Ok – I’ve found a new favorite ingredient at the store. They’ve probably existed for years, and I somehow missed them. But hey — they’re new to me. :) I’m talking about….
Mini-pepperonis!!!!
Have you seen these?! Oh my goodness — they’re too cute for words. I actually forgot to take a picture before I tossed them in this recipe, but they’re just a tiny about 1-cm wide version of regular pepperonis. Granted, you can of course achieve the same taste and effect by just dicing regular ones, but these are so cute and fun. So of course, I had to bring some home!
To put them to use, I decided to try out a recipe I’ve had bookmarked for awhile. Talk about too cute for words — these little pepperoni puffs were a fabulous success!!! Super simple. Super quick. And super delicious. Perfect for an appetizer, an after-school snack, or just a fun alternative to pizza!!
So give them a try — either with diced regular pepperonis, or with my fun new favorites — and enjoy!! I’ve also included some other fun ingredient substitutions for your other favorite pizza toppings below.
Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 3/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 4 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
- 4 oz. pepperoni, diced (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce (homemade or store-bought)
- 2 Tbsp. fresh basil, finely diced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and oregano; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.
- Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Warm the pizza sauce, then stir in 1 tablespoon basil. Sprinkle the puffs with the remaining 1 tablespoon basil. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Ali’s Tip:
These would of course be fun with tons of other ingredients! Some possible ideas that come to mind (all of these diced pretty small!) might be:
- “Hawaiian” – canadian bacon and diced pineapple
- sausage
- green or red peppers
- olives
- onion
- etc….
Linda – I definitely made these with some garlic in em! At my house, garlic goes into just about anything other than ice cream. I do not feel guilty about this. :)
I made these for my boyfriend as a game day snack (GO COLTS!). =] I baked them in a regular-sized muffin tin since I don’t have one of those cute lil mini ones, but they still turned out AWESOME. They looked so perfect that my bf asked me “So did the sauce come with these?” as if they were ordered in from somewhere. Ha, and he thinks he knows me?! Anyway, bottom line…these looked AND tasted amazing. I added some red pepper flakes for a little spice, and also some fresh grated parmesan to the the tops of the muffins right before putting them in the oven. So good!
Yummy. I just want to reach over and pop one into my mouth.
Love this idea!!–defineately tasty, but they always turn out on the dry side. Any suggestions?
Oh my word these are DELIGHTFUL!! Found your recipe last night and made them for dinner today…sooo yummy!!
Has anyone tried adding garlic to them I love garlic and was just curious.
Yum. What a fabulous idea and it make way less of a mess than normal pizza. My 4 year old would love this.
I just made these tonight- They were DELISH. I put cubed ham in them, just because I have a love-hate relationship with pepperoni. Definitely going to be a staple for when I have to make food. My siblings love them.
Just goes to show that 15-year-olds can cook, too. :)
So simple, I love it!
oh these look delish. i’ll have to make them. my bf would friggin die for these. thanks!
I made these last night and they were gone in an instant…very yummy. I plan to make again and try a variety of ingredients.
Hey Bectoria!
So glad you enjoyed these! Would love to hear how they turn out if you experiment with some different ingredients – fun!! :)
~A