Vegetarian Recipes

Grilled Pizza

When you pair a hot grill with great pizza dough plus a handful of seasonal toppings, your meal game is going to be next level. Grilled pizza season is on and this post covers everything you need to know to about how to get it right.

How to Grill Pizza: The Basics

To grill great pizza start with a hot grill that has been cleaned well with a brush. Also key, it helps to be organized. Have your dough and all toppings ready. Like, right next to the grill. Once you put pizza dough onto the grill, the next steps come in rapid succession whether you’re ready or not. Brush one side of the pizza dough with olive oil and cook that side first, flip it, brush the grilled side with sauce and toppings, and then finish cooking. If you’re a bit on the slow side arranging toppings, you’ll want to pull the pizza off the grill for this step, to avoid the potential for burning. Return the topped pizza to the grill for final cooking. Happens in a flash!

General Grilled Pizza Tips

Start with a good pizza dough foundation. This is my go-to pizza dough, and it works well on the grill.
Similar to baking pizza in an oven, you want to achieve high heat here. Pre-heat the grill as long as possible and check the temperature before starting the pizza. I aim for 450-500F-ish. You can go hotter if you’re baking your pizza on an upper grill rack, but run the risk of scorchy (burnt) grill marks if it’s in a more direct spot. If you’re using a pizza stone, ignore this and get your grill hot hot hot.
Pizza on the grill differs from baking pizza in the oven in that with grilled pizza you generally flip the dough once before adding toppings.
Consider pre-cooking any veggies or other toppings, if needed, knowing they aren’t going to spend as much time in heat as they would in an oven.
Use a bit of olive oil on the pizza dough to prevent the first side from sticking to the grill.

Grilled Pizza: Dough & Grill Temperature

Start with the right dough: As I mentioned up above, you need to start with a pizza dough that is on your team. I love this pizza dough. It is the one you see in the pictures here. You can read all about why I like it, in short: the flavor is great, it’s easy to work with, you don’t need a mixer, and there is no need to proof the yeast you’re using. Great in an oven or on a grill. It’s super flex and adaptable. Alternately, you can experiment with doughs purchased from local pizza spots or stores.

Temperature: the second pillar after good dough? Controlling the grill temperature is key to your success – and, I’ll be honest, there can be a bit of a leaning curve. If you’re having trouble with pizza dough sticking to the grill, dial up the heat. And when using a gas grill, the lid is your friend. Use the lid to control the heat, and to get the hot air circulating all the way around the dough. If you need your toppings to cook/melt more quickly – slap the lid on for a bit. Keep in mind, you have to be particularly vigilant with pizzas you’ve pulled parchment thin – they’ll burn through in a flash. If you’re worried about burning pizzas, you can move them to the upper rack if your grill has one.

Broadly speaking, whatever type of outdoor oven/grill I’m using I obsessively check the bottom and top of the dough and let it tell me what it needs – more time, more heat, a flip, etc. If you have a grill with dual burners, or a way to set up a hot zone, and a not-so-hot zone, moving the dough around can also be helpful.

The parchment technique: When grilling pizzas I prefer to pull the dough out and shape it on a sheet of parchment paper that has been spritzed or rubbed with a bit of olive oil. You can then gently flip the dough onto the grill with the parchment providing a nice amount of structure (see below). Peel the parchment paper away and proceed.

Do you need a Pizza Stone to Grill Pizza?

If you have and use a pizza stone in your oven, you can use it on the grill. That said, you don’t need a pizza stone to grill pizza.

Best Toppings for Grilled Pizza

So, the rule of thumb here is: use toppings that really sing after a just a couple minutes on the grill. This means you might want to pre-cook (or pre-grill) any toppings that would take longer than that. Use flavor-packed, fast cooking ingredients that have a tendency to melt (or cook) quickly for your toppings. Don’t go overboard, thoughtfully curate each pizza so the flavors of each ingredient have room to speak. Some favorites include…

Vegetables: corn, thin asparagus, roasted cherry tomatoes, peas, roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, olives, fava beans, citrus zests, grilled artichoke hearts, sautéed thinly sliced potatoes.
Cheeses: ricotta, mozzarella, gruyere, feta, freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino
Finishing touches: lemon olive oil, tangerine olive oil, makrut lime oil, chives and chive flowers, hot honey

Topping Combinations:
– tomato sauce, mozzarella, crushed kale chips, lemon oil (pictured)
– mozzarella, roasted corn, pickled serrano chiles, chive flowers, pine nuts (pictured)
– caramelized fennel & olives
– spinach/pea & ricotta pesto, potatoes & smoke chile sauce
– tomato & roasted red peppers with goat cheese
– a while back I also compiled this page of A+ grilled pizza topping ideas
– And, here’s a page where I’ve listed a lot of recent favorite pizza combinations

Thick or Thin Pizzas?

