Light, fluffy and delicious these Pepperoni Pizza Rolls are filled with cheese’s, pepperoni and all topped with a buttery topping. A tasty roll you can’t resist.
I love pizza, I love dinner rolls so why not mash the two together and make Pizza Rolls? Seriously these are absolutely amazing. They are so light, fluffy and delicious that you can’t stop at just one.
I love baking with yeast, I know a lot of people find it intimidating but trust me once you get the hang of yeast then you will be making all the bread things you can think of.
These Pepperoni Pizza Rolls are just one of the ones that you will want to put on your must make list. It is so cheesy and full of pepperoni that it is literally irresistible.
Even the dough itself has cheese and spices in it so you get an extra dose of flavor that really adds to these and I personally think makes them the ultimate appetizer or bread.
Some of our other favorite breads that we have on our site include Easy Dinner Rolls, Cheddar Biscuits and Oatmeal Molasses Bread.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Easy to find ingredients help this recipe come together nicely.
- You can switch up the filling to any of your favorite pizza toppings.
- This makes a large pan so it feeds a crowd!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Active dry yeast
Unsalted butter
Granulated sugar
Salt
Water
All-purpose flour
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Italian seasoning
Garlic powder
Egg
Vegetable oil
Pepperoni
Marinara sauce for dipping
HOW TO MAKE PIZZA ROLLS, STEP BY STEP:
Dough:
- Place the yeast in a small bowl, set aside.
- Take 1/4 cup of the butter and slice it very thin, place it into a large heatproof bowl. Add the sugar and salt, set aside.
- Add the water to a small saucepan and warm the water until it reaches 110°F. Pour ¼ of the water into the bowl with the yeast, stir it a few times, and let sit on the counter to activate the yeast, about 5 minutes. The yeast will become bubbly and foamy.
- While the yeast is activating, pour the remaining warm water into the bowl with the butter slices. Whisk it together, use the whisk to break up the pieces of butter. Most of the butter will melt, but there will still be a few larger pieces floating around, that is okay. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, 1 cup of the mozzarella, ¼ cup of the parmesan, the Italian seasoning, and garlic powder, whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Once the yeast is activated, pour it into the water/butter mixture and whisk to combine. Add the egg and whisk to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together with a spoon until a batter just comes together. The mixture will be extremely sticky.
- Dust a clean work surface generously with flour. Turn out the dough and dust the top with more flour. Knead 20-30 times until it turns into a smooth dough. You may need to add more flour to the work surface a few times during the process so it doesn’t stick.
- Add the vegetable oil to a large bowl and brush it up the sides. Add the dough to the bowl and roll it around in the oil.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let it double in size. This will take about an hour and a half. When done, punch dough down.
Assembly:
- Once the dough has risen, dust the clean work surface again with flour. Turn out the dough onto the work surface and lightly dust the top with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a 12×16 inch rectangle.
- Melt the remaining ½ cup of the butter. Brush a 9×13 with a thin coat of butter. Brush the top of the dough with more butter.
- Sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese on top, keep about ½ inch border along the edge of the dough bare.
- Top evenly with the mozzarella.
- Then the pepperoni.
- Start with one of the long edges facing you, as tightly as you can, roll the dough over the filling into a log. Cut into 15 equal pieces, I find a serrated knife helps to do this easiest.
- Place the rolls, cut side down into the greased baking dish. There will be 5 rows of 3 rolls.
- Cover the dish with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise again until about doubled in size, about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the rolls for 22-28 minutes until golden brown on the tops.
- Once they are done baking, immediately brush the tops with the remaining melted butter. Let cool slightly then serve warm with marinara sauce for dipping.
Just look at these Pepperoni Pizza Rolls! It really doesn’t get much better than this! Our kids go crazy for these, and let me tell you I could probably just eat a whole pan myself.
No shame, its absolutely ok! But in all honestly I do everything in moderation but it is really hard to moderate eating these Pizza Rolls.
WHAT KIND OF YEAST SHOULD I USE?
We use active dry yeast in this recipe. Because we are doing 2 rises, once with the dough in the bowl and once with the rolls in the pan we want to use active dry.
Do not try and use rapid rise for this recipe, it has not been tested using it so the outcome may not be as light and fluffy as you will want it.
WHAT OTHER FILLINGS CAN I USE?
Since these Pizza Rolls do not have the marinara sauce in the rolls themselves and use it as a dipping sauce you might want to stick to meat and cheese.
Other fillings that we have tried were Canadian bacon, sausage, shredded chicken and they all tasted amazing! But pepperoni is by far one of my favorite fillings for this recipe.
