An economical, easy copycat of the fan favourite Bakers’ Delight pizza bread, a much loved lunch-on-the-run! Named as such as it’s designed to be tucked into lunchboxes and eaten at room temp rather than piping hot like normal pizza. Think: morning tea, picnics, hungry teenagers, freezer stash!
A homemade pizza bread
There’s a popular bakery chain here in Australia called Bakers’ Delight which sells a myriad of baked goods, ranging from sweet cinnamon buns to savoury bread rolls that are a convenient “lunch on the run”.
I’ve always wanted to recreate the fan favourite pizza breads. And noticing that the RRP has crept up to $4.90 (inflation!) was just the kick I needed to get moving on it.
Rather than making individual pizzas, I decided to take the easier option of making a large pizza slab then cutting it into portions. I then went one step further and decided to use a simple cheesy muffin batter rather than yeast-based proper pizza dough which needs hours to rise.
So here it is today – my pizza bread. It’s a great one for lunch boxes or taking to places, like morning tea at work because it’s designed to be eaten at room temperature.
Ingredients in pizza bread
This is a quick pizza bread that’s based on a savoury muffin batter. Which means – no yeast, no kneading, no rise time. Mix and bake!
The batter
Flour – Just plain / all purpose flour. Self raising flour will work in place of the flour + baking powder + baking soda but the crumb is not as soft or springy, and will not stay fresh for as long.
Baking powder + baking soda (bi-carb) – I know, it’s soooo irritating when I ask you to use both instead of one or the other! I wouldn’t ask it of you unless it matters – and in this case it really does make a noticeable difference.
Basically, both make muffins, cakes etc rise. But baking soda is like triple strength baking powder, and they have different rising qualities depending on what other ingredients are used. For this recipe, only baking powder = crumb not as soft or moist. Only baking soda = mound rather than flat surface. Combo of both = perfect!
Shredded cheese – Used to flavour the crumb and top the bread. Use your favourite shredded cheese (or cheese blend) that melts except mozzarella which doesn’t have much flavour. I use Devondale 3 cheese blend (mozzarella, colby, parmesan) which is my favourite store bought shredded cheese for both melting qualities and flavour (I’m in Australia).
If mozzarella is all you’ve got, just add an extra 1/2 teaspoon salt in the batter.
Pre-shredded ok! Usually I recommend shredding your own but in this case pre-shredded is fine, in the spirit of this quick & easy recipe!
Milk & sour cream (or yogurt) – These are the liquids for this batter. The sour cream keeps the pizza bread stay moist for several days rather than going stale the next day which is what happens to most muffins. For baking enthusiasts: the reason for this is because sour cream is thicker than milk so you don’t need as much flour in the batter to get it to the right consistency. Less flour = more moist crumb.
Olive oil – This too helps keep the crumb moist. This is because butter, the other most common fat used in baking, adds lovely buttery flavour but it firms up at room temperature = drier crumb. Oil, on the other hand, remains in liquid form which means the crumb is more moist.
Egg – This is the binding agent in the batter. We only use 1 egg and this is another reason the shelf life of this bread is so great: because more egg in batters = drier crumb.
Salt – For seasoning.
Toppings
I’m going for quick ‘n easy today, so I’ve used a store bought pizza sauce. However, if you’re a better person than me, please feel free to make your own (any of the 3 options are great).
Pizza sauce – As noted above, this is just store bought. Use any flavour your heart desires!
Toppings – Pepperoni, sliced olives, onion and green capsicum / bell peppers (yup, missing from photo above and half the pizza photos!). Feel free to use whatever you want.
Shredded cheese – I just use the same cheese as noted above in the batter.
How to make my easy pizza bread
You’re going to LOVE how easy this is! Ready?
Whisk Dry ingredients in a bowl. I whisk the dry first so the whisk stays clean to use for the wet ingredients!
Whisk Wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
Combine – Pour the Wet ingredients into the Dry ingredients then mix with a rubber spatula until the flour is mostly mixed in but you can still see a bit. It will still be lumpy – that’s ok!
