Pretzel Crust Pizza
Is it a pretzel or a pizza? It’s both! This Pretzel Crust Pizza is the
perfect weekend meal for watching the big game!
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A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were having some friends over to watch football, and I decided to whip up a quick batch of these Classic Soft Pretzels. We may not be at the game, but we like to pretend that we are with tasty soft pretzels! As I was rolling out the dough, I got an idea. An awful idea! A wonderful, awful idea! Wait…that was the Grinch. But I still had a wonderful idea. What if I took that same pretzel dough, but turned it into a pizza instead?
I couldn’t get this Pretzel Crust Pizza idea out of my head. I’d lay in bed at night thinking about it. Then I’d wake up the next morning with a strange craving for pretzels…and pizza. So I figured I needed to give this Pretzel Crust Pizza idea a shot. And you know what? It worked like a charm!
Once baked, the crust of the pizza turned a beautiful golden brown color. Add in the coarse salt, and the crust was just like eating a soft pretzel. Talk about the ultimate football food…pizza + pretzel for the win!
As I’ve mentioned many times before, I’m a huge college football fan. Most of the games are on Saturday nights, and we have a tradition in our house of making homemade pizza and watching the LSU game. That pizza dough is a tried and true version, and we absolutely love it. We actually prefer it over ordering a pizza from one of the many, many, many pizza shops here in upstate New York. (Did I say many? Sometimes I think we have about 1 pizza shop for every 5 people that live in the area!) We look forward to pizza night in our house, so I was pretty hesitant to try an entirely new type of dough.
This Pretzel Crust Pizza was indeed tasty, and it was a fun twist on the classic dough. Truthfully, I think I still prefer our standard pizza dough, but the Pretzel Pizza was delicious! Our regular pizza dough takes several hours to rise, so it requires some advance planning. This pizza dough is ready in about 45 minutes. The timing (plus that delicious pretzel crust) makes this dough a keeper for when we want pizza on short notice!
Here’s a couple of tips that I picked up for making this Pretzel Crust Pizza:
• Have you ever wondered what makes pretzels turn that deep golden brown color? It’s the baking soda solution that gets added right before the pretzels go into the oven. But here’s the thing: that baking soda solution also causes the dough to stick adhere permanently to parchment paper as it bakes. You’ll need to brush the crust of the pizza with this baking soda solution, but take care that you don’t let the water drip down the crust and onto the parchment paper. Otherwise, your pizza will have some uh, extra fiber in it thanks to the paper.
• Make sure to spray the parchment paper with non-stick spray and generously dust it with cornmeal. As noted above, this helps make sure your pizza comes off the parchment paper as expected. Trust me on this one. I’ve ruined several batches of pretzels in the past because I forgot to prepare the parchment paper. Don’t worry–I still ate those pretzels. I just had to slice off the bottom layer thanks to the paper.
All in all, this Pretzel Crust Pizza is definitely a fun Saturday night dinner…especially when you are curled up on the couch watching your favorite team win! Geaux Tigers!
Pretzel Pizza Dough
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 3 tsp active dry yeast
- 1¼ cups warm water
For the Baking Soda Solution
- ¼ cup boiling water
- ½ Tbsp baking soda
Toppings
- 1½ cups pizza sauce
- 1½ cups mozzarella cheese
- Favorite Pizza Toppings
For the Crust
- 2-3 tsp coarse salt
- 1 Tbsp butter melted (optional)
Instructions
- Using a countertop mixer with the dough hook attached, combine all of the dough ingredients (flour, salt, brown sugar, yeast, and warm water). Mix on medium speed for 6 minutes.
- Transfer dough to an oiled bowl. Cover and place in a warm (85°F) location for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the Baking Soda Solution by combining the boiling water with the baking soda. Mix until baking soda is fully dissolved, and set aside to cool.
