As this is a new project for me, as you can see, I don't have a fancy camera, or good photo taking skills, or think about having cute, MATCHING plates and serving dishes for these cooking experiments...but if I keep doing this, it'll be my goal and pledge to make the photos as visually appealing as the food is. Maybe even slow down and take step-by-step and "here are your ingredients" pics, but overall I think I'll be lucky to get these recipes posted, and I don't know how to do that fancy schmancy stuff at all...anyone want to teach me or hook me up with what I need?
Anyway, I saw this recipe on Pinterest, like many recipes I'll feature on here, and decided to try them out and see if they'd pass the "whole family" test - no easy feat, for sure. But since everyone around here seems to love pizza - at least the fairly blah and basic pepperoni and cheese version - I decided this would be a good and appearingly easy experiment, and hopefully, a keeper recipe to whip out when entertaining or when stuck in a "what to feed the kids" rut.
What you'll get are these fun and puffy, pizza-meets-quiche-esque bites of goodness that you'll just want to keep popping in your mouth, even after that voice inside says "just because they're small doesn't mean you can eat 'em all!" Shush, voice, they're just too darn good and I can always exercise them off later...Voice says, "you know you won't exercise, so just. put. them. down. NOW." I'm thinking about not inviting him over anymore. Buzzkill.
And the best part is that these pizza puffs are made from scratch with real ingredients! I always prefer fresh, real food with no canned anything for myself and now, Chris, but it seems more difficult to win that battle with the kids, as years of chicken nuggets, fish sticks and corn dogs has them programmed to believe that if it's not coated in a yellow or brown breading, it's simply evil and must be horrible.
Thankfully Austin is developing his palate slowly but surely and is making his mommy proud by declaring that he really likes trying new foods each day now...awwwww! Another little Foodie in the making.
The other awesome factors are: you get the satisfaction of having made "pizza" at home (without the dreaded yeast dough thing I have yet to master - we need to overcome that fear and handicap one day..or not) and it's simply delicious, with relatively easy clean-up! And even the ultra-picky Bennett gobbled them up - of course any fried or bread-like object dipped in marinara seems to pass his test..it's too bad that fruit, fresh veggies and non-breaded meat products don't really jive with it, or else I'd be on to something...
To wrap this up, these pizza puffs were quick and super simple to make, and they're a million times better than Bagel Bites or Totino's Pizza Rolls (no offense to those companies)! Feel free to try them out, substitute other meats or veggies (as long as the measurements are roughly the same) in place of the pepperoni, and enjoy!
Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- pinch of salt (my addition, optional)
- pinch of red pepper flakes (my addition, optional)
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup cubed pepperoni
- 1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes (if using) ; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.
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