Chocolate Chip Pizza

First thing is first. You are going to need a giant chocolate chip cookie as the base of your chocolate chip pizza. To make this monster chocolate chip cookie you are going to need a round pizza pan or stone and some parchment paper. Both of these items will ensure optimal results. If you do not have the pan then you can purchase an inexpensive foil pizza pan at your local variety store and that should work nicely. But, you will still need the parchment paper.

Next, take the pizza pan and lay it on top of a large piece of parchment paper. Trace the pan, and then cut out the circle so that it will fit the pan perfectly. This is really important because you want the large chocolate chip cookie to slide off the pan beautifully and parchment paper is just the product. This is only necessary if you HAVE to transfer the cookie out of the pan. If you are going to dress the pizza and then cut and serve right out of the pan you can do without the parchment paper.

Then, take your batch of homemade chocolate chip cookie dough and spread it in a circle in the center of your pizza pan. Make sure you do not go all the way to the edges of the pan with the dough because you want to leave room for the cookie to spread out. Also, make sure that the circle of dough is uniformly thick. This chocolate chip pizza recipe is the best to use. Actually, any chocolate chip cookie dough will work even a premade store brand, but I cannot advocate that on this site now can I. ;o) Store bought dough is tasty and convenient for sure, but it does tend to spread quite a bit more than a homemade dough, making a thinner crispier cookie. Give this decadent dessert your homemade touch!

The key to perfectly baking your chocolate chip pizza is getting the time and temperature just right. For a big chocolate chip cookie like this one, the rule is low and slow. I find that a low 300 degrees for a slow 20-25 minutes is perfect. It is different than baking lots of little cookies because we are talking about a lot of dough in one area. Too fast and too hot will make a bad combination of crispy, doughy, burny. Yuck!

Pull it out when the edges are brown and let it sit on your pan for at least 5-10 minutes to set up and finish cooking some more. Then slide it off to a serving platter for dressing or get right to the cutting and eating!

The toppings are the fun part where you can let the confection imagination fly. Pick your favorite icing to spread on the cookie. Chocolate Ganache, Cream Cheese, Butter Cream, or whatever. Don't spread the icing all the way to the edges leaving a small cookie border. This is purely for aesthetic appeal. Top with:

• M&M's
• Coconut
• Crushed up Butterfingers
• Reese's Pieces
• Sprinkles
• More Chips of any flavor
• Gummy Candy
• Drizzle melted chocolate chips all over the icing and let set for a dramatic look.
• Fruit
• Possibilities only end with your limited imagination!