I love pizza.
Scratch that — I ADORE pizza. During each of my pregnancies, it was the food du jour for the first trimester. When nothing else managed to excite my hormonal taste-buds, I could count on a hot steamy pizza to taste good.
These days, pizza is reserved for our weekly “Family Night.” Every Friday evening, I make one of favorite pizzas while my husband wrangles the kidlets, and then we eat, play games and be merry until the late, late hour of 8 pm when all little people must go to bed.
(ahhh, sweet bedtime)
These Whole Wheat Pizza Rolls are an easy way to change up your weekly pizza night — their size and shape make them easy for little hands to hold, and the whole grain flour adds more nutrients and fiber, making them a healthier option to your typical carry-out pizzas.
Plus, with the cheesy filling of Mozzarella and a bit of Salami, they’re just good… especially with a tasty dipping sauce. I always use some of my homemade slow-cooker marinara sauce, which is the perfect tomato sauce for pizza.
(Swooning just thinking about it!)
Intimidated by the thought of making your own pizza dough? Don’t be! The dough I use for these pizza rolls (and nearly every pizza variation I make) is practically fool-proof: mix, kneed, roll-out, top and bake. All in all, it’s an easy 20-30 minute process for hot, fresh, homemade pizza rolls.
I like easy.
Does your family have any weekly theme nights for dinner?
Ingredients
- Dough:
- 1 Cup of warm water
- 1 Tablespoon of active dry yeast
- 1 Teaspoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 Tablespoon of Italian Herb Blend
- 2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 1/2 Cups of White Whole Wheat Flour*
- Filling:
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups of shredded Mozzarella
- 1 Cup of Salami
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the sugar and yeast in the one cup of warm water.
- Add the remaining ingredients and use a wooden spoon to combine till a soft dough is formed.
- Using floured hands, kneed the dough direction in the bowl until it is smooth and pliable.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface until the dough is flattened into a rounded rectangle and is around 1/4" thick.
- Sprinkle cheese over the dough.
- Down the center of the dough, layer your salami or preferred meat.
- Starting at the long end of your dough, roll the dough toward the center -- you do not have to have a tight roll.
- Once rolled, cut it into 1 1/2 - 2" slices.
- Line your baking pan or cookie sheet with foil and spray with a cooking spray.
- Place the pizza roll slices on the pan, allowing room in between each slice for expansion as they bake.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.
- Serve hot with your favorite pizza sauce.
Notes
Written By 5 Minutes for Mom Contributing Editor Rachel Lacy
So happy to have found this recipe! 2 questions though: First, no rising time? Second, can you use regular whole wheat flour?
This recipe was perfect, because I needed something quick and easy that used wheat flour (which for some reason was all I had in my pantry!) – SOOO delicious!! Passed both the 3 year old and the husband appreciation test 😀
Just saw your comment — SO glad you all enjoyed it! 🙂
These look awesome. I totally have to try these. And healthy? Double bonus!
Pizza rolls – that’s a great idea! Oh, this is making me so hungry. YUM!
Rachel that looks amazing. I have to try this. I have to admit though, yeast intimidates me. I have never ever baked from scratch using yeast because it scares me to death. I don’t even know why. Any tips for a newbie yeast user?
Sorry, Marianna — I am just now seeing your question about using yeast.
DON’T be afraid to use yeast — it is really very easy to use. Just make sure your “proof” the yeast in warm water (no hotter than around 105 degrees) and give it about a teaspoon of sugar to “feed” it. Within a few minutes you will have a growing, frothy bunch of yeast bubbles on your hands!
I buy yeast in these hard bricks — bulk packaging, if you will — and then store the yeast granules in my fridge, in an air-tight container.
Hope this helps!
They sound yummy. I wonder if we could do something similar with GF pizza dough. My family is gluten free. But we all LOVE pizza. As a matter of fact we had GF pizza picnic on the kitchen floor last night!
I make something similar, but I cut the dough in squares, put the filling in and then close it in like in a little pouch. We call it pizza pouches and we all love it!
Cute idea! I have done that before with a ricotta/spinach mixture… Mmm, now I want some.
You have got to be kidding me!! I was looking for just such a recipe online last night!! I googled: pizza cinnamon buns, because all I could think of in that shape are cinnamon buns. Wooee!! I am so excited. What a happy (and yummy) coincidence!
Lol, perfect timing indeed!