Printer-friendly versionNutella pizza is one of the most delicious things in this world. Dessert pizza is incredibly easy to make, too, with just pizza dough, nutella, and a few other fun toppings. And I have a secret ingredient to take your Nutella dessert pizzas from just good to AMAZING.
Every time we host a pizza night with the wood fired pizza oven I built in our backyard (while I was pregnant!--I nest with power tools), I have to make our dessert pizza to end the meal. HAVE to. Seriously, one time I had a different dessert planned, and some of the guests rebelled and went to the grocery store in the middle of the party to get me the ingredients I need to make the chocolate pizza. It really is that good, and I've never tried to get away with a different dessert again.
I also tried a new variation on our chocolate pizza recipe--this time a chocolate strawberry pizza. Oh yeah, this is worth repeating, too. I'll share both recipes with you in this blog post.
What Pizza Dough Should I Use for Dessert Pizza?
- Just use your favorite regular pizza dough recipe! I use a classic Neapolitan pizza dough recipe because I'm cooking in my wood-fired pizza oven. But if you already have a favorite pizza dough recipe, trust me, it'll work. The toppings make this dessert pizza plenty sweet, and the more neutral, slightly salty crust actually is the perfect contrast to the sugary toppings.
Can I use Store Bought Pizza Dough for Dessert Pizza?
- Heck yeah! Buy from your local pizzaria, or Trader Joe's, or your grocery store if you don't want to go to the effort or have the time to make your own pizza dough. It'll be great, I promise!
This is our classic chocolate pizza, the one that the guests rose up and brandished their pitchforks (ok, just their forks) and demanded. It doesn't look pretty (good thing our pizza parties are pretty much at night in dim, romantic light?), but holy cow, it is SO GOOD. It looks burnt, but I swear it's not. That right there tastes like pure heaven.
Nutella Pizza
- pizza dough (here's my favorite Neapolitan pizza dough recipe)
- Nutella (chocolate hazlenut spread)
- brown sugar
- mascarpone cheese (a slightly sweet Italian cream cheese)
By the time we get around to making the dessert pizzas, the oven has cooled down a bit, maybe to 700-800 degrees or so. Still above normal home oven temperatures, so to make this without a WFO, crank up that oven as hot as it'll get and use a pizza stone.
Stretch out the pizza dough, just as you usually would for a normal pizza. I use exactly the same pizza dough as I do for our dinner pizzas, not a special sweet dough.
Spread a layer of Nutella on the pizza dough.
Dot the Nutella covered pizza dough with dollops of mascarpone cheese. Don't try to spread it around, just drop it on in blobs. Sweetened cream cheese will not be as good, trust me. Find the mascarpone.
Sprinkle brown sugar liberally on top of the entire pizza and bake. In my wood fired oven, that takes 90 seconds to two minutes, tops. In a home oven that doesn't get so hot, you'll have to experiment a bit to learn what works for you. I'd start checking around 6 minutes at the highest heat you can get.
The brown sugar caramelizes into this amazing, magical crunchy (but delicate) element on top of the pizza. If, in your home oven, the brown sugar hasn't turned into that crunchy layer, put the pizza under the broiler for a minute or so.
The mascarpone provides a creamy, more smooth texture. And the Nutella--well, all the Nutella has to do is be Nutella to be awesome. It all combines to create something absolutely amazing and delicious.
Strawberry Dessert Pizza:
- pizza dough (Again, just use your favorite regular pizza dough)
- Nutella (chocolate hazlenut spread)
- brown sugar
- fresh strawberries, sliced
The procedure is the same as above, except sub sliced strawberries for the mascarpone cheese.
I originally wanted to experiment with a strawberries and cream type pizza instead of strawberries and chocolate, but my clotted cream had turned more into cheese, and I just didn't quite trust it. Still, I can't get the idea out of my head, so expect more experiments to come!
Other Nutella Pizza Topping Ideas:
- marshmallows and crushed graham crackers for a S'Mores Pizza
- marshmallows and peanuts for a Rocky Road Pizza
- spread with peanut butter and nutella and top with Reese's Pieces for a Chocolate and Peanut Butter Dessert Pizza
- white chocolate chips for a black and white pizza
- drizzle with caramel and sprinkle with pecans for a Chocolate Caramel Turtle Pizza
With any of these dessert pizza ideas, I'd definitely still use the brown sugar. That's the magic ingredient that takes a delicious Nutella pizza to an utterly amazing one.
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