Play around with how thick or thin you pull your pizza dough. You’ll get widely varying results. As far as the thick or thin debate goes, I tend to lean into thin. That being said, leaving the dough a bit thicker yields a pizza with a different personality, still delicious – try both to see what you like.

Make-Ahead Crusts

You can pre-grill pizza crusts up to a few hours ahead of time. For example, if you’re feeding a crowd and want to get a bit of a jump start. Lightly grill both sides and then allow to cool on a rack. The key is to go light, knowing they will be going back on the grill later. When you’re ready for prime time, sauce and top each pizza and do the final grilling.

If you’ve never tried this, give it a go! It’s fun to set up for a small crowd because everyone can take a turn making their own custom pizza. Let me know your favorite topping combos in the comments.

Continue reading Grilled Pizza on 101 Cookbooks

Vegetarian Recipes

Cherry Blondies

Whenever I’m craving something sweet, but I’m sick of the same old same old, I whip up a batch of these fudgy, chewy, fragrant Cherry Blondies! The creamy white chocolate, tart cherries, and crunchy almonds make this recipe stand out. This is not your typical blondie! I don’t use almond extract too often, but pairing its flavor with cherries and white chocolate is just a no-brainer to me. (But a little goes a long way, so use it sparingly!)

Easy Recipe for Cherry Blondies

Blondies are like brownies, just without the cocoa. Instead, they’re made with brown sugar and vanilla, and have the BEST buttery flavor and chewy texture.

For these cherry blondies, I mix in canned cherry pie filling (it adds a sweet-tart cherry flavor without a lot of fuss or cost), slivered almonds, and white chocolate chips. I also brown the butter first to bring out a nutty, almost toffee-like richness that’s totally worth the extra few minutes. A mix of brown and white sugar strikes the perfect balance of moisture and structure, while a splash of almond extract adds a frangipane-style flavor. Bake them once, and you’ll see why I keep coming back to this combo. 😋

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Cherry Blondies

These easy Cherry Blondies are loaded with white chocolate, almonds, and cherry pie filling for a sweet treat that’s simple to make and hard to resist.

Step-by-step photos can be seen below the recipe card.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Total Cost $5.82 recipe / $0.64 serving

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1

Chill Time 20

Total Time 1 30

Servings slices

Calories 429kcal

Author Jess Rice

Equipment

8×8” Baking Dish
Parchment Paper
3 Mixing Bowls
Sauce Pan
Hand Mixer

Ingredients

1¾ cups all-purpose flour $0.28
½ tsp baking powder $0.02
¼ tsp salt $0.01
1 large egg $0.29
1 tsp vanilla extract $0.47
½ tsp almond extract $0.15
½ cup cherry pie filling $0.73*
1½ sticks salted butter cut into cubes, $1.48
½ cup granulated sugar $0.19
1 cup brown sugar $0.91
¼ cup white chocolate chips $0.42
¼ cup slivered almonds $0.87

Instructions

Grease and line an 8×8” baking dish with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350℉.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the egg, vanilla, almond extract, and cherry pie filling. Mix together and set aside.
Cube the butter and melt over medium heat until frothy, whisking once in a while to make sure the milk solids don’t stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
Once butter is browned, it will have a nutty aroma and darken in color. (Babysit it! Don’t let it burn!) Remove from heat.
Combine browned butter with granulated and brown sugar.
Mix with a hand mixer on low until combined. Then, add the wet cherry mixture and continue to mix until combined.
Finally, gently mix in the dry flour mixture little by little until a batter forms.
Fold in white chocolate and almond slivers.
Transfer batter to greased and line baking dish and add some extra white chocolate and almonds on top, if you have them.
Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool for 20 minutes before cutting. The interior may still be a little gooey. These are chewier than your typical brownie! Enjoy.

