This pizza is CHEESY. It's savory, sweet, decadent, and an absolute crowd-pleaser. With the onion and the apple, it's higher fiber than your average pizza (though of course, this is fancy pizza) and it's packed with iron, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B6, folate, potassium, and manganese. This pizza has 12 grams of protein per serving (1/4 of the pizza) and 538 calories, so it's a little more protein dense than normal pizza and very nutrient-rich.

Make the Dough

Mix water, sugar, yeast, cream of tartar, and lemon juice in the bowl of a stand mixer and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add flour, oil, and salt and mix with a dough hook for 15 minutes. Cover and let rest for at least an hour.

Dough is kind of a fickle thing. Depending on the air in your house, the climate, the temperature, whether it's in the sun or not, or your altitude, it can turn out differently each time. So play it by ear. Though this ratio worked for me, you might need a little more water or a little more flour to make sure it's not too sticky to work with but not so tough that you can't shape it easily. You want to be able to shape it into a ball without leaving a massive seam in the dough, but you also need to be able to shape it without it sticking to everything it touches.

Caramelize the Onions and Make the Cheese Sauce

Punch down the dough, shape it into a smooth ball, cover it, and let rest again. While the dough rests, preheat the oven to 450f and then add the butter, onions, and honey to a pot over medium heat and allow to cook until the onions are golden brown, stirring regularly. Add the bouillon cube, milk, and cream cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and the cube is dissolved.

The secret to the magical flavor of this pizza is all in the combination. Slowly cooking the onions over low heat allows their natural sugars to caramelize, resulting in a sweet and rich flavor. This process takes a lot of time normally, but there are ways to speed it up. I add a touch of honey while cooking to enhance the sweetness and caramelize the onions much quicker. This cooking technique brings out the depth of flavors quickly. Once you add in the decadent cream cheese you have the perfect flavor balance.

Prep the Apple

Core and quarter your apple, then use a mandolin (with knife-safe gloves) to slice it

I recommend cutting this apple super thin, which is why a mandolin is so helpful here. Always use knife-safe gloves, and slice the quartered apple into thin pieces. You can do this step by hand, but it will be less uniform, and take a lot more time.

Assemble the Pizza

Once the dough has had another 30 minutes of rest since it was punched down, begin to stretch into a disc. Lay that onto a lined baking sheet or a pizza stone, and top with cheese sauce, apples, and rosemary if desired. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drizzle with hot honey to serve.

You can stretch the pizza by hand for a more rustic look, or you can start it by rolling it out with a rolling pin. Both are fine and sometimes using a rolling pin can speed up the process, especially if your dough ended up a little less hydrated. I like to arrange the apples in a spiral for aesthetic purposes, and then sprinkle the pizza with rosemary. I always drizzle this with hot honey to serve, it just adds so much more flavor.

Cheesy Caramelized Onion and Apple Pizza Recipe

Download the recipe here

Servings: 4

Active time: 30 minutes

Total time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup warm water
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 small apple or 1/2 large apple
• Rosemary (optional)
• Hot honey (optional)

Method:

1. Mix water, sugar, yeast, cream of tartar, and lemon juice in the bowl of a stand mixer and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add flour, oil, and salt and mix with a dough hook for 15 minutes. Cover and let rest for at least an hour.
2. Punch down the dough, shape it into a smooth ball, cover it, and let rest again. While the dough rests, preheat the oven to 450°F.
3. In a pot over medium heat, add the butter, onions, and honey. Allow to cook until the onions are golden brown, stirring regularly.
4. Add the bouillon cube, milk, and cream cheese to the pot. Stir until the cheese is melted and the cube is dissolved.
5. Core and quarter your apple. Use a mandolin (with knife-safe gloves) to slice it.
6. Once the dough has had another 30 minutes of rest since it was punched down, begin to stretch it into a disc. Lay that onto a lined baking sheet or a pizza stone.
7. Top the dough with cheese sauce, apple slices, and rosemary if desired.
8. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drizzle with hot honey to serve.

See Nutrition Info

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	538
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 29g	37%
Saturated Fat 15.3g	77%
Cholesterol 71mg	24%
Sodium 645mg	28%
Total Carbohydrate 59.4g	22%
Dietary Fiber 4.1g	15%
Total Sugars 11.2g
Protein 11.6g
Vitamin D 2mcg	10%
Calcium 88mg	7%
Iron 4mg	21%
Potassium 354mg	8%

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About the Author

Hi! I'm Alexandra, and I've been cooking and baking for about 12 years. My passion is making cheap, convenient, nutrient-dense food that still tastes amazing, and helping to perpetuate healthy eating habits without perpetuating diet culture. I want you to find recipes that make your body and your heart happy, without putting any food off limits, or making you feel guilty for loving delicious things.

By Alexandra Massengale