Pizza Bites

These are fun. This was the second appetizer we had for the Superbowl. Pizza bites from Annie's Eats! They are just pizza dough (good recipe here from Annie's Eats...this is what I used), stuffed with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. I am sure you could stuff them with all sorts of things, but I liked the pepperoni and mozzarella combo. We had them with pizza sauce as a dipping sauce. They were actually really easy to make too.

I have been struggling with my pizza dough for years. Mostly, I have been lazy. I never knead it enough to make it completely elastic. I also use too much flour because it isn't kneaded properly, so I need it! I mean, it still tastes fine, but never is great. You can't really mess up pizza. Pizza is pretty much always good. But, I love a good crust. And I think Annie's crust recipe is great. It helps to use a stand mixer.

Scot and I could tell the crust was good with these pizza bites. I made a full batch of the recipe, and saved half for pizza tomorrow night. Make sure if you refrigerator raw pizza dough, that you keep in in a bowl about twice as big as the dough with plastic wrap loosely hugging the dough. It continues to rise (maybe forever?!?!) and will leave a huge mess in your fridge if you don't give it room (this has happened to me about 4 different times...guess it takes me a while to learn).

Pizza Bites

by Annie’s Eats

1/2 batch pizza dough (enough for 1 pizza)

4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed (about 20-24 pieces)

Sliced pepperoni

For filling:

Olive oil

Italian seasoning

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.

(Servings: 6, Prep time: 3 hours, Cook time: 25 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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