Party Time Pepperoni Pizza Bites

PEPPERONI PIZZA BITES

makes 24

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

1 lb Ball of Pizza Dough, store bought or homemade  (homemade recipe is below)
4 oz of Mozzarella, cubed
Pepperoni, enough to stuff the dough (Laura uses turkey pepperoni, less oily and won’t make the dough soggy)
Italian Seasoning
¼ cup of Olive Oil
2 Cloves of Garlic, grated finely
Marinara Sauce, to serve

Process:

1) Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Brush a baking dish with a little olive oil and set aside.

2) Dump your pizza dough on a floured surface and roll it out so that it’s nice and thin but not too thin that it breaks up too easily.

3) Cut the dough into 24 pieces.

4) Fill each piece with a piece of cheese, and a couple pieces of pepperoni.

5) Seal the dough shut around the filling, and place them seam side down onto the prepared baking sheet or in a baking dish if you like them to bake together and then pull them apart.

6) In a small bowl, mix together the granulated garlic, Italian seasoning and black pepper, set aside.

7) Brush the top with olive oil, and then evenly sprinkle over the garlic and seasoning blend.

8) Bake them for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

9) Serve with your favorite marinara sauce.

For the Pizza Dough:

3 ½ cups of All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
2 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/3 cups of Warm Water, 110 degrees
1 Envelope of Yeast

Process:

1) Add the yeast and sugar to the warm water and set it aside for about 3 minutes.

2) In the bowl of a standing mixer, fittted with a dough attachment, mix together the flour, salt, and olive oil. Stir the yeast in the water to make sure it’s all dissolved and add it to the flour mixture.

3) With the speed on medium, mix until everything is combined. Reduce the speed to low and mix for 10 minutes.

4) Oil a large bowl with some olive oil and set aside.

5) When the dough is nice and smooth, dump it on your work surface and just pull it together into a ball.

6) Place it seam side down in the oiled bowl and brush the top with a little oil as well. Cover with plastic wrap and place it somewhere warm to rise and double in volume.

A special thanks to Laura Vitale for this tasty recipe.  Visit her site for many other great recipes.