- Once risen, transfer dough to a well-floured countertop. Press it into a large square and then fold dough over itself several times like an envelope. Allow dough to rest uncovered for 5 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Using a rolling pin, shape the dough into a large (15-16”) circle. Spray a piece of parchment paper with non-stick baking spray. Generously dust the top of the parchment with cornmeal. Place the pizza dough on top of the cornmeal-dusted parchment paper. (Note: It is very important to spray and dust the paper with cornmeal. Otherwise, the crust will become stuck to the paper once baked!)
- Add the pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and favorite pizza toppings.
- Brush the top of the crust with the Baking Soda Solution. (Note: Use caution to keep Baking Soda Solution from dripping down and touching the parchment paper. If it does, the crust will stick to the paper as it bakes.)
- Sprinkle the coarse salt evenly around the crust.
- Bake at 450°F for 11-13 minutes, or until cheese has fully melted and crust is golden brown.
- Remove pizza from oven and brush crust with melted butter (optional).
Whhaaatt?! I thought my love for soft pretzels stopped with those huge ones you get at the ballpark but now I want nothing more than a soft pretzel pizza!!! What a genius idea! A natural pairing if ever there was one, and I’m pretty sure this would be hit at any football party!
Thanks, Lindsey! I totally stumbled on this idea by mistake, but it was fun…and perfect for football! Is is the weekend yet?? 🙂
I absolutely love the thought of munching on this pizza during the next Packers game. Unfortunately, yeast hates me, so I’m left with no other option but to beg and grovel for you to make and hand deliver me one of these amazing pizzas! Please and thank you 🙂
Yeast hates you? I don’t believe that! You can totally make this pizza with your skills in the kitchen, Chef Bec!! But I’ll be happy to make up a pizza for you and bring it over…it just might be a little cold by the time it gets there. Haha! Happy Friday!
Yes, hello! I’d like to place an order for delivery!! How long until I have have this fabulousness at my door?
(Waiting and drooooling!)
Well, it is Saturday afternoon, ma’am, so we’re pretty busy at the moment. But we should be able to get a pie out to you in about 35 minutes. What toppings would you like? (Thanks, Lyuba!!)
This looks amazing! Great recipe idea!
Thanks, Jess! Isn’t pizza night the best?? 🙂
Words cannot describe how much I am craving a slice of this pizza right now. It looks so cheesey, comforting and of course delicious. Thanks for the great recipe, you can definitely consider that i will be recreating it!
Haha…thanks, Thalia! There’s something about the weekend and just craving pizza. It’s like the ultimate comfort food! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 🙂
This looks amazing!! Love that crust…to die for.
Thank you so much, Rachel! There’s just something about pizza…I can’t ever get enough!!
I love making pizza! My family loves eating it. I saw a pretzel crust on a commercial for Little Caesars and HAD to try it. Tasty but not great. It is an amazing idea but would be so much better homemade. I just didn’t know where to start and couldn’t find any recipes online as of 3 weeks ago. I just saw yours on Pinterest and cannot wait to try it!! Thank you so much. I was not brave enough to make it on my own without a recipe. My 5 littles will love this!
Hey Candace! Wow…I had no idea Little Caesar’s had a pretzel crust pizza. Now that I think about it, I don’t think we have Little Caesar’s up here in upstate New York. (I remember them from when I lived in Atlanta, though.) I’m really glad you stumbled across this recipe…it’s a fun one! The only tricky part is just making sure to use enough cornmeal on the parchment paper and also making sure the baking soda solution does not drip off the crust and onto the paper. If it does, just wipe it up before baking…the baking soda solution will cause your crust to become one with the paper if you don’t! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did…and thank you for commenting! 🙂
Thank you David for a delicious and easy recipe! I too saw the Little Caesar’s pretzel pizza commercial and wanted to make one right away. I googled pretzel crust recipe and came upon your recipe. I used a pizza stone with a generous dusting of cornmeal and had absolutely no problem with the crust sticking. The whole family really enjoyed this, thanks again!
