The best pizza is flaky pizza

There are millions of pizza recipes in the world, including the wildly beloved Crispy Cheesy Pan Pizza, our 2020 Recipe of the Year, not to mention convenient delivery options just about everywhere. So why in the world would we choose pizza as our 2026 Recipe of the Year?

Turns out, despite the many options available, there was still one big pizza-shaped hole to fill: pizza that’s both impossibly special and highly approachable — a pizza that doesn’t ask you to preheat a stone or steel, shape perfect rounds from sticky dough, or plan 12 hours ahead but is still way more impressive than what you could order or reheat from the freezer. With this goal in mind, we tackled this new pizza recipe by starting with a couple of self-imposed limitations:

No steel or stone: First, and perhaps most essentially, this pizza would be made on a baking sheet, no steel or stone in sight. Not only would that allow us to skip the special equipment (and lengthy preheat), but it would also deliver a pizza that would feed more people.

No overnight rise: This pizza wouldn’t require an overnight rise. We wanted only same-day pizza, so bakers wouldn’t have to plan days in advance, but we didn’t want to compromise on flavor.

We began developing this recipe with those restrictions in mind and, about 70 versions later, ended up with something better than we ever imagined: Flaky Puff Crust Pizza, our 2026 Recipe of the Year. Sure, it meets our requirements, but, more than that, its one-of-a-kind crispy, layered crust makes it distinct from any pizza you’ve tasted (let alone made) before. Here’s what makes it special.

Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Yekaterina Boytsova

It’s all about butter 

While we were starting to tinker with sheet-pan pizzas in the Test Kitchen (and having fairly ho-hum results), we were simultaneously testing biscuit recipes using grated butter and Martin Philip’s Croissant Sourdough Bread recipe, which incorporates grated butter through a series of folds. We had also heard about pizza sfogliata, in which pizza dough is laminated with olive oil. Eventually, we thought to ourselves, What if we incorporated grated butter into pizza dough through lamination?

We stocked up on butter and started experimenting, landing on a streamlined process of rolling and folding that's much simpler (and faster) than traditional lamination: After the dough is initially rolled out, a portion of frozen grated butter is sprinkled over top. The dough gets folded, letter-style, and then the rest of the butter is sprinkled over top before the dough is folded once again, then rolled to its final dimensions. This process results in layers of cold butter separated by layers of dough. When the pizza hits the hot oven, the water in the butter creates steam, producing pockets of air (as is true in pie dough and croissants) that puff up the crust and create layers.

This result is a pizza unlike any we had tasted before. While there are plenty of crusts that are cracker-thin, or chewy, or bready (plus all the territory in between), this one is flaky and, like great pastries, equal parts light and rich.

This pizza is ready in about two hours 

While we can’t claim this is a last-minute meal, it’s also not a multiday process: Start to finish, it only takes about two hours. The dough, which gets mixed together with a spatula (no mixer required), rises for just 30 minutes before it’s rolled out and layered with butter. Once you’ve reached that step, you’ll roll and stretch the dough a couple more times to encourage it to fill out the baking sheet, then let rise for 30 more minutes, until it’s noticeably puffy. At that point, all that’s left to do is top, bake, and devour.

As someone who has made this pizza countless times, I have a strategy for maximizing efficiency. During the first 30-minute rise, prep your toppings: Grate and cube the cheeses and measure your sauce. Use the next periods of downtime to clean the dishes and make a quick salad. Spend the 15-minute bake time setting the table (and pouring yourself something to drink).

Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Yekaterina Boytsova

There’s no baking stone or pizza steel needed 

This recipe produces a crisp-bottom pizza even without a baking stone or steel. While the black anodized aluminum of the Crispiest Crust Pizza Pan certainly assists with overall browning, it’s not strictly necessary: Even a regular rimmed baking sheet will do a great job, as the butter in the dough helps promote browning and crispness. We also dialed in the amount of sauce and cheese to ensure the crust isn’t overloaded with wet toppings that might make it soggy. (If you’re worried that pared-down toppings mean less flavor, don’t be! A lemon- and garlic-spiked basil oil, drizzled over top of the pizza post-bake, adds tons of brightness and punch without weighing the pizza down.)

Using a sheet pan also eliminates the need to shape sticky dough into rounds (which, when you’re learning, can be extremely annoying). Instead, this dough gets shaped with a rolling pin. The dough is super extensible (i.e., able to be stretched), especially when made with our ‘00’ Pizza Flour, which makes rolling a breeze.  

Three cheeses are better than one 

In the beginning, this pizza was topped with just one type of cheese: grated low-moisture mozzarella. A classic choice, it melts evenly, offers a straightforward dairy flavor, and delivers the cheese pull experience. The only problem? It’s a little boring.

Adding fresh mozzarella cheese (the kind that comes in balls and is often used on Neapolitan pizza) offered pockets of creamy gooiness and richer flavor. While too much fresh mozzarella cheese can make a pizza damp, the small cubes on the Flaky Puff Crust Pizza blend in with the grated low-moisture cheese to create a beautiful balance.

With all that mild mozzarella, however, saltiness and umami were missing. Enter cheese royalty: Parmesan. We added grated Parmesan underneath the mozzarella to prevent it from taking on an overcooked cheese flavor in the hot oven. And to make sure that no eater is left searching for its savory flavor, a little additional Parmesan is grated over top of the pizza after it’s baked.

Photography by Patrick Marinello; food styling by Yekaterina Boytsova

It won’t leave you hungry 

I can’t be the only one who has left a dinner of homemade pizza wanting, well, more. (I can finish a 13" New Haven-style pizza all by myself, and even the Crispy Cheesy Pan Pizza is easily polished off by two hungry adults.) To feed more than two people, not to mention an even bigger crowd, someone often needs to be shaping, topping, and baking while the others (the lucky ones) eat hot pizza.

Flaky Puff Crust Pizza, on the other hand, produces twelve generous slices of pizza, which is enough for four to six eaters. That said, I almost never have leftovers (no matter how many people I’m planning to feed).

This pizza has not only replaced all other types of pizza as my most-craved, but it’s also become my new go-to recipe when I’m having friends or neighbors over for dinner (adults and kids alike!). Flaky Puff Crust Pizza has become reason alone to host — any get-together is now a pizza party. 

Bake our newest Recipe of the Year, Flaky Puff Crust Pizza. Share it with us on Facebook and Instagram using #RecipeOfTheYear, and please leave a review and let us know what you think.

Cover photo by Patrick Marinello; food styling by Yekaterina Boytsova.