Oatmeal Raisin Candy Pizza

Well a few days went by and I didn't post my candy pizza recipe, but I am here, I have a few minutes, and we're doing it.  Better late than never right?  I've been making candy pizzas since I was a little girl.  I would bring these to soccer games and parties and they would be devoured in minutes.  Even at a young age there was something about seeing other people enjoying my food that made me feel happy.  

I created this candy pizza recipe after staring at a surplus of oatmeal that neither my husband or I wanted to eat.

My husband likes his oatmeal sweet and apparently Trader Joe's Oatmeal Complete is not sweet enough.  Honestly, I never tried this because I try and stay away from foods with added sugars as they make my sugar cravings more intense.

I had a trusty pizza pan that I had used and abused for years, but sadly it had to go to retirement.  I ordered the above pizza pan on Amazon, not realizing that it was a 10 inch pan.  This ended up being a perfect size pan for a small group (I made this for a party of 10 and everyone got a large slice).  You can make this for a larger party with a standard sized pizza pan just make sure to double the recipe.  I normally make chocolate chip cookie as the base, but any cookie (sugar, peanut butter, snickerdoodle) can be substituted.  Feel free to use your imagination!  

OATMEAL RAISIN CANDY PIZZA

Ingredients

1/2 cup of flour

3/4 cup of instant flavored oatmeal (I used 2 packets of Trader Joe's Complete Brown Sugar and Maple Oatmeal)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 stick butter, softened 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 beaten egg

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup raisins

1.5 ounces semi sweet chocolate (chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chunks)

Peanut butter

Toppings of choice (candy, shredded coconut, powder sugar, sprinkles)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Line a 10 inch pizza pan with parchment paper

3. In a small bowl mix flour, oatmeal, and baking powder.  Reserve for later

4. Beat butter and brown sugar in a large bowl

5. Add egg, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Mix until incorporated

6. Mix in the oatmeal dry mix and raisins   

7. Place all the cookie dough on a parchment paper lined pizza pan  

8.  Flatten dough evenly over the pan in the shape of a pizza

9.  Bake cookie for 15 mins or until cookie dough is cooked through

10.  While the cookie is cooking chop the candy into small pieces.  Reserve for later after we spread the cookie pizza

11.  Once the cookie is done cooking immediately top it with chocolate chips and peanut butter so it can soften and spread easily.  (I use about 2-4 tablespoons peanut butter, but I don't normally measure this.) As the peanut butter and chocolate begin to soften spread the mixture evenly over the cookie leaving the "crust" as if you were spreading sauce on pizza dough

12.  Immediately top with the toppings of your choice.  As everything cools it will stick together 

Freschetta Brick Oven Crust Review

In my last post I mentioned that I was part of BzzAgent's Freschetta campaign.  You can read more about it here.

BzzAgent sent me package with a Freschetta pizza cutter, a coupon for a free Freschetta pizza of my choosing, and two coupons to share with family and friends.

When I think of frozen pizza  I normally think Digorno as Digorno advertisements frequent the television airways with their catchy slogan, "If it's not delivery, it's Digorno."  And I will say that Digorno pizza's are pretty good, considering they generally cost around $6-8 a pie.  I tend to keep a Digorno on hand for those nights when it's too late to order delivery and I just don't have the energy to cook a meal.  Don't judge, it happens when you are busy with life. 

I've had Freschetta's Naturally Rising pizza before, and I remember I liked it, so I wanted to try one of Freschetta's other pizza options.  Unfortunately my Walmart didn't offer the Gluten Free Thin & Crispy, but they did sell Brick Oven Crust so I settled with a Pepperoni & Italian Style Cheese Pizza.

Since I was at class my husband was on pizza cooking and picture taking duty.  He opened the package to find that the pie definitely doesn't come ready to put in the oven, unless you like all your pepperoni in one corner.

 We don't.  The pepperoni is not frozen to the pie so he made a beautiful piece of pizza pie art work.

He followed the directions and our pizza ended up taking a total of 15 minutes to cook.  

Wait 5 minutes (ideally...he never can) and then cut.  Thanks to BzzAgent we have an awesome pizza cuter that does the job and is kid friendly...no sharp metal.

Frozen pizza has come a long way and it is definitely not the frozen pizza I grew up with as a kid.  Freschetta's Brick Oven Crust comes out crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  The crust is probably the star of the pie.  It is really good!  The pepperoni is delicious and the cheese is 100% natural.  My only complaint is that the sauce could use a little less sugar.  Unlike my friend growing up who put white sugar on her pizza, I prefer my pizza more on the savory side with a side of homemade boneless buffalo wings.  

I've tried a lot of different frozen pizzas and I will say the best is either Freschetta or Digorno.  They are both very similar and offer a range of crusts and toppings.  Without a taste off, however, I can't pick a winner.  Guess I have project...

It never hurts to have a frozen pizza on hand for those busy nights.  And considering Freschetta pizza starts at $5.99, generally less than Digiorno, and are often on sale, they are a great option.  If your family is larger than two I would recommend buying two pies as my husband and I easily polished off our frozen pizza in one sitting.  In fact I wanted more.  Freschetta really impressed me.

Have you tried Freschetta pizza recently.  What's your favorite?  What did you think?  I'm curious to know.  I'm going to look for the Gluten Free variety to try next.  After all, I'm always on the hunt for a good gluten free pie.

Thank you again to BzzAgent for providing me the opportunity to sample a free Freschetta pizza.  If you haven't signed up for BzzAgent click here to be able to also receive free stuff to review.