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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Pizza Puffs

These pizza puffs work as an appetizer or a fun dinner. Perhaps Rachel Ray intended them as a recipe for kids, but I found that they were incredibly "man-friendly" as well. I made a double batch, with the intention of freezing half for a later date and leaving the second half for Ryan's "man night" (video games and cigar smoking, in case you were wondering). When I pulled them out of the oven, however, Ryan suggested I nix the freezer idea and leave them all for him and his friends. Turns out he was right, I returned home to find an empty bowl!

The original recipe called for just pepperoni and cheese. I added olives and mushrooms to my batches, but feel free to get creative with your favorite pizza toppings. Diced peppers, sausage, even chopped spinach would all work well in these! Don't be afraid to really load up the toppings either; Ryan said I could've still added more of them to the puffs...apparently girls are all about the bread and boys are all about the toppings ;)

...Let me take a quick second to wish my pizza-hating (yes, true story!) sister a VERY happy 17th birthday! I've mentioned her before, in relation to these amazing snickerdoodle cookies, but aside from being an excellent cookie baker, she's hilarious, talented, and beautiful. Though she's turning 17 today, she'll always be my little baby sister...I love and cherish you more than you know Beaner!

One Year Ago: Avocado Feta Salsa

Pizza Puffs
adapted from Everyday with Rachel Ray

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-1 1/2 cups skim milk
-2 eggs, lightly beaten
-2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
-1 cup pepperoni, cut into small pieces
-1 cup mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
-1 cup black olives, diced
-1 tsp dried oregano
-1 tsp dried basil
-1 tsp garlic powder
-1 cup pizza sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Add milk and egg, stirring tom combine. Mix in mozzarella, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, and herbs. Allow mixture to stand for 10 minutes.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan (you will make two batches). Bake until puffed and golden, 20-25 minutes. Remove pizza puffs from pan and place in a serving container. Bake a second batch of puffs with the remaining batter.
4. Serve pizza puffs warm with heated pizza sauce for dipping.

This post is linked to Eat At Home.