I came across a fun recipe for bite sized appetizers the other day on a yummy food blog called What Megan’s Cooking. They are adorable little pizza puffs, packed with delicious pepperoni pizza flavor. What’s more, they are easily pop-able and kid friendly too, rendering them perfect for an easy lunch, afternoon snack, or even a light dinner. In fact, I made an entire batch the other night, served it along side a green salad, and Ryan and I ate it as our entree. It was delish!
Do you ever eat appetizers for dinner? What are some of your favorite appetizers to eat? Let me know below!
Paula’s Notes:
*Not too keen on appetizers for dinner? Why not invite some people over for the Olympic Opener? These hand held pizza bites are guaranteed to be a winner!
*Don’t like pepperoni? Try dicing up some olives, peppers and mushrooms and using them in place of the meat. Voila, you have a garden veggie pizza puffs instead!
*Make and Freeze – Prepare the puffs, freeze on a baking sheet and transfer to a food storage bag. When you want to eat them, bake the frozen puffs on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
Adapted from What Megan’s Cooking
Originally from Rachael Ray
Yields 20-24 puffs
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup milk (original calls for whole milk, I used unsweetened almond milk)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 oz sharp cheddar cheese (about 1/2 cup)*
- 2 oz mozzarella cheese (about 1/2 cup)*
- 2 oz turkey pepperoni – chopped into quarters (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce
*You can easily substitute 1 cup of whatever cheese you have on hand.
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Lightly spray 20-24 mini muffin cups.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, baking powder and salt.
- Stir in the milk and egg.
- Add cheeses and pepperoni and mix together until fully incorporated. Let stand for 10 minutes.
- Stir the batter once or twice and divide among the mini-muffin cups.
- Bake until puffed and golden brown – 20 to 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through.
- Serve the pizza puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.
- Enjoy!
4 Comments
Little things like this are very common in France as mise-en-bouche, which comes before the amuse bouche. Which comes before the appetizer.
Anyway, I'm a big fan of appetizers for dinner. Especially with a little salad on the side. It's an easy way to clean out the fridge of random appetizers from previous meals.
I totally agree Holly!
Wow, mise-en-bouche, amuse buche, appetizer, that's all before the main meal! How long do dinners take in France :-)?
Yours look beautiful – I want to eat them right now! 🙂 So glad you liked them 🙂
Thanks Megan! Your recipe was a hit 🙂