Garlic Bread Pizza
ShareChange up pizza night with this recipe for garlic bread pizza. All of the flavor you want from garlic bread, but in the most amazing pizza. The dough and multiple varieties of cheese are key to this delicious recipe.
Do you have a standard pizza night in your house or do you just wing it and get take-out or make homemade whenever the mood strikes? For a while I was trying to stick to Friday night pizza, a fun way to end the week and kick off the weekend but it doesn’t always happen that way. I did however make this last Friday and holy moly did I want to share it with you right then and there, but no… it had to wait. I’m a food tease like that I guess. Then again, any food blogger that’s on Instagram is!
Okay, so I have a major problem with pizza. And I don’t mean because I’m obsessed with it. I mean because there is zero consistency when you get it from the local pizza place. One week it could be amazing and greasy just how you hope and the next it’s over cooked and doesn’t have nearly enough cheese. Sigh. My standards for pizza are kind of high. That brings me to this… I truly have come to hate take-out pizza. I love it for it’s convenience but the unknown drives me bonkers! We honestly only get take-out for it’s convenience and our laziness… and let’s be honest – for the mozzarella sticks because when those are good, wow are they good. Hot, cheesy and greasy – just how they should be!
But no… I’m going to do my best to avoid getting take-out pizza because it’s SO ridiculously easy to make. Honestly, if you don’t think you have time to whip up dough for a specific night, it’s completely okay to make it the night before and let it sit in the fridge. Seriously! Or make a few batches and freeze them to thaw whenever your heart desires.
This dough is super easy to whip up and the final results are out of this world amazing. No, I’m not kidding. It’s like garlic bread and pizza all wrapped into one heavenly slice. Seasoned dough, garlic infused butter and the multiple varieties of cheese absolutely make this pizza what it is.
Do not under any circumstance skimp on the butter, garlic or cheese. You’ll regret it. If you want your pizza, this pizza or any pizza, to be taken to the next level – you absolutely positively must use whole milk mozzarella cheese. I’ve always grabbed what was easiest – the pre-shredded stuff you can find in the store. Only my store stinks so my options are limited. While skim milk mozzarella isn’t awful, heck that’s what we’ve been using for ages and have loved it, whole milk will change your world. No joke.
One last note, or maybe two… this dough isn’t like your standard pizza dough. It’s slightly more bread like, a bit more dense but totally scrumptious. Also, if you happen to have leftovers, reheat this in the oven for 5-10 minutes. It’s doubly amazing the second go-round. Never ever ever will I (or you too hopefully!) microwave leftovers again.Â
Garlic Bread Pizza
Ingredients
Dough ingredients:
- 1 C warm water 115-120 degrees
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 1 package
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 - 3 C all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp basil
Topping ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese finely grated
- Pizza sauce
- 8-10 oz freshly shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese
- Desired additional toppings such as pepperoni, peppers etc.
Instructions
- In a medium measuring cup, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water, allowing to proof.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together 2 1/2 cup flour and remaining dry dough ingredients. When yeast mixture has activated and proofed, turn mixer on low and slowly add yeast mixture to the bowl. Mix until a smooth ball forms, adding additional flour as needed. Transfer dough to a large lightly greased bowl, flip dough once to coat in oil. Cover and allow to rise for one hour or doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- In a small bowl, melt butter with minced garlic.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet. Shape dough to desired size and shape. Brush dough lightly with butter. Bake for 5 minutes.
- Add toppings as desired: sauce, cheese, pepperoni, etc. Brush outside crust liberally with butter and minced garlic. Immediately sprinkle edge crust with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is lightly golden.
- Slice and serve.
- Store leftovers covered and chilled. Reheat as desired.
Notes
Other must try pizza recipes:
- Buffalo chicken Pizza
- English muffin pizzas
- Italian sausage and pepper pizza
- Carnitas pizza
- Breakfast pizza
- Bacon and barbecue chicken pizza
- Cajun chicken pizza
YUM! I love homemade pizza, we normally have it on saturdays. I do have to say though, I never had truly amazing pizza until I moved to NJ. I love my home state of NH but man is the pizza terrible there.
Well, I’m no craving pizza at 7:30am…. such great pics!
We have pizza on Friday’s or Saturdays. Usually homemade or Semi homemade as I often buy the dough. I love the added garlic powder in your dough. That sounds super yummy.
YES! whole milk mozz – has it changed your life?? :)
Yes! It makes all the difference.
We love homemade pizza night. In fact, I think you just helped me decide what is for dinner tonight. I love this!
This sounds to. die. for. I am always trying new pizza dough recipes, so I am definitely going to give this a try – hopefully this weekend! Oh, and so agree with you on the whole milk mozzarella… it is a MUST!
Saturdays is our pizza day…usually every other week or so. My family is going to be so surprised when I’m like, “Boom! Garlic bread pizza, y’all!”
Love the addition of garlic powder and basil to the dough…great idea! I prefer mozerella on pizza but my eldest will only wants yellow cheese on his pizza when I make it…so I’ve been using marble cheddar to make him happy :)
I love greasy, extra cheesy pizza…and garlic bread! This sounds sooo perfect right now!