Wow, thank you so much for commenting, Heidi! We make a ‘regular’ pizza almost every weekend, but this Pretzel Crust Pizza is a fun way to mix it up. I’m glad you and your family enjoyed it, too…that’s the most important part!! 🙂
This sounds wonderful, but I’m very curious about your usual pizza crust recipe. I have liked you on FB; now is there a way to get that recipe? I have tried dozens and, for a home oven and even with a stone, I’ve never found one that I would say was better than anything I can buy from a pizza place. I would love to try out one more-the one you swear by! On the other hand, I have one that works great on the grill, but seasonally there’s not much chance to use that one where I live. Thanks for your help!
Thank you so much, Elaine!! I really, really appreciate your support of my site. Awesome readers like you are the best part about writing a foodie blog! My “go-to” pizza dough recipe is probably my single favorite recipe ever. Ok, maybe it’s a little difficult to pick out a single recipe…but that pizza dough is right up there at the top of the list. It does require some time (I start it the night before), but honestly it’s not that bad once you make it a couple of times. Here is the link to that post: http://spicedblog.com/how-to-make-the-perfect-rustic-homemade-pizza-dough.html
We make that pizza dough almost every Saturday night and watch a movie or a football game. A pizza stone is super helpful, and it’s good that you already have that. Make sure to let that stone heat up for at least 20 minutes or more before putting the pizza on it. I hope you get a chance to give this dough a shot…and please do come back and let me know what you think about it. I’d love to hear! And if it isn’t perfect, I’d love to help you troubleshoot it until it is. It’s one of my favorites…can you tell??
This was seriously the best pizza I have eaten in years. Whoop Whoop MCL
Wow…thank you so much, Sean! I’m really glad you enjoyed this pizza…and I appreciate you coming back to let me know, too. Cheers!
Thank you, David-I fully intend to try out both your recipes soon! Starting the night before is no problem (as long as I remember)-I know the best bread is started that way too and I love making homemade bread. Now I just need to subscribe to your blog so I don’t miss your other terrific recipes!
Awesome! Thank you so much, Elaine. My wife and I were just talking this morning about how we are looking forward to one of “our pizza” nights this weekend. I hope you enjoy…and don’t hesitate to comment or ask questions if there is anything I can help with! 🙂
I literally have one in the oven right now. It’s become a pizza staple in my house. Thank you so much; this is perfect for when we’re sick of pizza but still actually want pizza lol
Hey there, Nikki! Thank you so much for stopping and commenting…I really, really appreciate it. 🙂 This pizza really is quite tasty. And you’re right…it’s a fun way to mix up pizza night, but still have pizza. I’m so glad you and the family enjoy it! Hope dinner last night was delicious!!
I’ve made this recipe several times with great results. However this last time it wasn’t as good. I hadn’t made it in a few months and was reading the recipe. You have active dry yeast and not instant. Is that a typo? I used active dry and dumped all ingredients together, but I had a gritty texture as I ended my proof. I think this recipe needs instant yeast instead.? Please advise and change if needed. I will keep this recipe however since it does work so well even with my misshap.
Hey Heidi! I’m really glad you enjoy this recipe – it is a unique one for sure. 🙂 However, I’m not sure why things went differently the last time you made this. I pretty much only use active dry yeast when I’m baking, so it’s not a typo in the recipe. I stumbled across this article several years ago from King Arthur (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2015/09/25/active-dry-yeast), and it’s a good overview of active dry yeast and how it’s changed over the years.
Without being there in your kitchen, it’s hard to troubleshoot what might have happened this last time – is the yeast expired by chance? There’s a chance that could cause the grittiness. Also, if the air outside (and inside) is very dry, you might need to adjust by adding a tiny bit more water – there’s a chance that the dough might have needed more liquid. Hard to guess! Just things to think about for next time! 🙂