Garlic Bread Pizza Crust.

So listen to what’s been happening to me lately.

I’ve been seriously craving the Pizza Hut dinner box. I mean… SERIOUSLY.

Yes, Pizza Hut. Please tell me you’ve seen it advertised.

Now I firmly believe that people in this world are cut from two cloths: those who love Pizza Hut, and those who hate it. I, unabashedly, adore it and have since I was a child. Which didn’t help my cause, considering alllll my family members – including that guy I’m now married to – decided that they would rather have the hometown pizza joint’s pizza instead of the mass chain produced pie almost every.single.freaking.time.

Okay. Whatever. I totally understand. Sometimes I want that too. I’m not saying that the hometown pizza isn’t delicious. It usually is. But Pizza Hut is, like… Pizza Hut. It’s always the same. And it’s comforting to know that if I order a pan pizza, I’m going to ingest one of the thickest but fluffiest but chewiest smothered-in-butter, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside crusts. And if I order a thin crust, I’m going to get super slim and crispy crust and pretend that I’m eating healthy pizza with extra cheese, which is delicious even if you have to eat six pieces just to feel full.

The fact is that I love food so much (I mean, like SO MUCH) that every singly solitary bite I put in my mouth? I want it to be fabulous. I want to 100% love it. I want to live it. I want it to thrill me. And more often than not, I want it to make me feel good. No… great. Or amazing.

I am no where near a snob about my eats. It’s just that since we want to love, enjoy and FLIP OUT over nearly every bite we take? We spend time choosing what we will be eating during the week, especially if it includes going out to a restaurant. Really? We just want to freaking love it. I want to remember it.

Hence why I’ve been suffering through each and every Pizza Hut dinner box commercial for about three weeks. Going out for a nice little date or getting a $10 dinner box? Easy delicious.

Actually, I’m lying. The real reason I’ve been suffering? Is, uh… because I was embarrassed to tell my husband that no, I really don’t want to go out for filet with lobster sauce or pear gorgonzola pizza. I’d rather sit here in my sweat pants and order the damn PIZZA HUT DINNER BOX! Food blog what?? I just caaaaaan’t stop thinking about how good it sounds.

But that all changed this week.

As we were hanging … the commercial came on and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I screamed “OMG I want that dinner box SO bad! I don’t know why, it just looks amazing. Pizza… breadsticks… CINNASTICKS! Ugh. I can’t even take it.”

But! But but but… he’s all “I KNOW! I’ve been craving it too. It looks so good. I want to dominate it with a liter of diet Mountain Dew. But I didn’t want to tell you because I love homemade pizza so much!”

Hmmmmm. Okay. Communication wins again.

So… we still haven’t ordered the Pizza Hut dinner box. I think we had full plans on doing so this weekend, but… but… then I made this. A few weeks ago while traveling, my husband had a garlic bread pizza crust and didn’t really stop talking about. I didn’t stop thinking about it. I increased my go-to dough recipe a bit for a thicker, fluffier crust, then covered every square inch with melted butter and garlic and even parmesan.

Absolutely

no

words.

Garlic Bread Pizza Crust

makes one pizza

1 1/8 cups warm water (100-105 degrees)

3 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, pressed or very finely minced

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, honey and olive oil. Mix with a spoon, then let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add in 2 1/2 cups flour, salt, garlic powder and dried basil, stirring with a spoon until the dough comes together but it still sticky. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball and work the additional 1/2 cup flour (you don’t need to use all if it is not needed) in to the dough, kneading it on a floured surface for a few minutes. Rub the same bowl with olive oil then place the dough inside, turning to coat. Cover with a towel and place in a warm place to rise for about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and place it back on the floured surface. Using a roll pin or your hands, form it into your desired shape (sometimes I use baking sheets and do rectangles or free form pizzas). Place the towel back over the dough and let sit in the warm place for 10 minutes. While the dough is rising again, melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Mix it with the garlic and 1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese.

Bring the dough back out and using a spoon or pastry brush, douse the outside edges with the butter and garlic mixture. You can spread the butter all over, just make sure to focus on the edges. Use it all up! Continue to make your pizza with your desired toppings. Bake the pizza for 23-25 minutes (or longer if needed, depending on your toppings), or until crust and cheese are both golden. While pizza is baking, melt remaining butter and combine with the last tablespoon of parmesan.

Remove pizza from over and immediately brush the outside edges with parmesan butter, using it all up. Sprinkle a bit of parmesan over top if desired. Serve!

Note: I realize that if you buy yeast in the packets, it can be a pain to measure 3 teaspoons. If you don’t want to do that, I suggest making a double recipe of this crust. However! I also prefer buying jars of yeast these days instead of packets, and just keeping it in the fridge, so I suggest doing that.

Yes. Really.