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What a better way to start the new year than with some pepperoni pizza bites?  Look, when there’s bread and cheese involved, diets be damned! Actually, I made sure I made these bites before the annual resolution kicked in today so as to avoid any guilt.  And boy were they worth every bit of anticipation I had about them since Annie posted about them almost a year ago.  Seriously, they were amazing – so good that I’m ashamed to admit that Kyle and I polished off the whole batch by ourselves on NYE.  You could fill them with practically anything but the process is simple: cut pizza dough into 20-24 pieces, press some mozzarella cheese and pepperoni (or turkey pepperoni, or cooked ground sausage, etc.) into the dough, and wrap the dough around the filling.  You’ll bake them for 20 minutes and then watch them get devoured.  I can’t see these lasting very long at any party so go ahead and double the recipe – your friends will thank you.

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Pizza Bites
source: Annie’s Eats, inspired by Chaos in the Kitchen

½ batch pizza dough (enough for 1 pizza)
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed (about 20-24 pieces)
Sliced pepperoni

For topping:
Olive oil
Italian seasoning and/or garlic powder
Grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate or cake pan.  Divide the pizza dough into 20-24 roughly equal sized pieces.  Take one of the dough pieces, top with a cube of cheese and a slice or two of pepperoni.  Pull the edges of the dough around the fillings and pinch closed.  Place seam-side down in the baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.

Lightly brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.  Serve warm, with dipping sauce as desired.

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Pizza Bites

  • Prep Time: 15min
  • Cook Time: 20min
  • Yield: about 2 dozen pizza bites

Ingredients

  • ½ batch pizza dough (enough for 1 pizza)
  • 4 oz mozzarella cheese, cubed (about 20-24 pieces)
  • Sliced pepperoni
  • Olive oil
  • Italian seasoning and/or garlic powder
  • Grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • 01

    Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate or cake pan.

  • 02

    Divide the pizza dough into 20-24 roughly equal sized pieces.  Take one of the dough pieces, top with a cube of cheese and a slice or two of pepperoni.  Pull the edges of the dough around the fillings and pinch closed.  Place seam-side down in the baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.

  • 03

    Lightly brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.  Serve warm, with dipping sauce as desired.

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Leave a Comment

  • January 3, 2011 at 6:50 AM

    What a fun appetizer. I will have to try these out. 😉 An excellent treat to sneak in before the healthy eating resolution kicks in.

  • January 3, 2011 at 7:01 AM

    Adorable and genius! These would be a great appetizer… or snack! 😉

  • January 3, 2011 at 8:32 AM

    We’re playing cards with friends on Wednesday nite and I can hardly wait to take these to share. I just know they’ll be a huge hit.

  • January 3, 2011 at 8:39 AM

    I seriously am not sure what better way…still thinking….

  • January 3, 2011 at 9:07 AM

    These are definitely the perfect appetizer. One or two bites and no mess but I’m sure they’re packed with flavor.

  • January 3, 2011 at 10:33 AM

    Fabulous way to ring in the New Year if you ask me! I made something like this for a super bowl party last year.. if they’re anything like those they are delicious! I could totally eat the whole batch 🙂

  • January 3, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    I am obsessed with these and would love to make them, except I think I’d eat the entire batch myself!

  • Ronda Jo
    January 3, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    I made these this weekend. I used string cheese and cut them into about four pieces per “stick”. It worked great. They were super delicious!!

  • January 3, 2011 at 4:04 PM

    I don’t blame you for devouring these–i would have, too. Who can resist them? 🙂

  • maggiewann
    January 3, 2011 at 5:15 PM

    Mmmmmmmmm, what a great idea.

  • January 3, 2011 at 5:44 PM

    Dude! These look awesome! (sorry for the ‘dude’ but its really what came out of my mouth when I saw these). 😀

  • January 3, 2011 at 8:02 PM

    Great idea. I’m bookmarking this!

  • January 3, 2011 at 8:02 PM

    These sound dangerous! I could probably eat the entire dish full of them. Great photos too!

  • ann
    January 3, 2011 at 8:26 PM

    These look so delicious. I love them!

  • January 3, 2011 at 9:36 PM

    those definitely look better than the frozen kind… and those are amazing! love it!

  • January 3, 2011 at 9:42 PM

    I love love LOVE this recipe…I was actually just planning on making it for my sister-in-law’s baby shower this weekend (the theme is mini-food so I thought pizza ‘bites’ as opposed to full pizzas made sense). Great job.

  • January 4, 2011 at 4:12 PM

    You know, I never bothered to make pizza before because just thinking of handling the dough makes me tired. But pizza bites! Roll ’em into a ball and you’re done! Great idea! 🙂 I might even sleep early just to wake up early to make these.

  • January 4, 2011 at 10:20 PM

    Yeah, I’m totally with you on eating a whole pan at once. The first time I made them, I made two pans for four of us (Ben, me, and two friends) and we ate every single one. YAY pizza bites!

  • January 18, 2011 at 12:29 AM

    Made it, loved it, blogged about it. You rock! Thanks for the great recipe.

  • October 3, 2011 at 1:31 PM

    […] I chose to make these for a couple of reasons, the first being that I have seen them on several of my favorite blogs with everyone raving about how good they are. The second is that they are also […]

  • November 13, 2011 at 5:13 PM

    Mmm, this was the bomb! Really we all loved it! I agree with other posters, it is easy to eat too many of these because they look small and cute and burst with flavor – before you know it, the pans are empty! Yikes! This definitely is a recipe that we will be having often!

  • Diane
    January 1, 2012 at 12:13 PM

    We had these last night at our New Year’s Eve party! A total hit. I made a quick garlic-infused olive oil for the top (with some red pepper flakes and oregano) for another flavor note. Really good.

    I can’t wait to try some of your other best of 2011 recipes.
    Thanks!

  • Lauren
    February 3, 2012 at 9:58 AM

    oooh – just saw the pretzels, but these look good for superbowl (and a bit easier) too…. hmmm

    • February 3, 2012 at 10:03 AM

      Hi Lauren! These are crazy easy and you could even use store-bought pizza dough (the bagged ones from the local pizza places) if you don’t want to make your own pizza dough. Let me know how they turn out!

  • Dana
    January 9, 2013 at 2:47 PM

    No sauce?

    • January 10, 2013 at 8:59 AM

      The sauce is on the side for dipping.

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