Pizza Puff Recipe

Pizza Puff on a wire cooling rack with a bite taken out.

5 stars (1 rating)

These pizza puffs make such a fun lunch, dinner, or snack! Make a big batch for the freezer. Easy Little Caesar's copycat recipe.

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: Chicago pizza puff, Little Caesar pizza puff, Little Caesars crazy pizza puffs, Little Caesars pizza puffs, Little Caesars pizza puffs recipe, pizza puff, pizza puff dough recipe, pizza puff Little Caesars, pizza puff recipe, pizza puffs, pizza puffs Chicago, pizza puffs Little Caesars, pizza puffs recipe, recipe for pizza puffs

Servings: puffs

Calories: 100kcal

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/3 cup water warm (not hot)
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast*
3/4 cup all-purpose flour or bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2/3 cup tomato sauce
64 slices pepperoni (approx. 3 ounces)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Place the sugar and water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top.
Allow the yeast to dissolve and become foamy (approx. 5 minutes).
Add the flour, olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning to the bowl and stir to combine.
Knead the dough until it gathers itself into a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl cleanly (approx. 10 minutes).
Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (approx. 1 hour).**
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly mist a standard-sized muffin pan with non-stick spray.
Sprinkle the work surface, dough, and your hands lightly with flour to avoid sticking, then punch the dough down and shape it into a ball.
Divide the dough ball into 4 equal portions, then divide each portion into 4 smaller portions.
Place a small ball of dough into each of 16 wells of the prepared pan(s).
Flatten slightly with your fingers, then spoon on about a teaspoon of tomato sauce.
Layer on about 4 slices of pepperoni.
Spoon another teaspoon of sauce over each pizza puff.
Top with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of shredded mozzarella.
Bake until puffy and golden around the edges (approx. 15 to 20 minutes).
Cool slightly then use a small offset spatula to remove from the pan and serve.

Video

Notes

*Instant yeast can be substituted. You may need to decrease the resting time.

**Or chill in the fridge for up to 48 hours for overnight pizza puffs.

Nutrition