Add cheese then mix until you can no longer see flour. If the batter still has some small flour lumps, that’s fine as they will bake out. What you do not want to do is mix too much because this will activate the gluten in the flour and make the crumb hard and dense.
Spread the batter into a 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13″) lined metal pan. I spray with oil then line the base and long sides with a single large sheet of paper, with overhang to make it easy to lift out later. There’s no need to line the short sides if you spray with oil.
Ceramic and glass pans will also work but the bread will rise a smidge less and I would add an extra 3 minutes to the bake time. This is because glass takes a little longer to heat up.
Toppings – Spread with pizza sauce, then top with cheese, onion, capsicum (which I forgot in half the photos!), olives and pepperoni (in that order).
Bake 40 minutes – Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Then pop a baking tray on top and bake for a further 15 minutes. This will stop the cheese from getting a little too golden.
Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then 10 minutes on a cooling rack before slicing to serve.
It’s important to follow recipe directions for cooling baked goods because they finish cooking inside. If you slice this bread when it’s piping hot, straight out of the oven, then the inside will taste a bit “doughy” and undercooked.
This bread will still be warm after 20 minutes resting time. But it’s also specifically designed to be tasty at room temperature, for popping into lunch boxes! And it will stay fresh for 3 to 4 days.
How to serve Lunchbox Pizza Bread
As mentioned at the top, this pizza bread is designed to be eaten at room temperature like a savoury muffin rather than piping-hot-straight-out-of-the-oven like pizza, easy to make in bulk (do 2 pans at once!) and freezes perfectly.
Which means it’s:
great to pop into lunch boxes – the original idea I had when I decided I set out to create this recipe, hence the name! Pictured in post (top) with a homemade muesli bar.
ideal to take into work for a shared morning tea
a handy breakfast on the run
useful to feed permanently hungry teenagers
It’s about 70% cheaper than buying pizza rolls from Bakers Delight. And finally, my last effort to convince you to try this? There’s nothing like homemade. Right? – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Lunchbox pizza bread (quick)
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda / bi-carb soda , sifted (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt
WET:
- 1 large egg (60g / 2 oz)
- 1 cup milk (full or low fat)
- 1/4 cup sour cream , or plain yogurt
- 3 tbsp olive oil
CHEESE FOR BATTER:
- 1 cup shredded cheese (colby, cheddar, Monterey Jack, Devondale "3 cheese blend") (Note 2)
PIZZA TOPPINGS:
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, same as above (Note 2)
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce , store bought or homemade (any of them)
- 1/4 red onion , finely sliced
- 1/2 green capsicum / bell pepper , finely sliced
- 1/4 cup sliced kalamata olives
- 50g/ 2 oz pepperoni slices (about 1/2 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Oil spray a 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13") metal pan then line with baking / parchment paper (Note 3).
- Whisk Dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Whisk Wet ingredients in a separate bowl until combined.
- Combine Wet & Dry – Pour Wet into the Dry ingredients. Mix with a rubber spatula until the flour is mostly mixed in but you can still see a bit of flour. Add cheese then stir until you can no longer see flour. Some small lumps is fine, they will bake out.
- Assemble – Scrape into the baking pan and evenly spread – it's not that thick, remember it rises! Spread the surface with pizza sauce. Sprinkle with cheese, then (in this order) onion, capsicum, olives then pepperoni.
- Bake 40 min – Bake 25 minutes uncovered. Cover with a baking tray (or foil) then bake for a further 15 minutes.
- Cool 10 minutes in the pan then use the paper overhang to lift or slide out onto a cooling rack. Cool for a further 10 minutes before slicing to serve.