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*The ingredients in a can of cherry pie filling are pretty simple, but I have found the Duncan Hines Comstock brand “Simply Cherry” in a can to have fewer ingredients and no added coloring, so if you see it next to the regular cherry pie filling, you may want to spring for that can instead. You could try making these with fresh cherries, which I skipped because I couldn’t find any at my local grocery store, just make sure you pit them first!

Nutrition

how to make Cherry Blondies step-by-step photos

The ingredients to make cherry blondies.

Gather all of your ingredients and preheat your oven to 350℉. Grease and line an 8×8” baking dish with parchment paper. Set this aside for now.

Flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.

Mix the dry ingredients: Add 1¾ cups flour, ½ tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt to a mixing bowl and combine. Set this aside.

Cherry pie filling, egg, and vanilla extract in a bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients: In a different mixing bowl, combine 1 large egg, 1 tsp vanilla, ½ tsp almond extract, and ½ cup of cherry pie filling. Set this aside for now as well.

Brown the butter: Add 1½ sticks of cubed salted butter to a saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter until frothy, being sure to whisk it once in a while to avoid the milk solids from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan. Babysit it, and don’t let it burn! It typically takes about 5-8 minutes for butter to brown.

When the butter is browned, it’ll smell nutty and be darker in color. There will also be flecks of brown throughout (those are toasted milk solids, and they’re full of flavor). Remove it from the heat once done.

Brown and white sugar added to a bowl of browned butter.

Make the batter: Pour the browned butter into a mixing bowl and add ½ cup granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar.

The wet ingredients for cherry blondies added to the creamed butter and sugar.

Use a hand mixer on low to combine the browned butter and sugars. Once mixed, add the wet cherry pie filling mixture and keep mixing until thoroughly combined.

Dry ingredients added to the wet ingredients to make cherry blondies.

Now, gently fold in the dry flour mixture a little at a time until a thick batter forms.

Slivered almonds added to the batter for cherry blondies.

Finally, fold in ¼ cup white chocolate chips and ¼ cup slivered almonds.

The batter for cherry blondies in a lined baking dish.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. If you have any extra, top the batter with a few white chocolate chips and slivered almonds to make it look extra pretty.

Finished homemade cherry blondies in a baking dish.

Bake: Place the baking dish into the preheated oven and bake for 50-55 minutes. They’re done once a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let your homemade cherry blondies cool for 20 minutes before cutting for the best results. They may still be a little gooey! They’re definitely chewier than your average brownie but just as delicious. Enjoy!

Overhead view of a baking dish of cherry blondies with one missing.

Tips for Browning Butter

I brown the butter in this cherry dessert recipe because it gives the blondies the most amazing, deep, nutty flavor that plain melted butter can’t match. You could skip this step and just melt it, but it definitely wouldn’t taste the same.

It’s honestly so easy to brown butter, and only takes about 5-8 minutes from start to finish! Here’s how to do it right (we also have a step-by-step breakdown with photos on how to brown butter you can check out, too!):

Use a light-colored pan if you have one. It makes it easier to see the color change.
Watch it closely. Browning happens fast, and it can burn before you know it. Stay nearby and use medium heat.
It’ll start to froth. That’s normal. Just keep gently stirring so nothing sticks to the bottom.
Look for brown flecks. Those are the milk solids toasting, which is exactly what you want.
Pull it off the heat right away. As soon as it smells nutty and the color deepens, about 5 minutes, take it off the heat! It’s ready to use.

You can even make a big batch of browned butter and keep it in the fridge for 1-2 weeks and use it in future recipes. It’s obviously delicious in my cherry blondies recipe, but it’s also amazing tossed with plain pasta, drizzled over roasted veggies, or mixed into oatmeal.

Line your pan with parchment paper. It makes it way easier to lift the blondies out and slice them cleanly once they’ve cooled.
Let them cool in the pan. As good as they smell fresh out of the oven, I let my blondies cool for at least 20 minutes to help them set up properly. They’ll slice neater, and the texture will be just right.
Check for doneness with a toothpick. You’re looking for a mostly clean toothpick when inserted into your white chocolate cherry blondies. If you hit a cherry or a melty white chocolate chip, it might smear a bit, so try a second spot! Don’t forget, they may still be a little gooey on the inside rather than cakey.

Storage Instructions

Personally, I enjoy these cherry pie blondies cold! I like to keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator and grab one whenever I need a sweet pick-me-up. They’ll be good for up to 3-4 days when stored this way. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.