Pizza Wheels (Party Pizza Buns)

 

Yes, it's really me! I'm back, and this time, I hope to resume posting at least every Sunday. (This is my new mantra). Today, I made a decision that I must make time to post at least a dozen new recipes I've baked, braised, roasted or stewed so that I could share them with you!

Each weekend, I keep telling myself to allot the average of two hours to edit photos, write a printable recipe card and then write a blog post-- with that hope that I would entice my readers (or that people searching for a recipe like this one) will land on my blog.  But one week, turns into two...and then a month...and then two months... and, before I know it, I start receiving emails from food blogger friends or loyal readers asking if I'm okay and if I'll resume posting again.  The answer is "yes" and "thank you"!

So, let me begin by sharing these amazing King Arthur Flour Pizza Buns!  I love baking, and I especially love baking recipes with yeast.  I was just speaking to a young lady who aspires to learn new ways of cooking and baking. I told her that one of my favorite resources is "King Arthur Flour".  My pantry is loaded with so many of their ingredients, and I don't use any other brand of flours.  I subscribe to their blog and I love their monthly "Bakealong Challenge".  King Arthur Flour posts step-by-step instructions so that anyone-- beginner or advance-- should be able to successful replicate their recipes.

I honed in on this particular recipe, in January for two reasons. 1) It was Super Bowl weekend and 2) I had leftover pizza sauce, mozarella cheese and pepperoni.  What a perfect way to use up ingredients and feed my hungry men!

The dough is quite easy to make-- especially if you have a stand mixer (which I do, and wouldn't part with for anything in the world).

After a little over an hour, my dough was beautifully puffed up (aka "proofed") and I found the dough to be so easy to work with. I was able to shape and roll it into a 12"x18" rectangle.  I've brushed on the leftover pizza sauce...

...and now I'm going to add my filling.  This is where you can become as creative as you like. Homemade pizza is almost a weekly thing, in our home and I've posted several on my blog here. 

My current favorite pizza toppings are sausage, mushroom, sliced black olives, bell pepper and onion. But, today, I would make the favorite pizza of my men.  Here, I am rolling up the dough and filling into a tight log-- pinches the ends.  This reminds me of  the King Arthur Flour Cinnamon Roll recipes that has become a family favorite!

Using a very sharp kife, I made shallow knife cuts so I would be able to gauge slicing the log into 12 pieces. 

Here's a really cool tip that I learned from King Arthur Flour-- use unflavored floss to slice each roll!  This works so much better than using a knife, which can flatten the log.

The rolls get tucked under a clean kitchen towel for another 60-90 minutes, while I clean up the kitchen. I preheated the oven to 350F and then I got an idea.  I had some leftover garlic butter from our favorite garlic bread recipe.

So, I heated up the garlic butter and brushed a little on each roll!

But, wait, there's more!  I had some leftover shredded Parmesan cheese, that I decided would go nicely on top. 

In less than 30 minutes, these hot and fragrant rolls came out of the oven.  Wow!  

While I've professed to not be the biggest fan of pepperoni, I discovered I was ready to dig in to one of these while they were still warm. 

These are perfect to make for any occasion, and not just Super Bowl Sunday!

TASTING NOTES:  Pizza in the form on a roll is a brilliant idea!  This dough was tender and flavorful.  I'm glad I added the garlic butter-- despite the extra calories.  These are even delicious at room temperature. My son reheated some, the next day, and said they tasted even better. 

So my dear readers and loyal followers. I sincerely hope to reconvene weekly blogging on Sundays. At least, that is the plan.  I have one more confession to make. Ready? 

I've been cooking on a regular basis, but I've been using Blue Apron delivery service for many months.  Since I'm mostly cooking for two (my son no longer lives at home, but he's a frequent visitor), I am enjoying not having to think of recipes to make. My ingredients are already packed up, with a recipe card and I'm discovering new ingredients, spices and recipes.  So, for that reason, I haven't blogged much since I don't want to infringe on BA's own recipe copyrights. However, I have up to FIVE FREE trial dinner boxes if anyone cares to try them. Just private message me at foodiewife@gmail.com and I'll send you a link to get your first week for free ($59.00 value).  Nope, I don't make money on this at all!

As always, here is a printable recipe card. I hope you give these a try!