Candy Cane Pizza is a fun and easy holiday spin on a Pepperoni Pizza.
Using pizza dough, pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, you can easily create a festive candy cane-shaped pizza. It is sure to bring a smile to anyone's face!
I love to add festive spins to simple recipes to bring joy to the holidays. From Reindeer Pretzels to Santa Pancakes to this Candy Cane Pizza, these Christmas recipes prove you don't have to be crafty or have a lot of time on your hand your hands to have a little fun in the kitchen during the holidays.
While I love to play with my food around the holidays, I can't take credit for this Candy Cane Pizza. It was created by kids.
Many years ago, I came down with pneumonia right before Christmas and I was much too weak to make my family our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of Baked Meatballs, Caesar Salad, and Garlic Toast. I was so afraid that my kids, who were just 3 and 7 at the time, would be disappointed.
Instead, my two little elves rolled up their sleeves and asked their dad to help them make pizza on Christmas Eve.
Instead of just making a regular pizza, they decided to shape the pizza into a candy-cane shape and add pepperoni as the candy cane stripes.
It was a hit for them and a precious memory for me. And now we make a Candy Cane Pizza nearly every Friday night in December.
It is the perfect, yet EASY, way to dress up pizza night to make something incredibly fun and festive. And obviously, it is a great recipe for the kids to help with!
Notes on Ingredients
- Pizza Dough: For this recipe, you will need 1 pound of pizza dough. Use your favorite store-bought or homemade pizza dough.
- Pizza Sauce: Use your favorite store-bought or homemade pizza sauce.
- Cheese: Use shredded mozzarella or an Italian blend of cheese. If you are dairy-free, you can use your favorite vegan mozzarella cheese.
- Pepperoni: I prefer to use pepperoni to use to create the red stripes candy canes are known for. If you don't care for pepperoni, use diced red peppers or you can use additional pizza sauce as the stripes. If using pizza sauce as the stripes, I would recommend waiting until AFTER the pizza has been baked for the best presentation.
How to Make Candy Cane Pizza
- Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
- Shape the dough into a candy cane shape. For this particular shape, I have found using your hands works better than a rolling pin.
- Cover the surface of the candy cane with pizza sauce and then generously sprinkle with cheese.
- Add pepperoni in lines, creating the appearance of red candy cane stripes.
- Bake the pizza until the cheese is melted.
More Festive Holiday Recipes
If you enjoyed this simple recipe for Candy Cane Pizza, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Candy Cane Pizza
Ingredients
Candy Cane Pizza
- 1 pound pizza dough
- ⅓ cup pizza sauce
- 2-3 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 ounce pepperoni slices
Pizza Dough Recipe
- ¾ cup warm water 105-115 degrees F
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- ½ tablespoon honey
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Pizza Dough Recipe
- Combine the water, honey, and yeast and let sit for about 5-10 minutes in a large mixing bowl.
- Once the yeast mixture is bubbly, mix in the oil. Add the flour and salt slowly and mix in as you go until well combined.
- Once the dough comes together, knead for 8-9 minutes by hand on a lightly floured surface or with the dough hook of a stand mixer on low-medium speed for 5-7 minutes.
- Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, about 30-45 mintues.
Candy Cane Pizza
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Grease a baking sheet and place the pizza dough onto the pan. Use your hands and/or a rolling pin to shape the dough into a candy cane shape.
- Cover the dough with the pizza sauce and then generously sprinkle the cheese over the sauce.
- Add pepperoni, arranging in stripes to resemble a candy cane.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, until the cheese is melted and browned.
- Cool for 5 minutes before slicing and enjoying.
Hanna
Way to make a great tradition out of a hard situation! This is so cute! We're going to try this recipe during the holidays!
Gina
This is such a fun, festive, and delicious pizza dinner! Big fan of homemade pizza and it was a great idea to give it candy cane look. I know we will be making this again!