I woke up thinking about it and wanting it with my coffee. 😂 It was so good! It was simple to make, too! My husband thuroughly enjoyed it as well. Thank you for sharing!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Ashlyn! Congratulations! 🙂
Heidi
I could not make this pizza crust work at all. No matter how hard I tried it was so sticky. I kept adding flour and then I threw it out because I knew it wouldn’t bake up right. I used the rest of the recipe with a different crust. It turned out delicious. Also, I weigh my ingredients so I know I had the proper amount
Sam
Hi Heidi! I’m sorry this happened. If it’s helpful, I do have a video that shows how I do all of the steps. I’m glad you ultimately enjoyed it. 🙂
sastina
what can i use instead of cream cheese?
Sam
Unfortunately I don’t know of a good one here. 🙁
JoAnn
You can use mascarpone cheese. Just a thought, that is what is used in tiramisu. Hope that helps.
Crystal Weddington
What types of chocolate Chips? Semi sweet? Milk chocolate? Bittersweet?
Sam
Hi Crystal! My mini chocolate chips are semi sweet. 🙂
Ilyaas
Wow, very good, just made it and it is literally perfect!!!!!!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Nicole
I haven’t had Double Dave’s in a decade or more, and I was trying to find a copycat recipe and found this. I am so excited to make this tonight, thank you so much 🤍
Sam
You’re very welcome, I hope you enjoy! 🙂
Rebecca
This recipe is great. I didn’t have any yeast so I used pre- made pizza crust and it totally worked. The streusel and the chocolate chips sort of remind me of a chocolate cookie. Love this recipe, a new favorite.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Rebecca! 🙂
Lolly
I’m curious as to which pre made pizza crust you used? Will any work? I’m not against making my own, but for last minute dessert ideas with no time to mix up some dough, this is a very handy tip. Thank you for the recipe and the advice. 🙂
Brett Bowlin
Made this for my Son by request for his 17th birthday. The dough (actually all of it) was incredibly easy to prepare and didn’t even have to break out the KitchenAid lol. A dough whisk made short work of the pizza dough and the whipped cream sauce. Sam, thanks so much for this, my son loved it as did the Missus.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that everyone enjoyed the pizza, Brett! Thank you for trying my recipe and for taking the time to leave a review. I appreciate it! 🙂
Liz
Our family loved this – what a treat! The next day, we warmed up the leftover pieces in the air fryer: 350 degrees for about 3 minutes. And I just have to say, I don’t know where you find the time to do all this, but I’m really glad you do 🙂 Your site is always the first one I go to when I’m looking for something new to make.
Sam
Thank you so much, Liz! I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! I bet warming it in an air fryer was awesome. I will have to give it a try some time (if I can ever keep my husband from eating the whole thing!) 🤣 🙂
Katie
Can I make this and leave it in dough form overnight in the fridge before baking?
Sam
The dough may continue to rise in the refrigerator overnight, but you should be able to punch it down and use it. I haven’t tried it to know for sure how it could potentially change the texture of the crust though.