CAN I USE PIZZA DOUGH FOR THESE PIZZA ROLLS?
As a shortcut I would say yes, but I would try to get the pizza dough that is either homemade or freshly made from the grocer and not a refrigerated dough.
This way you can fill and roll and bake up, the times will change with the baking period so you will want to watch to see when they turn golden.
HOW TO STORE PIZZA ROLLS:
These Pizza Rolls can be stored in an airtight container such as a ziptop bag or a Tupperware container for up to 3 days at room temperature.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- You can make these ahead of time up to the filling, rolling, cutting and placing in pan. You will want to cover and place in your refrigerator overnight. This will slow down the rise process, after 24 hours if your rolls haven’t doubled in size you will want to leave them at room temp until they do.
- You can fill with some of our other favorite meats, see my notes above.
- If you are not a fan of mozzarella or parmesan you can use Monterey Jack or Cheddar for the filling as well.
- Make sure you brush the tops of your rolls after baking, if you brush them before the tops will turn brown quickly and the centers will not bake fully.
- We love marinara as a dipping sauce, but you can use your favorite or none at all!
- Make sure that you use active dry yeast in this, we want to do a double rise on these rolls.
Looking for that perfectly delicious dinner roll that you never knew you needed? Then you absolutely have to make these Pepperoni Pizza Rolls!
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If you’ve tried these PEPPERONI PIZZA ROLLS or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Pepperoni Pizza Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 1 packet
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter divided
- 3 Tbs granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cup warm water 110°F, divided
- 3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese divided
- 1 Tbs dried Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 6 oz pepperoni
- Marinara sauce for dipping
Instructions
- Place the yeast in a small bowl, set aside.
- Take 1/4 cup of the butter and slice it very thin, place it into a large heatproof bowl. Add the sugar and salt, set aside.
- Add the water to a small saucepan and warm the water until it reaches 110°F. Pour ¼ of the water into the bowl with the yeast, stir it a few times, and let sit on the counter to activate the yeast, about 5 minutes. The yeast will become bubbly and foamy.
- While the yeast is activating, pour the remaining warm water into the bowl with the butter slices. Whisk it together, use the whisk to break up the pieces of butter. Most of the butter will melt, but there will still be a few larger pieces floating around, that is okay. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, 1 cup of the mozzarella, ¼ cup of the parmesan, the Italian seasoning, and garlic powder, whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Once the yeast is activated, pour it into the water/butter mixture and whisk to combine. Add the egg and whisk to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together with a spoon until a batter just comes together. The mixture will be extremely sticky.
- Dust a clean work surface generously with flour. Turn out the dough and dust the top with more flour. Knead 20-30 times until it turns into a smooth dough. You may need to add more flour to the work surface a few times during the process so it doesn’t stick.
- Add the vegetable oil to a large bowl and brush it up the sides. Add the dough to the bowl and roll it around in the oil.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let it double in size. This will take about an hour and a half. When done, punch dough down.
- Once the dough has risen, dust the clean work surface again with flour. Turn out the dough onto the work surface and lightly dust the top with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a 12x16 inch rectangle.
- Melt the remaining ½ cup of the butter. Brush a 9x13 with a thin coat of butter. Brush the top of the dough with more butter.
- Sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese on top, keep about ½ inch border along the edge of the dough bare.
- Top evenly with the mozzarella.
- Then the pepperoni.
- Start with one of the long edges facing you, as tightly as you can, roll the dough over the filling into a log. Cut into 15 equal pieces, I find a serrated knife helps to do this easiest.
- Place the rolls, cut side down into the greased baking dish. There will be 5 rows of 3 rolls.
- Cover the dish with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise again until about doubled in size, about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the rolls for 22-28 minutes until golden brown on the tops.
- Once they are done baking, immediately brush the tops with the remaining melted butter. Let cool slightly then serve warm with marinara sauce for dipping.
Notes
- You can make these ahead of time up to the filling, rolling, cutting and placing in pan. You will want to cover and place in your refrigerator overnight. This will slow down the rise process, after 24 hours if your rolls haven't doubled in size you will want to leave them at room temp until they do.
- You can fill with some of our other favorite meats, see my notes above.
- If you are not a fan of mozzarella or parmesan you can use Monterey Jack or Cheddar for the filling as well.
- Make sure you brush the tops of your rolls after baking, if you brush them before the tops will turn brown quickly and the centers will not bake fully.
- We love marinara as a dipping sauce, but you can use your favorite or none at all!
- Make sure that you use active dry yeast in this, we want to do a double rise on these rolls.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY, 2021
Marie
Love pizza!!! All kinds especially with a loads of cheese!!!!!