Pizza Bites

Judging by the picture above, can you tell these pizza bites were a hit? I forgot to take a picture before people dug in, but you get the picture. A little ball of dough, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese-what's not to love?! This dish is actually easier to prepare than it looks, especially when using already prepared dough. I would like to try my hand at making my own pizza dough, but for now I'm okay with sticking with the convenience of having it done for me.

I recently discovered Trader Joe's fresh pizza dough, which is what I used to make these. I used whole wheat, but they also have white and (I've heard) some kind of herb dough. And better yet, the dough was only about 99 cents!

Next time I make these I will definitely use more pepperoni (only used one slice per dough ball), and maybe a bigger cube of cheese. I was kind of hesitant about how much filling could fit in each dough ball, and as it turns out they fit more than I expected. The hubby enjoyed these, but he thought they had too much dough and not enough filling. These could also be made with a variety of toppings, so experiment with your favorites and if you come up with a good one let me know:)

Pizza Bites
Source: Annie's Eats, inspired by Chaos in the Kitchen

Ingredients:
Homemade, frozen or refridgerated pizza dough (enough for one pizza)
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed (about 20-24 pieces)
Sliced pepperoni

For topping:
Olive oil
Italian seasoning
Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate or cake pan. Divide the pizza dough into 20-24 roughly equal sized pieces. Take one of the dough pieces, top with a cube of cheese and a slice or two of pepperoni. Pull the edges of the dough around the fillings and pinch closed. Place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.

Lightly brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Serve warm, with dipping sauce as desired.