- Serving – Great at room temp though for VIP's, sometimes I warm it in the oven, drizzle with a swish of olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of oregano.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Raise your hand if you think I said “yes Dozer, go ahead and have a swim in that stinky golf dam filled with decaying aquatic plants. I really love how you smell afterwards!”. 😖
Yummo!!! Super easy to make, hard to stop at one piece. Great for school/work lunches 😋
Delicious – sending it to the beach with my husband and daughter for a post-surf lunch (minus the taste-testing row!). This will be perfect to take for work morning teas. Recipe worked perfectly as stated. Thank you!
Looking forward to making this one as an alternative to the pricier version. Dozer living his best life!
Made today for my daughter and I for lunch, delicious! Will definitely be making again, so easy to get a pizza fix without the longer process for yeast dough. Really good!
Hi Nagi! Love your work 😀 I made this pizza bread and it’s come out quite dense. Not soft and fluffy like tour’s looks. Any thoughts? My only thought is that ky daughter was helping and maybe between us we overworked the flour. I’m 99.9% sure we got all the ingredients right!
I have never had the Bakers‘ Delight version, but I did this with wholemeal spelt flour as a healthy kids’ lunchbox option, and it turned out beautifully (probably not the same though!). Toppings were cheese, chopped baby spinach and small cubes of ham.
I love your recipes, but I wish you would include the cups and metric (maybe in parenthesis) in one place. As it is, I have to print out both the cups and metric recipe and make my own copy so I can measure e.g. flour by weight and liquids by cup.
There are metric measurements at the top of the recipe. Beneath the word ‘ingredients’ there are two boxes. One is cups and the other metric. Just tap the metric option.
Confused what the issueis ? There’s a tab with metric already included near the ingredients list in the recipe
Yes – I know there is a tab for both cups and metric.
A lot of recipe creators do something like this:
2 cup plain flour (300 g)…
1 c milk (250 ml)…
In addition, here in the US we usually use 120 g as a cup of flour. That is not the case in AU – as thus recipe shows. 2 cup flour=300g. I can and do write it in by hand, but why – when it would be so easy to show it all in one place. The two tabs could still exist for folks who want to do everything in metric.
I understand what you’re saying. Also I found that clicking on metric 3Tbs olive oil was 45ml. Yet I always use Australian 20ml Tbs. So I found that interesting difference
Hi Lisa, I read that Nagi uses 15ml tblspoons rather than Aust 20ml. Not sure why, as she always uses Aust cups.
Irene, it’s because when you print the recipe, it only prints one version.
Joanna, you could always do a screen shot of the recipe, then put it into a document to print it out,
I also like to print recipes and prefer some measurements in the “other” metric system, so I just write a note next to it 🙂
Just a suggestion… you could import the recipe into an app (eg Paprika 3) and you can toggle between different measurements very easily in the same recipe. While you are in the recipe screen, the phone will stay unlocked m, which is handy when cooking. Not affiliated, I just find the app really helpful to scale and convert recipes.
Hi!
I want to ask a favor. My husband is gluten free and we ate cauliflower crust pizza in the US. Would you have a recipe for that?
This recipe of Anna Jones’ is delicious : )
Hi, I cooked this today and it is absolutely fabulous. I hope leftovers will be just as great.
Great idea. Will try. What is a dog to do when faced with all that glorious water? Nothing but get in and enjoy.
Really excited to try this. Pizza bread is one of my favourite bakery treats! Has anyone tried a topping like mushrooms or pineapple (I.e. ingredients that can get wetter with cooking) yet? Not an onion fan but looovveee mushies! Potential addition to the recipe notes – toppings to avoid hahaha! Thanks so much!!
Made this for hubby’s lunchbox, have yet to taste it but added a couple of mushies and it didn’t turn out too wet after cutting the slab, hope that helps!
Celia, I made this yesterday with pineapple, olives and ham. I just drained the pineapple on a paper towel first and it was 100 percent great.
You’re a genius Nagi! Our family loves your recipes and refer to your website often to find something to cook for dinner.
This is just the recipe I need for my new high schooler who seems to be running on air (no allocated eating time at lunch anymore). Thank you!! 🙏
I am woken up to the snoring songs of my two Pekingnese, one on my pillow the other by my side and you know, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’ll be making the pizza bread over the weekend and I am loving having all my favourite recipes from your book displayed and at the ready on my bench. Cheers!
