My husband and I have never been overly romantic people. I'd say it is one thing that makes us perfect for each other. My favorite Valentine's gift he has given me was a beautiful card with the inside lining missing and a little handwritten note that said, "This card said something cheesy so I tore it out. I love you. Devon." It still makes me laugh because I can only imagine my husband standing there in the card aisle, looking at each of the overly sentimental Valentine's Day cards and thinking, "What? Why can't they just say 'I love you'?" Apparently they can if you take matters into your own hands. 

Now that we have a kid (soon to be KIDS in less than 6 weeks, eek!) our Valentine's Days have become even less about us and more about our family. One tradition that we've seen among other friends and extended family is having heart shaped pizza on Valentine's Day. Have you known a family to do this? Sometimes the family will make the pizza themselves, other times they will order out to give everyone a break from cooking, and every gathers together and enjoys what is arguably one of the best guilty pleasure foods there is. I love how simple and easy it is. Our neighbors that do this set up a pizza bar and have everyone build their own pizza with whatever toppings they like.

If this is a family tradition of yours, or if you are looking for an easy, chocolaty dessert you can make/enjoy with your kids or special someone, these chocolate pizzas are the perfect, easy dessert for your Valentine's Day. In fact, they just might start to be a tradition every time you make pizza, they are that good and easy. After pre-baking a pizza crust, you top the warm crust with nutella and chocolate chips and bake just a little more to get the chocolate chips soft and gooey. Then you slice it up and eat it, hoping other people won't notice how quickly your piece is disappearing from your plate. As you might imagine, warm nutella + soft pizza dough + melted chocolate = utterly delicious. It is easily customized - if you like peanut butter, add some of that under the nutella. Or use peanut butter chips. Maybe add some toasted nuts. All delicious. Whatever your Valentine's Day traditions, remember this one next time you are looking for an easy, family-pleasing dessert. 

Chocolate Pizza

By Heat Oven To 350 Published 02/10/2014

Ingredients

• 1 pound pizza dough
• 1/4 cup nutella
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons milk chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons white chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Place oven rack on the lowest setting in the oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a circle (Or heart shape. To make the heart shape, I like to roll mostly into a circle, then cut down one side to make the top of the heart and pull on the opposite side of the cut to make the point of the heart). Bake on a pizza stone or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper until crust is lightly browned, about 12-15 minutes.
3. Remove crust from oven and immediately spread half the nutella over each of the baked crusts. Sprinkle half of each type of chocolate chip over the nutella. Place the pizzas in the oven and bake just until the chocolate chips start to melt, about 1 minute. Remove from oven, cut into wedges and serve.

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook time: 16 min

Recipe Source: adapted from foodnetwork.com

Posted in: Dessert