That garlic pizza dough looks AMAZING Rachel. I really shouldn’t be reading this as I am starving for lunch right now and have to wait 1 hour!!!!!
All the cheese and the garlic! I am in heaven. And now I want pizza. Ok let’s be honest I ALWAYS want pizza!!
I make pizza every week ! I love experimenting ! I’ve done deep dish , pizza in a waffle maker, polenta pizza… It’s such an easy and delightful meal ! As this looks wonderful !
This sounds awesome but what is the proper flour amount please? The recipe says 1 cup of flour but then the narrative mentions 2-1/2 cups, so what should we begin with?
Sorry, just a typo :) 2 1/2 – 3 cups is the correct amount.
I’ve tried this dough from How Sweet it is too and it is freaking amazing! It is just like the pizza dough from where I were to college (a place called in Hounddogs in Columbus, OH).
This is the stuff my dreams are made of.
We love pizza night! We usually shoot for Fridays or Saturdays. I am definitely going to be making this soon for pizza night. Looks amazing!
Wow this is really the best of both worlds….garlic bread AND pizza! Swoon….
I love homemade pizza! It’s the best because you can truly make it the way you want it without the additional cost.
I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for a while now, but have never gotten around to trying it. Hearing how much you love it makes me want to run into the kitchen and make it pronto! That looks like the best Pepperoni Pizza ever!
That looks so good! Way better than take out. :)
Spencer got pizza from Pizza Hut last night and it was so disappointing. I’d so rather have this.
Garlic, butter and cheese?? Count me in!!
Imagining the smell of that pizza and looking at your fantastic photos, is making me very hungry…specifically for garlic bread pizza! Thanks for the recipe. :)
This sounds out-of-this-world amazing!! We used to have homemade pizza once a week but I can’t remember the last time we did it. Long overdue for sure! And I totally agree – whole milk, freshly shredded mozzarella is where it’s at!
Gorgeous pizza, Rachel! I don’t eat garlic but I can appreciate this fabulous dough and all that cheese! Beautiful!
I am thinking fridays should be pizza night from here on out because this recipe looks good enough to have everyday.
Reheat your pizza in the toaster oven. faster, more convenient then the big oven, and SO MUCH BETTER then the microwave. If you don’t have one, consider Breville’s SmartOven! :) Its changed our lives!
Dear Rachel-
Please come to my house and make 14 of these pizzas for me???
Always-
JanetFCTC
That’s a lot of pizza ;)
Homemade pizza all the way! This looks so yummy!
Pizza is a big topic in our house. My dad has owned a pizzeria since I was 4 years old & it was & still is my (& my husbands) absolute favorite. Sad though, once I grew up & got married we live an hour away. Even sadder (not 100% true) is that he finally sold his pizzeria last year. We can’t get any take out pizza near us that we love, though we’ve settled to really enjoy a couple, but only eat in.
So you would think I would have learned how to make pizza like my dad by now??? I’ve actually done well with store bought pizza dough, but I can not for the life of me figure out why I keep messing up making dough at home. It’s incredibly frustrating!! Lol.
Your pizza is making my mouth water. It looks perfect. And I totally agree you have shred your own cheese! :)
Oh wow! You totally need to have your dad teach you his tips and tricks… and then you can share with the rest of us lol ;) teasing… sorta. I’ve kind of always wanted to toss a pizza but I know I’d make a huge mess if I did that at home.
I love take-out! :) We only ever got it from Pizza Hut and it was always perfect. At least for me. Pizza is pizza, right? Well, it wasn’t for my parents. They seemed to be on your side. And over here in Germany, the pizza just isn’t the same so we have pizza night every week. Fun! I love trying new crust recipes but I’ve never tried garlic bread crust. I have to do that!
Pizza Hut is absolutely always the same. I think it’s because they have specific measurements they have to use or something? Living in a tiny town we’re limited to mom & pop places which sadly… when you get the wrong high school kid making your pizza, it isn’t as good as the other kid.
Oh, I see. Well, I hope your town gets a Pizza Hut at some point. :)
Okay, so I made this today and it was amazing! The garlic butter adds so much flavor to the crust it’s amazing. I now want to put garlic butter on everything! And we loved the doughy crust. We’ve had a lot of thin crust pizzas lately and this was a very welcome change. :) I’ll definitely make it again!
Yay! So glad to hear you liked it. And yes – the garlic butter definitely changes the pizza. It’s a nice change of pace. :)
Looks PERFECT! I might forget that tomato sauce and just keep it buttery garlic on the bottom. I wonder how that would be?! Mmmm
That’s actually how I eat all of my pizza! Well, not garlic butter but just without sauce. ;) You may find you’ll want to add more butter and or cheese if opting to not use sauce.
Whoa. I might actually veer from the BBQ Bacon Pizza for this one. Because this looks oh so good. Is it pizza night yet?
I really wanted it to be pizza night tonight!
We just made this for dinner and it was the best pizza I’ve ever had. Thank you so much!!
How do you store and thaw the frozen dough?
I freeze balls of dough in a plastic bag, with the air squeezed out as much as possible. Thaw in the refrigerator.
What a PERFECT PIZZA!