Hi, could this be made with almond flour, thanks Claire
Hi Claire, I have made one very similar with Almond flour.
Would be happy to share this if you like.
northcote007@gmail.com
I would appreciate the amounts of almond flour we’re all gluten free in our household, thank you Robyn
That would be great Robyn, thank you.
Please email me if you don’t get it 🌻
cups (192 g) almond flour
2 tablespoons (13 g) coconut
flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil or
other oil
4 large eggs
1 cup (115 g) shredded
mozzarella or other cheese
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C, or gas mark 4).
2. Place the almond flour, coconut flour, salt, and baking
soda in a bowl and whisk with a fork.
3. Add the oil, eggs, and cheese to the flour mixture and
blend well. The dough will be slightly wet.
4. Shape the dough into one or two balls using your
hands. Cover the dough and place it in the freezer for
10 minutes first. Cut two large pieces of parchment
paper and place a dough ball between them. Flatten the
dough a bit with your hands and then use a rolling pin
to roll the dough flat until it is about ¼ inch (6 mm)
thick or to your desired thickness.
5. Remove the top parchment paper and slide the rolled
bread and bottom parchment paper onto a baking sheet.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are just starting
to brown. Remove from the oven to cool.
7. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature. Store
flatbread in a sealed container at room temperature for
a few days, in the refrigerator for about a week, or in
the freezer for a few months.
Hi all, I want o make this but I can’t find anywhere if it is a 15 ml tablespoon that is used or the Australian standard of 20ml
Nagi used to include a note in all her baking recipes that she tests using the different measuring cups/spoons, so that it won’t matter which one you use, as long as you don’t use Japanese cups because they’re smaller, and this doesn’t look like a delicate recipe, so I wouldn’t worry…
Thanks so much for that, I must have missed that somehow. Kind regards
At least you’re looking at Dozers face when you wake up. Jasmine backs up to my face so I can see she wants her butt scratched!
I almost choked on my coffee when I read this 😂😂😂
Anyone have any tips/thoughts on freezing this? I’m in love with the idea of being able to put pre-cut pieces in the freezer to put into school lunchboxes but I’m uncertain if it would work.
Hi
Nagi mentions this in the notes..
Fine for freezing up to 3 months..
Urrrgghhhhhhh, I thought I read it so carefully but I missed that! Thank you x
This is the best idea ever!! It is incredibly delicious, super easy to make and the kids LOVE it! Winning!! You’re a wizard, Nagi!! x (PS I am still drooling over the gorgeous video of you making this!!)
That’s so great to hear Cat, thanks for taking the time to share yours (and your KIDS) feedback! N x
Hi Nagi! This sounds amazing and I really want to make it. I’m wondering if my 9×13 pan that is only about 1/2″ deep would be okay for this. Your pizza looks taller than that. Dozer looks cuter all the time. My dogs always liked the stinky stuff best!
Hi Gail, I actually think it will hold it in because it will puff up and because the batter is not loose like cake batter it will not overflow over the edge, if that makes sense 🙂 Maybe just pop a tray underneath to catch any spillage?
Thanks Nagi. I will definitely make this now. Hugs to Dozer
I have zero idea what Baker’s Delight is, but I saw this recipe this morning on FB, and decided to try it for lunch! I only used cheese on 1/2 – it crisped up a tad too much, but the side where I put red bell peppers, red onion, and green olives (no one else eats olives), looked fabulous! I really enjoyed it – super easy, ingredients we always have at home. I posted 2 pics on FB on Nagi’s post of my delicious lunch!
When I went to Canada there was a bakers delight but it was named “Cobs” I figured it might be called that in other countries too
That’s so great to hear Betsy!! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂 N x
Should clarify – I used cheese on the whole pizza bread, but I left 1/2 as cheese-only, no toppings 🙂