Apple Cinnamon Streusel Dessert Pizza

Second week of December and the apartment is the most Christmas it has ever been. Ryan strung lights on the balcony again and inside too, and I got a small tree this year — we did not have one during the pandemic year because neither of us had the energy — and decorated it with the specific chaos of two people who have different aesthetics but neither of us is decorating alone. There are more lights than is probably necessary. It is perfect.

I made a pan of cinnamon rolls for a teacher gathering this week — the full from-scratch version, enriched dough, butter and brown sugar filling, cream cheese icing. I made them Tuesday evening and brought them to school Wednesday morning still slightly warm. My co-teacher said she needs these to happen more often. I said they are a school year treat, not a pandemic-survival-daily necessity. She said I missed them. I said I know. The pandemic year of daily baking was a particular thing and it has passed.

Kristin and David came over for dinner Saturday. I made the cassoulet — the simplified version with duck legs and Italian sausage and white beans — and David asked for the recipe and then started asking detailed questions about the texture of the beans and whether I had confit the duck myself, which is a question I did not expect, and we spent forty-five minutes talking about French cooking, which is the conversation I did not know I wanted to have on a December Saturday but enjoyed enormously. David is, as Kristin has apparently decided, the correct person for her, and the evidence in my kitchen on Saturday confirmed this.

Three weeks until January. I have not said it on the blog and will not say it — it is too private to share until there is something to share — but I will say here to future me: we are ready. We are going. We have been building toward this the whole year and we are ready.

The cassoulet carried the evening, but a dinner that ends forty-five minutes deep in a conversation about duck confit deserves a dessert that keeps the warmth going. I had this apple cinnamon streusel dessert pizza on the counter when we finally came up for air, and it was the right call — sweet and a little indulgent, with that same cinnamon energy I had been channeling all week from the school rolls, but dressed up for a Saturday night in December with the people who make a small apartment feel like plenty of room.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 18 minutes | Total Time: 38 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 pre-made or homemade pizza dough (about 12 oz), at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (Honeycrisp or Granny Smith)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2–3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a large round pizza pan or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Prepare the apples. Toss the sliced apples with granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Set aside to macerate while you prepare the dough and streusel.
Make the streusel. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the cold butter cubes and use your fingertips to work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse, clumpy crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Shape the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll or stretch the pizza dough into a 12-inch round. Transfer to the prepared pan. Brush the surface evenly with the melted butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge.
Add the apples. Arrange the apple slices over the buttered dough in a single, slightly overlapping layer. Pour any accumulated juices from the bowl over the apples.
Top with streusel. Scatter the streusel topping evenly over the apples, covering generously.
Bake. Bake for 16–18 minutes, until the crust is golden on the edges and the streusel is set and lightly browned. Let rest on the pan for 5 minutes before glazing.
Make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla until smooth and pourable. Drizzle over the warm pizza in a back-and-forth pattern. Slice into wedges and serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Apple Cinnamon Streusel Dessert Pizza — The Sweet That Started a Conversation