Deep Dish Jalapeno Popper Pizza with Candied Bacon
With a crisp and soft deep homemade deep dish crust, this Jalapeno Popper Pizza with Candied Bacon is inspired by everyone’s favorite party snack. Topped with gooey cream cheese, spicy jalapenos, and sweet candied bacon, this deep dish pizza is perfect for snacking or dinner.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
No-Knead Deep Dish Pizza Dough
- 2 ½ cups bread flour + extra for sprinkling
- 2 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp ground chipotle pepper
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 2 tsp olive oil + extra for drizzling
- 1 cup + 3-4 tbs warm water
Jalapeno Popper Pizza with Candied Bacon
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup pepper jack cheese (shredded)
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
- 4 strips candied bacon (see recipe link in notes)
- 1 - 2 jalapenos (thinly sliced, seeds and membranes removed if desired)
Instructions
- About 8 – 24 hours before you are ready to eat, make the dough by combining dry ingredients in a very large bowl and stirring to combine. The bowl should be at least 4 – 6 times the volume of the dough to allow for rising. Add 2 tsp olive oil and water to dry ingredients and stir with hands or a wooden spoon. Stir until no dry flour remains, the dough should be somewhat wet, you may need a little more or less water.
- Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature (no hotter than 75°) for at least 8 hours, up to 24. After resting, the dough should rise dramatically. It will also look pretty wet and sticky on top, that is OK.
- Sprinkle flour liberally over your work surface and hands, then transfer dough on to surface. Divide the dough into 2 even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, by gently tucking the dough underneath itself and rotating until it forms a tight ball.
- Pour 1 – 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the center of a 10 inch cast iron skillet or round cake pan (see note), and add one ball of dough to skillet. Use a flat palm to gently press the dough into the pan, flattening it slightly. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature an additional 2 hours. See note for saving the remaining ball of dough.
- About 15 – 30 minutes before dough is done resting, preheat oven to 550° (If your oven does not get that hot, set it to the highest temperature. You may need to adjust cooking time slightly).
- After 2 hours, the dough should be mostly filling up the pan to the edges. Using your fingertips, press the dough around the pan until it fills to the edges. Pop any large air bubbles that you see, careful not to poke all of the way through the dough. If necessary, lift the edges of the dough to let out any air bubbles that are trapped underneath.
- Microwave cream cheese about 15 - 30 seconds until it is hot and melted, this will make it easier to spread.
- With a spoon, spread cream cheese gently over the dough. Top with both shredded cheeses, thinly sliced jalapenos, and candied bacon.
- Bake on center rake in a preheated oven for 12 – 15 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is bubbly and hot. If the bottom of your pizza does not get quite crisp enough, you can set the cast iron pan on the stove over medium heat and cook for a couple of minutes, moving the pan around to ensure it doesn’t burn in one spot.
- Remove from pan, slice, and enjoy!
Notes
Here is the Candied Bacon Recipe. This can be made in advance, then refrigerate until ready to use.
This recipe works best in a 10 inch cast iron skillet as the skillet holds the high heat very well. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can use a 10 inch round cake pan, but the pizza may not end up quite as crisp – it should still be delicious.
This recipe makes enough dough for two deep dish pizzas. If you are only cooking one, you can transfer one ball of dough to a sealed zipper top bag or container. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for longer storage. When ready to cook the dough (thaw in refrigerator if frozen), then continue with the next step by adding it to the pan and letting it sit at room temp.
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