California Pizza Kitchen Just Debuted 2 Pizzas With A 'Croissant Inspired Crust'

Pizza is a pretty hard thing to improve on. Because of its very simple foundation of dough, sauce, and cheese, it's hard to make any real radical changes to it without altering the entire dish itself. You can add or omit toppings, toss on some fancy imported cheese, or use a specific kind of tomatoes, but at the end of the day, it's still basically cheese and sauce on a baked crust. 

But modern pizza companies today want you to throw out all your preconceived notions about what a pizza crust should be. Take, for example, the idea of stuffed crust pizza. The concept of stuffing cheese into the crust of the pizza, popularly credited to Pizza Hut, was introduced back in 1995.  Cauliflower pizza crust came around in the last decade, and many frozen pizza companies have hopped onto the bandwagon, selling this gluten-free "crust" as a healthier alternative to the usual carb-heavy dough. Indeed, the pizza industry has done all it can to reinvent the literal foundations of the foodstuff, whether it's covering the underside in cheese or making the crust out of everything from cauliflower to soft pretzels.

California Pizza Kitchen, in the spirit of innovation, has decided to combine a popular French pastry with its famous pizzas to bring a crust that seemingly combines both breakfast and dinner. Enter the croissant-inspired crust.

"Airy on the inside and golden-brown on the outside." That is the promise California Pizza Kitchen has made in a press release in regard to its new Croissant-Inspired Crust frozen pizzas. To complement the buttery and flaky taste of the croissant crust, CPK announced that the new item will feature in two exclusive new flavors: Uncured Pepperoni and Hot Honey, and Bacon and Caramelized Onion. The Uncured Pepperoni and Hot Honey will also feature packets of Mike's Hot Honey to serve alongside it. The Bacon and Caramelized Onion version will include a brie cheese sauce, roasted garlic, mozzarella cheese, and of course, the aforementioned bacon and caramelized onions. 

Although California Pizza Kitchen boldly talks about how the introduction of a croissant crust is a sign of innovation, this isn't the first time croissants have been used in such a manner. DiGiorno, which is also produced by the Nestlé Pizza Division, introduced croissant crust pizza back in 2020. If the introduction of croissant pizza from other brands is anything to go by, it seems that it's a seemingly successful combination.

California Pizza Kitchen's croissant-inspired crust pizzas will be available starting in April at locations such as Target and Meijer for the retail price of $10.91.