Pizza Balls

For the last couple of weeks I've been helping some friends out by watching their kids while their daycare is temporarily closed.  During this time I've had a lot of time to contemplate everything I thought I knew about kids eating habits.  Turns out I didn't know much. My daughter is a very picky eater and that hasn't changed but she'd also eat a lot of things that the rest of the kids were absolutely appalled at. Like cucumbers, she can eat those all day long and loves them but the others seemed like they hadn't ever seen one.  They were like "what is THAT"?

Needless to say, I've been trying to stick with some very basic items for lunch.  This little pizza ball that I made was an experiment.  I knew they'd all probably eat pizza if they could get past how it looked.  Not many kids are familiar with pizza being in a ball shape.  Once they moved past their initial shock they fell in love with them. I had requests for seconds and my own little girl even asked if she could have them again for dinner; and that shocked ME!

There isn't anything difficult about this process at all. You start by flattening out one jumbo biscuit from a can. 

Then you add the ingredients that your family likes the most.  Most of the kids I was watching preferred cheese so I tried some with sauce and some without.  They were both equally good.

I had one little boy who said he'd eat pepperoni so I put one on the bottom, cheese in the middle and one more on top.  I also tried adding sauce - it all worked and was equally as good.  Serve with sauce on the side for dipping as well.

When stuffed, roll the edges up to the top and pinch the ends together.

Now turn the smooth side toward the top and brush with an egg wash (optional).

Sprinkle with some Italian seasoning.

Bake until golden brown. Mine all leaked a little cheese out but it was no big deal.  Serve with pizza sauce or marinara sauce on the side and it was a huge hit! I used canned biscuits but I bet the canned croissant rolls would be good as would the canned pizza dough, or fresh dough, whatever you have time for. 

I can't wait to make these again for my family.  It's such fun to have little pizza's you can customize yourself.  I also think this would be a cute fun idea for a birthday party project or a sleepover project.  Heck, even your adult friends would have fun customizing their own little pizza balls. 

This recipe is a keeper!

Pizza Balls

Recipe modified slightly from Pinterest, unsure of where the original recipe is found.  

Ingredients

• 1 - 16 oz can (8 biscuits) refrigerated jumbo biscuits
• 1 small jar pizza sauce
• 1 small bag pepperoni slices
• 1 small bag shredded colby jack cheese
• 1 large egg (optional)
• Italian seasoning

Cooking Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet, set aside.
3. Grab one biscuit and flatten it out with your hands or a rolling pin until it is about 5 inches in diameter.
4. Lay one pepperoni slice in the middle, cover with 1 Tbsp of cheese and top with another slice of pepperoni.
5. Fold the edges of the biscuit up over the filling and pinch together until it is sealed well.
6. Lay the biscuit on the prepared cookie sheet with the seam side down. Finish with the remaining rolls.
7. Put the egg in a small dish and whisk slightly.
8. Brush the egg over the tops of the rolls and then season with Italian Seasoning.
9. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. All oven times vary and mine didn't take more than about 15 minutes, so keep checking on them. 
10. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool slightly.
11. Serve with pizza sauce on the side as a dipper.