Lil’ Pizza Bites

I never willingly ate anything nutritious as a child, so Bagel Bites were a main food group in my diet. Please tell me I’m not the only one who grew up infatuated with them, and would still happily down an entire package if given the choice today.

Bagel Bites may not have been the finest quality food, but they were one of the most delicious things that could come out of my microwave. To kids and adults alike, there’s an appeal in making food bite-sized. Somehow, it’s even better that way. So, when I had a get-together a few weeks ago, I decided to forgo serving full-sized pizza, and instead made a bunch of mini cute and delicious Pizza Bites.

If you thought Bagel Bites were good, then wait until you taste these. My Pizza Bites are amazing and addicting. A dozen will disappear down your gullet before you have time to think. The homemade dough, although crazy easy to make, yields a tender, tasty, and crisp crust, the perfect vessel for zesty marinara and a generous blanket of melted mozzarella and parmesan cheese. A sprinkling of fresh oregano finishes the pizza bites off with a punch of extra flavor. These are so darn good, not only will you eat an inhuman amount, but they’ll put those frozen pizzas to shame.

These golden brown beauties are super cheesy, super addicting, and super good, perfect for a party, movie night, or super easy dinner!

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

1. If you’re set on one big pizza, this recipe is still great. It yields a traditional cheesy thin crust pizza.
2. Add any toppings you like.
3. This dough is good if you’re in a pinch for time because it only has to rise for 90 minutes, as opposed to some recipes that must rise overnight.
4. You can use homemade sauce or jarred sauce, but if you use jarred, PLEASE buy good-quality stuff. It makes a huge difference.
5. You must use fresh oregano. Dried tastes like feet, and the fresh stuff gives it that straight from the pizzeria taste.

Pizza Bites

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Yield: about 1 dozen bites

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water (about 105°F)
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 cup + 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups marinara sauce, homemade or good-quality jarred
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp. fresh chopped oregano

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast, sugar and warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade, combine the cake flour, all-purpose flour and salt and pulse 3 or 4 times.
3. Whisk 1 tbsp. of the olive oil into the yeast mixture. With the motor running, slowly add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding more. Pulse the machine 10 to 15 times to knead the dough. The dough should clean the insides of the bowl but will be slightly sticky.
4. Coat the inside of a large bowl with the remaining 1 tbsp. oil. Dust your hands with flour and remove the dough from the food processor. Form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Roll the dough out on a floured surface however thin you’d like it. Use a small round biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or the rim of a glass to cut out little mini crusts. Sprinkle a pizza pan or preheated pizza with cornmeal an lay about 6-8 crusts on. Par-bake for 7 minutes, or until set but not yet browned. While they par-bake, combine the cheeses in a bowl. Top each par-baked crust with a scant tablespoon of sauce, a generous handful of cheeses, and sprinkle of oregano. Bake for another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown around the edge. Remove from pan and serve. Repeat with remaining crusts.