Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

I found a link to this page on Pinterest the other day about replacing packaged snacks for school lunches.  I saw this recipe about Pizza puffs (really muffins) that I thought I would try for the kids for dinner last night.  The blog it was posted on originally got the recipe from Rachael Ray and then added a few things.  I took it and revised for my own family.

Now my kids can't handle anything spicy so instead of pepperoni I substituted Canadian Bacon and really I think you could do without all the cheese.  If you have picky children and know that when you try new food it's always a throw up if they are going to like it and when they do it's the best feeling.  I make my own pizza sauce and it's a tich spicy so I was worried that my son (super picky) wasn't going to like it.  Oh my, that kid LOVED dinner last night.  He ate 6 pizza puffs and then this morning had 3 more for breakfast.  I'm going to make a double batch and put them in the freezer to pull out for quick lunches/dinners.

They would be perfect for school lunches, lunches or dinners on the go and they are really good and way better for your kids than those pizza rolls you can buy.  I even made mine with whole wheat pastry flour (works like white, but is made from whole wheat flour).  You can make with pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, turkey pepperoni, and really add any pizza ingredients you want.  Next time I might add some sauteed small pieces of red and green peppers or some cooked up mushrooms.

You know they are good when you're pickiest kid can't stop raving about them at dinner, thanks you in bed during bedtime and wants them for breakfast the next day.  Super easy to make and they ARE good!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
3/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 T. Italian seasoning
pinch of salt
3/4 cup whole milk (I used 2%, but skim would work too)
1 egg, lightly beaten (I dumped mine in my mixer without beating)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I'm going to try 1/2 cup next time)
1 cup cubed pepperoni (substitute Canadian Bacon or turkey pepperoni to make it lighter)
Pizza sauce (I make mine using Penzey's pizza sauce spice and tomato sauce - divine!)

Preheat the oven to 375.  Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and Italian seasoning.

Whisk in the milk and egg.  Stir in the mozzarella, and pepperoni.  Let stand for 10 min.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin pans. 

Bake until puffed and golden, 20-25 min.  (20 min. was plenty for mine and they were golden).  Heat the sauce and serve with the mini-muffins.

Don't these seriously look delicious?

Here is the link to pinterest that had a lot of good school lunch ideas.

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs printable recipe